Background Information

This was cruise #10 for me and cruise #8 for my wife and it was our first on Holland America. We have cruised the most on Carnival, twice on Princess and twice on NCL.

I was looking for special places to vacation during the winter of 2008-2009 that would satisfy some of my urges to snorkel, kayak and beach in beautiful destinations with white sand beaches and clear light blue and green waters. I got a tip while reading about various places that focused my attention on La Paz and Loreto, Mexico in the Sea of Cortez. I had been to all the big destinations on the Mexican Riviera 4-5 times - Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa, Manzanillo, and Acapulco and although I like some of those ports for land vacations, the deep, cool Pacific waters and more golden and brown sand beaches are not quite my perfect dream for snorkeling, kayaking and beaching. I prefer the Caribbean, Mexico's Riviera Maya and Belize for beautiful warm light blue and green waters, and light colored sand beaches for the perfect snorkeling and kayaking. I was reading that the beaches up in the Sea of Cortez were much like the Caribbean and very unlike the rest of the Mexican Riviera. The photos and articles made La Paz and Loreto sound like the perfect destination for me. One drawback is that these two cities are a little more complicated and expensive to get to than the other bigger tourist destinations down there. La Paz is starting to get a few more flights from LAX and Phoenix, but a lot of articles recommended flying to Cabo San Lucas(San Jose Del Cabo , SJD, airport) then taking Mexican busses or a rental car there, over 100 miles north to La Paz - Loreto is like another 100 miles or so north past La Paz. That seemed like a lot of work, planning problems and expense to stay 5-7 days in a place I was not sure of. I have always liked cruises as a way to quickly "check out" several ports and places for land vacations at a later time. I didn't know any major cruise line went into the Sea Of Cortez, other than a very expensive small cruise line, when I ran into a special by Holland America on the Ryndam for 10 day cruises of the Mexican Riviera and the Sea of Cortez and 3 of the ports were in the Sea of Cortez - Topolobampo, Loreto and La Paz. That's what got me to sign on for this cruise starting from San Diego on December 1, 2008, for 10 days and 6 ports of call. The cruise was a major success at introducing me to Loreto and La Paz and it seemed to me, that for the activities I like, La Paz was the clear winner and although Loerto had the beaches and waters I like most, it seemed a little too small and laid back for my taste. My wife and I spent 2 full days, one at La Paz and one at Loreto - kayaking and snorkeling beautiful bays with white sandy beaches and incredibly inviting blue and green waters to play in. Some of the other aspects of the cruise and Topolobampo were disappointing, but I detail that more below. All in all it was a great cruise because of the fun we had at all the ports - 6 ports in 10 days - port days 6 in a row. We also prefer port days to sea days so this cruise was also a big hit for us that way. Read more