Two Stops in Mexico, Including Friends!

We continued our cruise with two stops in Mexico, one new, and one we are familiar with.

Huatulco

Our first stop in Mexico was Huatulco, specifically Puerto Santa Cruz (there are several different bays that make up the resort area of Huatulco).  We had been scheduled to stop here during our 2009 Panama Canal cruise, but the port call was cancelled due to low tides.  Now that we have been here, we understand why!  We were very impressed when our ship spun completely around between rocks and then backed into the dock (a bit more about this topic at the end of this post).

We decided another beach day was in order, so we walked around the small town of Santa Cruz, walked the small beach, and then settled in for some beverages and our favorite lunch anywhere, ceviche de camarones (shrimp ceviche) and guacamole.  We also each took a swim in the ocean.

After an enjoyable time on shore, we headed back to the ship.

Puerto Vallarta for Bucerias

Our next stop after a sea day was in Puerto Vallarta.  We have been to Puerto Vallarta or in the area several times, on a cruise ship and when we had our boat in another part of Banderas Bay.

We were docked directly across the street from a Walmart, so we ran some errands and then headed northeast from the port in an Uber to Bucerias, where we met our friends Chris and Nina for lunch.  They have a condo in Bucerias where they spend approximately November through May each year (they live in Colorado the rest of the year).  We became friends in Mazatlán and still stay in touch.  We visited them in Bucerias two years ago.

For full disclosure, we were too busy visiting to take pictures, so the pictures below in Bucerias were from our visit two years ago.

Bonus – continuing a great day

Two fun things after reboarding the ship after our stop in Puerto Vallarta:

1. We saw many whales and dolphins as we were leaving Banderas Bay.  This is an important breeding ground for whales.
2. When we were eating dinner in the dining area of the buffet, the Captain of our ship was making the rounds and visiting with people.  We met the Captain and told him that as boaters we were impressed with the docking in Huatulco.  He said that it was blowing 30 knots outside the harbor, so he was a little nervous, but it was calm inside so there was no problem.  We also found out that he is from a small village in the far south of Italy.  I do not remember the name but it might be close to where a cousin of Kevin’s who married an Italian lives; it is possibly the same place.