Cruising The Mexican Riviera

The Mexican Riviera refers to over a dozen cities and lagoons lying on the western coast of Mexico by the Pacific Ocean stretching from the northwest border by U.S.A. in Baja California down to the southern region of Oaxaca. Although there are long distances between these cities, they are often collectively referred to as the Mexican Riviera because of their many oceanfront resorts and their popularity among tourists.

Cruise ships often visit three or four of these destinations on their longer cruises. 5-7 day cruises from various locations in California, USA by Princess, Disney, Carnival and other cruise lines frequently visit many of the popular destinations listed below.

• Ensenada, Baja California
• Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur 
• Mazatlán, Sinaloa 
• Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco 
• Manzanillo, Colima 
• Acapulco, Guerrero 
• Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
• Salina Cruz, Oaxaca

For our trip, we took a week-long cruise on the Carnival Panorama from the port of Long Beach, California. The Vista-class ship is one of the largest in Carnival’s Fleet (as of 2024) with a maximum occupancy of over 5100 passengers. The beautiful port of Long Beach also harbors the historic Queen Mary I, now a museum ship.

After a day at sea we reached our first port of call in Puerto Vallarta. The lovely port city had a grand view from our ship as evident from the pictures below.

A day later our ship docked in the busy port and much larger city of Mazatlan in the Sinaloa region. Our departure during sunset offered a scenic view of the harbor and nearby islands.

Our most exciting stop was at Cabo San Lucas in Baja California region. Here we took a tinder to shore. Then joined a group of fellow passengers in a guided whale watching excursion that was both thrilling and informative.

We highly recommend a week-long cruise on the Mexican Riviera from California. In our experience, its a more laidback and scenic experience to its counterpart in the other Mexican coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Watch the clip below for a quick visual experience of the cruise!