Santa Ynez Valley - Sept 2010

A weekend filled with wine tasting and scuba diving seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit Santa Barbara.  I grew up watching Santa Barbara soap opera.  I had an image of beautiful coast line and a peaceful place. 

Belize - April 2010

This trip was planned to attend a friend’s destination wedding.  They got married at a resort in Hopkins and we decided to go a few days early to go diving in the Cayes (keys).  We chose to stay on Caye Caulker instead of the popular tourist destination, Ambergis Caulker.  Caye Caulker is smaller and more laid back according to my travel guide.  I used Moon Handbooks Belize guide to help plan the trip along with the trusty TripAdvisor website. 

Mexican Riviera Cruise - November 2007

For our 1st wedding anniversary, we decided to try cruising.  Neither of us had cruised before.  We went on a 7 night cruise with Princess cruiseline.  We were on the Dawn Princess (Cruise Critic Review), which is a smaller ship in the fleet.  Our intinerary included 3 days at sea and 3 days at port.  Our ports were Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta.

The cruise was very relaxing...no cell phones, no computers...we were forced to slow down a little.  We ate so much food, now we know why they say you gain weight on cruises.  We are already looking forward to cruising again.

Our Room

The location of our room was mid ship on the port side.  The room was definitely small, but not all that bad, we managed. We had a balcony, which was nice. I think it's definitely worth having one if it is at a good price, especially when you have several days at sea.

The only bad thing about having a balcony is when people around you are smoking.  There were a few times, we couldn't sit on our balcony, because of the smell of smoke.  I'm really don't like the smell.  I have since learned that if you want to get away from the smoke to try and get a room closer to the front, but that may cause you to feel more movement from the ship.

Our room steward, Brando, was great. He came and introduced himself almost immediately upon our arrival. He always seemed to know when we were in our room. He serviced our room twice a day. We would leave for breakfast and dinner and always came back to a clean room.

Days at Sea

Day 1 was our embarkation day.  It's so nice living in a port city.  We just drove a few miles to the cruise terminal and jumped on the ship.  We were allowed to board between 1pm-3pm.  We waited until about 2pm, hoping there wouldn't be much of a line.  We did good, because there weren't any lines, we sailed right through everything.  Once onboard, we checked out our room and went to the buffet to get some grub.  By the time we went back to our room, our luggage was there and we unpacked.

Day 2 was a full day at sea.  The air was cool, so not many people were at the pool.  There were plenty of other things going on to keep us entertained though.  We went to the wine tasting event, which was the first real organized tasting we'd ever done.  The entertainment in the evenings was pretty decent, we were never really dissatisfied.

Days 6 and 7 were our last 2 days of the cruise and were both at sea.  We finally got to spend a day by the pool.  It was pretty crowded, but we were able to find a couple of chairs.  They had a band playing around the pool which was nice.  We also tried our hand at Bingo a couple of times, but neither of us won any money.  Lorenzo Clark was on both Fri and Sat night and he is a great comedian and magician, we enjoyed him the most.

Food on Board

Florentine Dining Room - We chose anytime dining on our cruise, because we didn't really know what we'd be doing.  We thought having a scheduled dining time might be too much for us.  It worked out really well and we will chose this option again when available.

We actually only sat with other people a couple of times and enjoyed each person we met.  The other times, we made reservations to dine alone.

The food overall was just ok.  I never really had an outstanding meal, but I didn't have a bad one either.  Mike, however, had to send an entree back one night, but it was no big deal to get another one right away.

The service varied.  With anytime dining, you have a different server everynight.  We had everything from really slow, empty water glasses, ok service to super friendly, always full water glasses, great service.  I guess this could be one reason one would prefer the assigned dining option.  We still like the anytime dining though.

La Scala Pizzeria - We ate at the pizzeria twice on the ship.  It's located at the top of the atrium area.

The first time I had the California pizza and it wasn't that great.  It had avocado and sun dried tomatoes on it.  The minestrone soup was pureed, which I'd never had minestrone that way before.  Mike had pepperoni and it was much better.

The second time, I had the vegetarian pizza with pepperoni added and it was very very good.

We had the same server both times and he was very friendly, more so than some of our dinner servers.  The ambience of the place was really neat, sort of had a sidewalk cafe vibe.

Horizon Court Buffet - We had the buffet the first day for lunch and it was pretty good. However, the next morning the breakfast wasn't as good.  The coffee isn't very good, but we are used to fresh ground coffee every morning.  The best part of the breakfast buffet was the omelet station.  We tried to have breakfast in the dining room when we could.

The buffet is open 24 hours a day, so you could always go in and grab a snack in between meals or have a late night snack!

Cabo – Day 3, first port

The ship docked in Cabo from 8am to 6pm.  You have to be tendered in at this port as there are no docks for the ships.  This means the ships lower some of their own boats to take people back and forth from the ship to the marina docks.

We had just visited Cabo a couple months prior.  We dove on that trip and enjoyed the warm water and all the fish, so we decided to dive again.  After diving, we had lunch at an outside cafe, drank a little tequila at another restaurant, and headed back to the ship for a much needed nap.

Underwater Diversions Diving - We set up our dive through the cruiseline.  This company met us once we got off the ship and took us to their shop to get our gear.  We had filled out a form prior and most of our gear was out waiting for us.  We tried everything on and the guides piled everything up and carted it out to the dive boat.

There were 8 divers and 2 guides on the trip.  The first dive, the guides divided us into 2 groups of 4.  We chose to go with some other beginners as this was our first dive below 60ft.  We were going to try to make it to the underwater sandfalls.  We had a little trouble getting started as one of the divers in our group decided she wasn't comfortable with ocean diving.  The guide took her back to the boat.  In the meantime, we descended and waited on the sandy bottom for our guide.  As we were waiting, we saw a school of manta rays swim by.  They weren't all that close, but it was an AMAZING site!

Once the guide arrived, we swam around and enjoyed the scenery.  I noticed my depth gauge said 100 ft.  I started to panic a little, because we weren't supposed to go past 90 ft.  I got Mike's attention and he showed me his gauge and we were only at about 60 ft.  So, my gauge was broken, which I didn't like.  We did get to 90 ft.  The temperature felt nice, in the upper 60s, low 70s.  We were wearing full wet suits (tank style on top) with shortys over them.  We knew we'd get colder on the second dive, based on previous experience.  We also saw a sea turtle sitting on the bottom and lots and lots of fish.

We had a surface interval of about an hour.  They drove us around the area and arch.

For our second dive, we joined with the other group.  The first guide wanted to spend his time with the newer divers alone.  This dive was to about 60ft.  We saw a sea turtle and a huge puffer fish.

Good dive guides on this trip.  I would dive with them again even though my gauge was broke.

Taco Loco - We stopped here for lunch based on a recommendation from another travel site.  They have 4 tacos + beer for $7.  I ordered all fish tacos and found out that was a mistake.  You can mix between fish, pork, chicken, and carne.  Mike got one of each and decided the carne was the best and the fish was the worst.  The fish was breaded for one thing, which isn't what we like.  They did have a toppings bar where you added  your own cabbage, salsa, and whatever you wanted.

If you want a cheap lunch, I'd recommend this place, but not the fish tacos.

Pancho’s Tequila Bar - I had wanted to go here last time we were in Cabo, but we didn't make it.  After lunch, we decided to check out the tequila bar and have a few drinks.

We sat at the bar and the bartendar recommended his 2 favorite tequilas that weren't all that expensive.  The Oro Azul was about $6 a shot and the Maestro Tequilero was about $8 a shot.  We trusted his recommendation as there were over 100 to chose from.  They were both very good and left us feeling very good.

You can also eat lunch here.

Mazatlan – Day 4, second port

Our ship docked in Mazatlan from 7am-530pm.  We had decided not to book an excursion for this port since we weren't sure what we wanted to do.  We also thought it would be nice to just explore the city on our own.

We ended up hiking to Faro Lighthouse, having lunch in the Golden Zone, and taking an hour tour ride through the city in an open air taxi.

Mazatlan has a lot of character and is very rustic.  I would definitely like to go back and spend more time in Old Town Maz.

Hike to El Faro Lighthouse - Our ship offered this hike as an excursion for $50 pp.  I wondered why someone would pay that much if you could get there on your own.

We walked out of the cruise terminal and went left towards the large hill in the distance.  Lots of taxis were trying to give us a ride, but we wanted to walk the whole way.  It was an interesting walk, we saw lots of locals out and about and we went by a school with all the kids outside having lunch.  It took us about 20 minutes to get to the bottom of the hill to the lighthouse from the cruise ship.  The hill is next to a sewage facility, so the smells weren't all that pleasant.

We headed up the hill and there were lots of guys working along the way.  It looked like they were making the pathway better, pouring concrete in some areas.  We saw several iguanas and lizards along the way.  It took about 20 minutes to get to the top and we were rewarded with some nice views.

There is a little store at the top that sells sodas and water, although not much of a selection.  There really isn't a public restroom, but the guy running the store let us use his bathroom.  I was glad we had brought hand sanitizer with us as it wasn't the cleanest, but when you have to go.

Open Air Taxi Tour - The pulmonia, open-air taxis, were a lot of fun to ride in.  There are a lot of them available at the cruise ship terminals as well as regular taxi.  You can usually bargain with them to take you on 1 hour or 2 hour tours of the city.  Our server from lunch set us up with a driver for an hour tour for $20.

 

They were going to charge us $10 just to take us back to the cruise ship anyway.

We went around seeing monuments, homes, and different areas of town.  He made several stops so we could get out and take pictures.  He also let us out to go inside the Cathedral in Old Town.

During our tour around Mazatlan, our pulmonia driver took us through the Old Town area of Mazatlan.  There are a lot of original buildings and the streets are very narrow.  There were also a lot of sidewalk cafes around the plaza areas.  On our next visit, I'd like to take some time to walk around the area more.

Puerto Vallarta – Day 5, third port

The ship docked in PV from 8am-10pm.  The first thing we noticed when we looked out our window was the Walmart and Sam's Club and wondered how many people from our ship would be headed there.

Our excursion here was our favorite.  We chose the canopy and rappelling tour.  Neither of us had been on a zip line or rappelled before this trip.  Our excursion lasted most of the day and wore us out, so we didn't see any other part of PV.

This was the most tropical port of our trip, PV is very pretty.

Zip Line Trip - We booked this excursion with our cruise.  Once we got off the ship and met our group, we all piled into a speed boat and headed across the water to an area that was mostly canopy.

We got off the boat and separated into 2 groups of 14 and got inside these big 4 wheel trucks to take us further into the canopy.  It was a very bumpy ride, but lots of fun!

We got to the facility and got our equipment put on by the guides.  We had 6 guides for our group and we were given good instructions before we started.  We started the adventure with a mule ride up to the first zipline.  We went on like 10 ziplines and rappelled down a waterfall.

There was a guy taking pictures of us the whole time as they won't let you take a camera.  At the end, you can see your pictures and purchase them if you want and have them sent to you.  It was $40 per person for all the pictures of you were in or like $300 for the whole CD of pictures.

Cabo San Lucas - September 2007

We went to Cabo over Labor Day weekend 2007.  The weather was very sunny and warm, in the 90s.  We stayed at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort (TA Review), on the Corridor, which is about 25 minutes outside of the main town of Cabo.  We spent a lot of our stay at the pool at our hotel, since most of the beaches in Cabo are not swimable due to the rough surf.  We dined at The Hacienda for breakfast every morning. Being a Hilton member, we received breakfast coupons for the Continental Breakfast (originally $20 USD) that was only coffee, pastries, and fruit. Lots of fruit and pastry options! Not a fan of the coffee, so I stuck to hot tea. To add the full buffett, we had to pay an extra $10 ($30 USD without coupon). They had an omelet station and a large variety of other foods. I definitely think the full buffett is the better value.  We had lunch a few times at the Sunset Bar by the pool, they have sushi also. The baja burgers are excellent!  Overall good food and service. Prices what you'd expect at any resort.

  

We went on a dive and sunset dinner cruise.  We also had a couple of drinks at the Giggling Marlin and Cabo Wabo.  We would have done more, but Mike got sick the first day.  Things were more expensive than I had expected, but it's a very touristy place.

We were lucky enough to have left the evening before Hurricane Henriette made landfall.

AIRLINE/AIRPORT: 

We flew AeroMexico for the first time on this trip.  I hadn't heard much about the airline, but we aren't really that picky.  They were the cheapest at the time.  I'll compare to Southwest as that's our airline of choice.  We carried on luggage since we were only going to be there for 4 days, so I can't comment on baggage handling.  The overhead bins are actually a little bigger than on Southwest.  We weren't able to pre-print our boarding pass online, like most other airlines allow.  There is not as much leg room as Southwest, it's a little cramped when the people in front of you put their seat back.  They serve a small meal on board free of charge.  On the way there (morning flight), we had a muffin, yogurt, fruit and coffee or juice.  On the way back (evening flight), we had a turkey and cheese sandwich, piece of cake, and soda or free alcohol!  They still use the roller carts in the aisle, so it makes it difficult to get up while they are serving, which is most of the first hour of the flight.  All instructions given on board are first in Spanish and then repeated in English.  One thing I did like about this airline is that they waste no time turning off the fasten seat belt sign, almost immediately after reaching 10,000 feet.  (I have a small bladder).  Our flights were on time both ways and the flight attendants were all very friendly.

Once we arrived at Los Cabos (San Jose del Cabo, SJD) airport, passengers walk off the plane on the tarmac, down stairs pushed up to the plane doors, front and back.  You then find the line inside to customs.  Some of the lines go fast and some go slow, ours was very slow.  Try to get in the farthest left line as sometimes there are 2 people working that one line, because there is a separate line for Mexicanos that hardly has anyone in it.  The person working that line will usually help with the other line.  Once through customs, you'd find your luggage if you checked luggage and go to the scanner to scan all your luggage.  After that, you are free to leave the airport.  Hopefully, you will already have your ground transportation booked and know where to go.  As you are leaving the airport, there are lots and lots of time share reps that will try to get you to attend one of their resorts.  If you are not interested, just ignore them, don't give them your transportation reservation paper, and keep walking towards the exit.  If you are interested in getting some free activities, then do talk with them.  They are known to hand out a lot of discounts and free activities, all you have to do is tell them what you want.  If you don't tell them, they won't offer.

GROUND TRANSPORTATION:

Our ground transportation was with TransCabo.  We reserved online and printed our voucher.  Outside the airport, there will be a lot of drivers standing around, go to the ones in the bright orange shirts.  They will say TransCabo on the shirts.  They will check your voucher and prepare your return to the airport voucher.  Your driver will then take your bags and escort you to his van.  They may have other passengers to drop off at other hotels in the van.  They have free bottled water available once you are in the van.  The drivers we had both times were very friendly and curteous.

  

ACTIVITIES:

Sunrider Sunset Cruise - We came across this company on TA. I was looking for a booze cruise that served more than chips and dip. We reserved a spot by email through the website; however, our name was not on the list afterall. We had no problem getting on board. They only take cash at boarding, $45 USD each. I heard others paid less through other vendors.

We were towards the end of the long line, but were able to find a couple of seats inside next to the bar. We sat next to another couple and spent the evening with them.

The cruise had an open bar and a buffet that served chicken kabobs, steak fajitas, chips, salsa, guac, and fruit. The food was very good and you could get as much as you wanted as long as it was open. They announced a "last call" for the buffet.

We cruised out of the harbor, down to The Arch, around The Arch, up the Pacific side a ways, and then back into the harbor. Overall, about a 2 and 1/2 hour cruise. There was dance music playing the entire time, some people were dancing inside by the bar.  This was a very fun cruise that I definitely recommend and would do again.

Amigos Del Mar Diving - We were still beginning certified divers. This 2 tank dive in Cabo was dive #7 & 8 for us. I came across this company on the PADI website. I contacted them by email  and then called their US phone number to make a reservation. We ended up having to change the reservation the morning of our original one, because my husband got sick. There was no problem changing the reservation.

We got there and got our equipment all picked out. We rented all gear for $20 USD total pp. The only thing we'd brought with us was our masks and snorkel. We were given shortys as the water temp was in the 70s. We paid with cash to receive a 10% dicount.

Our group on the dive boat consisted of 3 couples, a guide and a driver. Nice and roomy. There were no snacks on board, but lots of free water bottles.

Our first dive was at "Cortez's Finger" (aka Neptune's Finger or Coyote Rock). As we were anchoring, we saw several Manta Rays swimming by jumping out of the water. We decsended and swam around the rock. We hit a maximum depth of about 60 feet, the viz was about 15 feet, and temp about 72 degrees. We saw lots of schooling fish, large Morey Eels, lots of blow fish, including one spiky blow fish. Our guide made a couple of them blow up. I don't like when guides mess with things, but it was cool seeing them blow up. We also held a spiny cushion that stuck to your hand when turned upside down.

Our second dive was a few feet away at "Pelican Rock". The depth here was only about 40 feet. With the shorty on, I was starting to get cold. Another diver had put his hood on for the second dive. The water temp was still in the 70s, but after being in a while, it started to feel cold. This dive was uneventful for me. I was having some buoyancy issues. There was nothing really different seen here anyway.

Overall, the diving company was very professional, helpful and friendly. I would dive with them again.

We loved our hotel and the few activities we did that are reviewed here.  One thing I'd like to do if we go back is rent jet skis and ride around the harbor and check out The Arch up close.