Snorkeling in Cabo and Shopping in Santa Barbara

Hola amigos y amigas! Upon arrival back home to frost on the ground and Christmas lights on display I was reminded that Christmas is just weeks away! Being away from Vancouver for ten days to work on the Star Princess during the busy U.S. Thanksgiving period I forgot all about these brisk winter days.

I had a fantastic time doing two short cruises out of Los Angeles. The first cruise did an overnight stay in Cabo San Lucas while the second cruise had stops in Santa Barbara and Ensenada.


Cabo San Lucas
Night 1:
I got off the ship after my work shift at around 7pm  and was quickly placed on a tender filled with fellow crew members. There are plenty of souvenir shops and restaurants/bars near the pier. We walked past that area and found a shopping mall with air conditioning. This was great since it was surprisingly humid even at night. After walking around the mall for a bit we headed back to the pier to catch the tender back to the ship.
Tip: There are two beaches within walking distance of the pier. If you need directions the tour operators with booths lined up near the pier that we talked to were all very helpful.

Day 2:
There are tons of amazing shore excursions to do in Cabo San Lucas which made it hard to pick just one. I did the Sea of Cortez Zodiac Raft & Snorkel and had an amazing time. Ever since my first time in Cabo San Lucas last year when I wasn't able to get off the ship I knew I wanted to see the famous landmark El Arco up close. The zodiac raft took us around the waters and we stopped within a few feet of El Arco. We saw dozens of sea lions lying on the rock formations in the middle of the sea as well as whales in the distance.

El Arco

Chileno Bay was our first stop for snorkeling. It was my first time snorkeling and it took some time for me to get used to wearing the snorkeling mask and to learn to breathe only through my mouth. From the first moment I stuck my head in the water and saw all the coral and tropical fishes I was hooked! It was absolutely beautiful to see and I couldn't believe how clear the waters were or how deep the sea was. It wasn't long until I was sticking my head underwater for longer periods and swimming around to see all the beauty around me. Unfortunately, motion sickness from snorkeling caught up to me just as we all had to head back onto the zodiac raft to go to our next snorkeling site. I was disappointed that I couldn't snorkel with the group at the second location. According to the group I was with there was an even greater variety of sea life at this site. However, there was a beach that was close enough for me and the rest of the motion sick passengers to swim to. A handful of motion sick passengers (including myself) relaxed on the beach and soaked up the sun.
Overall, even though I ended up getting motion sick from snorkeling I still had a fabulous time and want to go snorkeling again in the very near future!


Santa Barbara
This was a tendered port. There is a beach located right by the pier and the sidewalks are lined with palm trees. My first thought upon getting off the pier was how Santa Barbara looks and feels very California-esque. It's a very walkable city and the main shopping street/district called State Street is filled with stores, malls, restaurants, and fast food places. It also just happened to be Black Friday on the day we were in Santa Barbara so going shopping on State Street was an obvious choice for us. My favourite place ended up being the 99 cent store. This place had name brand snacks at the cheapest prices so we picked up some goodies. After walking around State Street for a few hours we went back to the beach near the pier to enjoy the scenery, sunshine and our snacks.

The beach by the pier

Ensenada
There was a crew drill in the morning and I worked in the afternoon so I wasn't able to get off the ship at this port.


It was a short but sweet trip. Hasta luego!