Activities in Central Pacific Coast
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Eco Ride
Surrounded by the mountains, jungle and sea, Vallarta offers some truly thrilling mountain biking. This outfit offers guided one-day cycling tours suited for beginners and badasses alike. The most challenging is a 50km expedition from El Tuito (a small town at 1100m) through Chacala and down to the beach in Yelapa. The views are stunning.
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Davannayoga
Yoga Alliance–certified Davannayoga offers a wide-ranging schedule of yoga classes, including the popular Sunset Yoga, held daily on a rooftop high above Vallarta.
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Buseo Nautilus Divers
Snorkeling is good at Playa Las Gatas and even better at Playa Manzanillo, especially in the dry season, when visibility is best. Buseo Nautilus Divers offers a variety of dives and NAUI courses and certification.
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Banderas Scuba Republic
Banderas Scuba Republic maintains a high degree of professionalism with its small-group excursions to both well-known and lesser-known sites. Private diving tours (from M$5200) are also offered.
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Lunazul
Several local surf shops offer rentals and lessons, including the well-established Lunazul.
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Kelly’s Bicycle Shop and Tours
Kelly’s Bicycle Shop and Tours can provide mountain bikes for M$195 per day.
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Tufted Jay Preserve
Especially worthwhile are Sendero México’s tours to the Tufted Jay Preserve, a nature resort located high in the mountains southeast of Mazatlán. You don’t have to be a birder to be enchanted by this beautiful enclave, created collaboratively in 2005 by the local community and the Mexican conservation group Pronatura to protect the lush habitat of this striking endemic bird – easily identified by its long tail, black bib and wings, and Mohawk-style hairdo. Day trips (M$1900) include hiking, bird-watching and optional horseback riding. Overnight visits (by arrangement with Sendero México) include accommodations in lantern-lit wooden cabins with kitchenette or in safari …
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Onca Explorations
If being in the wake of cetaceans floats your boat, try Onca Explorations and its 3½-hour Whale Quest, a humpback-whale research expedition led by marine ecologist Oscar Guzón (M$1100) from December to March. During your journey, learn about whale-research techniques as the crew collects information on the behavioral ecology of the whales and conducts a photo-identification project. Also offered is a four-hour dolphin research and island snorkeling expedition with an emphasis on marine ecology and conservation (M$975, year-round), and a fascinating four-hour tour to the archeological site Las Labradas (M$850), where the only beachside petroglyphs in the Americas exist.
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La Tovara
A boat trip through the jungle to the freshwater spring of La Tovara - a federally protected estuary - is a real San Blas highlight. Small boats go from the embarcadero (jetty). The three-hour trips go up Estuario San Cristóbal to the spring, passing thick jungle and mangroves. Bring your swimsuit to swim at La Tovara; there's a restaurant there, too.
For a few pesos more you can extend the trip from La Tovara to the Cocodrilario (crocodile nursery), where toothy reptiles are reared in captivity for later release in the wild. For a group of up to four people it costs around $360 to go to La Tovara (3½ hours) and around $440 to the Cocodrilario (four hours).
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Hawaiano
Various boats and yachts offer cruises, most of which depart from around Playa Tlacopanocha or Playa Manzanillo near the zócalo. Cruises – from M$120 for 1½ hours to over M$250 for four hours – are available day and night. They range from glass-bottomed boats to multilevel craft (with blaring salsa music and open bars) to yachts offering quiet sunset cruises around the bay. The Victoria , Hawaiano , Fiesta and Bonanza cruise operations are all popular; you can make reservations directly from the eager captains at the marina or through travel agencies and most hotels.
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Bonanza
Various boats and yachts offer cruises, most of which depart from around Playa Tlacopanocha or Playa Manzanillo near the zócalo. Cruises – from M$120 for 1½ hours to over M$250 for four hours – are available day and night. They range from glass-bottomed boats to multilevel craft (with blaring salsa music and open bars) to yachts offering quiet sunset cruises around the bay. The Victoria , Hawaiano , Fiesta and Bonanza cruise operations are all popular; you can make reservations directly from the eager captains at the marina or through travel agencies and most hotels.
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Sociedad Cooperativa de Servicios Turísticos
Trips into the Laguna de Navidad are a Barra highlight. The boatmen’s cooperative, Sociedad Cooperativa de Servicios Turísticos, books a variety of boat excursions ranging from half-hour trips around the lagoon ($300 per boat) to all-day jungle trips to Tenacatita (M$3000 per boat). The cooperative also offers fishing, snorkeling and diving trips, plus visits to the tiny village of Colimilla, where there are several welcoming seafood restaurants. Prices are posted at the open-air lagoonside office.
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Picante
Picante, a 23m catamaran based in Bahía de Zihuatanejo, offers a couple of different excursions. The ‘Sail and Snorkel’ trip (M$950 plus M$90 for equipment rental, 10am to 2:30pm) sails south of Zihua to the prime snorkeling of Playa Manzanillo’s coral reef. The ‘Magical Sunset Cruise’ (M$675, from 4:30pm to 7pm) heads around the bay and out along the coast of Ixtapa. Prices include open bar, food and transportation to and from your hotel. Reservations required.
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Ocean Pacific Adventures
Sailfish and dorado are found in the waters off Manzanillo during every season of the year, while marlin and tuna are generally in the area from November to March. Supporting Manzanillo's only catch-and-release program (though they also offer standard fishing trips), the well-run Ocean Pacific Adventures offers fishing trips on 26ft (around $2700) and 40ft cruisers; prices are for the whole boat and include gear, drinks and having your fish cooked up for dinner.
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CICI
The family water-sports park, CICI, is on the east side of Acapulco. Dolphins perform daily at 2pm (admission M$10), and humans occasionally give diving exhibitions. You can also swim with dolphins yourself (M$1350 per hour) or enjoy an 80m-long water toboggan (tube rental per person M$30), a pool with artificial waves or the Sky Coaster (per person M$150) giant swing ride. Any local bus marked ‘CICI, ’ ‘Base’ or ‘Puerto Marqués’ will take you here.
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Whisky Water World
Sportfishing is popular in Zihuatanejo. Sailfish are caught here year-round; seasonal fish include blue or black marlin (March to May), roosterfish (September to October), wahoo (October), mahi mahi (November to December) and Spanish mackerel (December). Deep-sea fishing trips cost anywhere from around $2000 to around $4300, depending upon the size of the boat. Trips run up to seven hours and usually include equipment. English is spoken at Whisky Water World .
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Aqua Sport Center
The Aqua Sport Center is the place to go for all sorts of water sports, including scuba diving (one-tank dive M$900), snorkeling rentals (per day M$150), jet skiing (per half-hour M$650), banana-boat rides (M$450 for up to five passengers), parasailing (M$500), sailboat rentals (per hour M$500) and kayak rentals (per hour M$200 to M$325). Water-sports equipment can also be hired from the beaches of most other large beachfront hotels.
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King David’s Mazatlán Jungle Tour
King David’s Mazatlán Jungle Tour offers a six-hour ecotour into the gorgeous bird-filled mangroves of a protected wildlife refuge. Stops along the way include an enormous coconut plantation, a secluded beach strewn with sea urchins, and a rustic restaurant for a lunch of freshly smoked fish. Offered separately is a five-hour bird-watching tour (adult/child M$650/450), which goes even deeper into Isla de Piedra’s protected waterways.
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Sea to Sierra
The Mexican-owned Sea to Sierra offers a wide range of active adventures through remote, gorgeous territory. Choose from mountain-bike tours (four- to eight-hour tours M$300 to M$900), diving (one-/two-/three-tank dives M$850/1200/1500), snorkeling excursions (per person M$600, per boat M$1500 to M$2500) and horseback adventure tours (two-/seven-hour tour M$600/1200). Ask about the multiday ecoadventure and cultural tours.
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Centro de Idiomas
Centro de Idiomas offers Spanish courses for three or five hours from Monday to Friday with a maximum of six students per class. Begin any Monday; registration is Saturday morning from 09:00 to noon. The school also facilitates individual instruction, volunteer work within the community, and homestays with three meals a day. Prices listed are for the first week of study; substantial discounts are offered for each additional week.
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Rancho Mi Chaparrita
Rancho Mi Chaparrita is the best established tour operator, offering hour-long horseback rides to Los Muertos and Carrisitos beaches (per person M$325) and longer rides into the mountains (M$1100), a canopy zip-line adventure (M$975), surfing trips (M$650 to M$975), sportfishing excursions (M$3250 for up to eight people), and snorkeling trips to the Islas Marietas (M$2600 for up to six people).
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Sightseeing Tours
Several boats take three-hour Sightseeing Tours, mostly leaving from the marina near El Faro at 11:00 to sail the harbor and islands. Two-hour sunset cruises (sometimes called 'booze cruises') include hors d'oeuvres and alcohol. Look for flyers around town, talk to a tour agent or call the operators of boats such as Costalegre (982-31-30; Calz Camarena s/n) and Yate Fiesta (981-71-54; Calz Camarena s/n).
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Marigalante
If your tot has a pirate fetish, the little lad or lassie won’t tolerate missing a cruise on the Marigalante, a reproduction Spanish galleon that does pirate-themed daytime cruises (adult/child M$1100/550) from 8am to 3pm Monday through Saturday. It departs from the Terminal Maritima in Marina Vallarta, off Blvd Francisco Ascencio opposite Sam’s Club.
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Underworld Scuba
Snorkeling, diving, surfing and deep-sea fishing are all popular around the bay. The scuba diving in Manzanillo can be spectacular, and there are many sites to explore – either off the beach or out on the bay. Try Underworld Scuba. Its complete PADI dive center charges M$1100 for two-tank dives, including equipment, or M$4500 for PADI certification.
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Boat Trips
More boat trips depart from a landing on Estuario El Pozo. They include a trip to Piedra Blanca (two hours) to visit the statue of the Virgin, to Isla del Rey (5 minutes) just across from San Blas and to Playa del Rey, a 20km beach on the other side of the Isla del Rey peninsula. Here you can also hire boatmen to take you on bird-watching excursions.
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