Huatulco: Tips for Booking Tours off the Cruise Ship

Article by guest author Peter Brooker

One of the first stops off the Princess Cruise ship out of Long Beach was Huatulco (pronounced wah-tool-co) , a relatively undiscovered Cruise Port. Located on the Pacific Coast in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Unlike all other cruises we decided not to book any excursions through Princess, instead opting to try our luck when we came into port. There are many pros and cons when booking tours off the boat as opposed to through your cruise liner;

PROS:

Much cheaper to book tours when you get off the boat.
There will be many tour guides looking to take you places, most of the tours will be the same as offered on the boat and as mentioned; cheaper.
You get to have more autonomy and can even ask to tailor your tours to your requirements.

CONS:

Not guaranteed everything you pay for, you'll get.
Not guaranteed to be back at port for time of departure.
Guides on the off-the-boat tours, generally don't speak English as the ones booked through the Cruise ship.

Tips for booking cruises off the Boat:

●  Always haggle.

●  Always write down the agreed figure on some paper and show it to the guide.

●  Make sure the agreed figure is the total and not per person.

●  Laminate any Identification instead of taking out your real documents.

All that said, we found a guy to give us a tour out in his boat for some fishing. After haggling a steep discount (£200 for 3 hours) my partner and I got on a small fishing boat, and set out from the port.

We passed a floating Green Olive Turtle mangled by plastic, encircled by its own entrails. Heartbreaking, I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo.

A whale flukes close to the boat. We catch a couple of Bonitos before heading back.

From the port we walk half an hour into the main town. We order two cocktails in a bar, on the table next to us someone asks for an alcohol free cocktail because they're underage. The bartender replies, ‘relax man, you’re in Mexico.’

Just then a busker serenades the patrons from the street on an old penny whistle, one of the diners in the table behind us shouts 'shut the f*ck up, I’m on a business call.'

The busker tells him to smile and plays Don't Worry Be Happy.

There really is nothing in the town of Huatulco, and the walk along the main road is not the most scenic. I'd recommend staying in the port, finding a nice bar and eat some tasty shrimp. Definitely seek out a fishing trip, there will be plenty of tours you can take. Just remember, pay half upfront and half at the end, and agree on the price by writing the FINAL figure down on paper.