Stone Island Beach Getaway

Victor was a great tour guide. Made it fun and light. Boat ride over was good and the activities on the island were fun. The short horseback ride was fun and lunch was yum- perfect amount! Beach was very nice too

We enjoyed the city tour before the beach. The tour guide was very attentive. However the beach itself was a big disappointment. On arrival the few lounge chairs they had were taken. Everyone on our bus were sat in a muddy sand area that you could hardly see the ocean with all of the vendors selling things between the tables and beach. The food was bland and didn’t appear fresh made (frozen or reheated). The “open” bar the entire group was complaining. It was a person at a table pouring cheap liquor and beer into cups. The place had a nice big bar and restaurant that was not included. The drinks were so bad we went to the real bar and bought a few beers. We saw a people from our cruise ship that said they had paid $5 for the water taxi to the same place! Needless to say we felt a ripped off considering we were at the same place for $112.84 for the 2 of us.

The company was easy to find in the cruise terminal. The driver was very accommodating in stopping at an ATM during the tour of the city. I don't know that we would have managed to get to the beach without this service, as it included driving to the ferry, a ferry trip across, and a truck ride to the beach resort. The resort was okay but a little rough around the edges visually. The staff was attentive to our needs, though. The excursions were fun (my husband and sons did the horseback riding). There wasn't any excursion for my 5-year-old daughter to do, but she had fun just playing in the sand. There were a lot of vendors on the beach, and the same people approached us in our lounge chairs multiple times, even after being turned away. We were on a port call from a cruise ship, and we were looking for a way to spend as much time in Mazatlan as possible, but in all honesty, we would have been just as happy staying on the ship.

On the positive notes, our guide, Jesus, was amazing. He showed us the city, including a few key stops. He was personable, helpful, kind, and fun. He also earned extra credit, getting us back to the ship earlier than planned when our kids started to get bored. Another positive is the price. For under $60, we had transport to-and-from a beach (3 legs each way), a quick tour of the city, lunch, a blocked off space with tables, and an open bar. So, the trip had a fair value. The beach was also quite nice. So, there is plenty to like. However, there were also some negatives. The blocked off/private area wasn't that nice, complete with cheap plastic chairs, some garbage, and bathrooms which I would only recommend using in an emergency. The included beach activities were a letdown; they weren't using the kayaks that day (a big disappointment for my kids) and the horse ride was done in a side ally next to cars and not on the beach, meaning we passed on that as well (a big disappointment for my wife). The logistics were also tricky. Drinks were free, but not if you ordered them from servers. Lunch is also free, but only if you order it off a small part of the menu. In fact, we ordered a lunch, which we thought was free, and were surprised by a bill later on. We all found the food to be below average.

Our Guide Carlos was amazing! We did a quick trip to the high points of his beautiful city. He took us to some great photo ops. He also explained a lot about the culture and economics of the City of Mazatlan. The beach trip was a hoot to get to, but after several different modes of transportation we arrived at the beautiful beach. The lunch was included and it was really good and a nice choice on the menu plus some free bar drinks. Carlos was like a mother hen to all of us, making sure we took advantage of all the things that were included in the Getaway!! Great experience!!!

We arrived with other people from our ship and there were no beach chairs to lay upon. We basically had to sit Ebony a covered area with about 250 other people. There really was no spacing to say. A selection of food was very limited. The food was mediocre. The only reason why I’m giving it three stars is because the alcoholic beverages were decent.

Horse back riding was fun until one horse took off running with a fault member. Banana boat was a lot of fun. Drinks were excellent. Food tasted great.

We loved Humberto. He was funny and smart and he made our whole vacation so much better. We so wish we had met him early in our trip. We would have spent every day with him. We are coming back to Mazatlan and it's because of Humberto.

Great guide, but this was with over 100 people, apart from the hotel pick up and drop off. The island is technically not an island (told to us by the horse back guide) and is surrounded by dirty water due to the cargo ships. Unfortunately, we also ended up getting sick from the restaurant that we ate at. Very sad the trash that is left everywhere, on the so called island streets and on the beach.

Nice day trip. Once you arrive at the beach, beware of the constant barrage of solicitors trying to sell anything and everything. Kind of annoying when your trying to relax and enjoy the beautiful beach.