Arcos (Los), Puerto Vallarta Centro

We went on one of the snorkeling tours last year and it was a pretty cool experience. Chico's dive shop took us this time and we got a lot closer to the rocks than we had the previous year when we had taken one of the booze cruises. We saw a great deal of fish the second time but I really wouldn't consider the trip worth it if your not going to get close to the caves. I opted for no life vest which allowed me to fight the current a little easier than the people around me. The only downside is that their are a lot of small jellyfish around Los Arcos you might not be able to see them but if you go you will get stung. They don't hurt but they will pinch a little bit, its more annoying than anything else.

They sold my room with a kitchenette - promise to give me another the next day, but it never happened, the service desk all they kept saying is tomorrow- rooms are very small and very uncomfortable - - bad parking. Bad experience

We took a small boat ride (from our hotel) to Los Arcos. The water is not going to be as clear as most would like but it is still a good time. The water is a little murky. We had dolphins swimming around the boat on our way out. The view of the mountains was great. We had a few cold Pacificos in hand. The people are always friendly. We paid 45 USD total and this included the four of us. That comes out to 11.25 per person. Keep in mind we could see the island from our hotel so it was a short trip. If I were coming from the cruise ship areas I could think of better excursions for what they would charge. For the negative post below (the one complaining about paying 5.00 for a picture)remember you are in a paradise and tourism is the main source of income for many. What they make in a day you make in an hour.

To start off I'm certainly no expert diver nor have I snorkeled many reefs, but overall my underwater experience at Los Arcos was mediocre at best. My experience in the British Virgin Islands (Monkey Point), left me imagining a vast and colorful landscape full of schools of brightly colored fish and matching ocean floor. This dive revealed little of the sort. Most of the excitement came from the fact that it was my wife and I's first dive in open water. We took the tour with Chico's Dive Shop and found them perfectly accommodating. Unfortunately as many people have already commented, the water is quite murky and there is not a whole lot of color once you can see. We were told there was a possibility of seeing sting rays or eagle rays, but alas they eluded us. We did get to see many puffer fish (held one as well!) as well as angel fish and other small assorted species. If you do go down, keep an eye out for a bug eyed, sad mouthed fish that rests vertically in a hole as wide as a grapefruit in the ocean floor. Somehow he lines the entire wall of his hideaway with seashells! Very peculiar! The captain of our catamaran managed to fish up a large silver rock fish on the way out and the a member of the crew prepared a quick ceviche that was absolutely delicious! This experience, the view of Vallarta on the ride out and the good company we met on the way made the day really enjoyable, the dive however, was not that noteworthy.

it was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i really disliked it. the whole place smelled and it was just overall really bad.. .... ............. ................. ....................... ......... ................................................................ ....... ................... ......................... ................ .......................

Great vieuw. From our balcany we could see the dolphins jumping in the bay. Very good located in the center of PV. A bit noisy but that did not really bother.

My family and I had some good times in Puerto Vallarta, but we did not enjoy this experience at all. It just seemed like we were taken for a ride. A cruise to Los Arcos left a bad taste in our collective mouth, literally and figuratively. We were on a ship called "Sarape", one of many similar ships being operated in the Banderas Bay. The water in the bay was nothing to write home about. Some murky, some cloudy and some clear. Blue green emerald water of paradise it was not! The ship we were on was very poorly maintained and very unsanitary. It was spewing out dark black ashes onto the decks all throughout the cruise. The crew pretended that it didn't usually happen and tried to wipe the ashes from the seats, but our swims suits and shirts were already infected with the black ashes from the Deep. The food offered was, well, even our kids missed their high school cafeteria food. At least, the food is clean at our high shcools. Am I right?? Snorkling was ....... Exactly!!. It was not what I would call snorkling. The water was barely visible. Yes, we could see some fish but we could have done that in our living room aquarium. On top of that, we were given such a short time, we barely had time to look down and look up once. Oh, we did see some real fish of sorts. There were many sharks circling around us all the time. I am sorry I am not talking about the sharks in the water. The cruise is designed to extract as much money as possible from our pockets. Every stop they made, there were people waiting to hound us until we paid for something. At one stop, people were carrying live Iguanas so that we could take pictures with them. One picture - five Dollars! There was this cute four or five year old girl with sad eyes with an iguana on her hand saying "Picture, five dollars." I would have taken a picture for her except for her parents, I assume, lurking behind her to snatch the money away. Oh, by the way, everyone must pay $1.50 to get into the Port where one must spend a fortune to get on to one of these wacky cruises so that one can spend even more money later. You must tip the crew at the end of the trip, of course! I am sure some people had better experience than we did, and I suppose that if one wishes to enjoy more, one could have a private cruise. But it will cost even more money! All truth, nothing but the truth! Enjoy!!

I was born in a little town close to Puerto Vallarta called El Tuito Jalisco. I lived in Puerto Vallarto for about 5 years and I can tell you that it is a precious place to go for a vacation and have fun with all your family. The food is really good and in every corner you will find someone that says hi to you and help you in anything you need. YO AMO PUERTO VALLARTA, JALISCO.

Hmm, well I guess locally these might mean something, but they were just a few big rocks covered in bird poop left in the sea for me. Take a look if you're on that side of the bay, but don't expect a Stonehenge like experience...

I was not impressed with the way our snorkelling trip happened, the jumping into the boat with a life jacket which kept you from staying in one place..the current was so strong I was afraid I would be slammed into the cliff. It was murky and did not offer a good fish seeing experience..however the boat trip was an experience to remember.