Pirate Ship Vallarta — Attraction in Jalisco

I would recommend other activities over Pirate Ship Vallarta Day Tour because you spend 5 hours sitting on a boat and less than 2 hours at the beach. Our kids liked the pirate show for about an hour but would have preferred we played at the beach at our resort and rode a banana boat available near the property. The staff are fantastic but it's a long day. This is an excursion for kids.

At 8:30 am you meet at the Pirate Ship's Store. You check-in with your printed confirmation and ID, pay M$30 per person 8 years old and over in cash, and are assigned you pirate. The store sells t-shirts, sunscreen, hats; credit card accepted. Our Pirate didn't speak any English but we managed with our Spanish.

You board the ship over a small ramp and are taken to the wooden bench you will sit on for 5+ hours. Mini water bottles are provided throughout and Dramamine if offered. Next, guests are called down in groups to climb down a ladder to the lower level to eat. American or Mexican breakfast is provided. American includes 2 pancakes, scrambled eggs, 1 piece of bacon, croissants, and an apple. Beverage choices are 7Up, Pepsi/Diet, Pineapple and Orange Juice. Food was pretty good for a pirate ship.

The ship left port at 10 am and they covered rules and put on a show geared toward kids. It is about 60% Spanish/40% English. Kids and parents participated in a dance contest. You are mostly shielded from the sun on the ship. Restrooms are available (5 stalls I think) with sinks and soap. I didn't see showers or good areas to change - stalls are small and there is urine on the floor.

The ship's railings are less than 42" tall in some places. The ship is shallow, small, and picks up water movement. It can be hard to stand and walk and some people were sick. There is no railing on the stage to keep kids from falling off. The same staff are the performers, servers, boat operators, safety, and beach attendants. They do it all and it's truly incredible!

We arrived near the island's shoreline 8 miles away at 12:20 (after almost 3 hours). To get to the beach, you have to jump from a platform on the ship to a small motor boat while both move with the waves. Everyone is given a life jacket. The staff help you but it seemed crazy and I was afraid my kids would be injured if their hands or legs got caught between the 2 boats as they slam together or if they fell down the stairs. Small motor boats transports you yo shore and you get out in shallow water but will get wet. The staff lift the kids out while the boat is moving.

There are hammock chairs on the beach and umbrellas. They serve alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks but no snacks or food. The sand is rocky and hot. There is a treasure hunt for kids and a game of tug-of-war. There are banana boat rides that are fun, but they ran out of time before everyone could go. I recommend this for ages 6 and older. It isn't super fast but if you let go, you will slip off into the ocean. No towels are provided; no bathrooms on beach. At 2:20 we started returning to the ship (2 hours on beach). The beach area is small and shared by another operator. The rest of the island is private and inaccessible.

The process to get off is the same for getting back on but more people got bruises. Lunch is at 3 pm. This, combined with greater boat movement meant a lot more people got sea sick. We returned at 4:45 (plan for 8.5 hours total, 7 hours not including checkin and boarding). At the port you will find bathrooms, shopping, and taxis.

BEST AGES 5-10 years old, 6-7 is best

TIPS *Bring cash for tips (~$5/person for server plus M$ for performers and bathroom attendant). *Bring towels Wear shoes that are easy to remove and can get wet (must remove when getting on/off motor boats) *Water socks for the rocky beach Snacks - 5 hrs between meals Motion sickness aids *Wet bag for wet clothes Don't wear pants - they will get wet Bring $15 to buy the photo taken Sunscreen,SPF shirts, hats, sunglasses Avoid if you have motion sickness, mobility issues, or sensitivities to...

Worst excursion ever. Complete lack of informed consent.

We realized upon arrival we had forgotten our kids’ life vests. They tried to pressure us to use theirs, but we had time to get ours and glad we did because theirs were worn out and we never would have found ones in all the right sizes.

What the pirates knew, but we did not find out until after, was that red flag conditions were declared that day. The seas were very rough. Ship was rocking hard the entire time. 4 in our group got sick, one throwing up the entire way. When we finally made it to the beach, they said to line up to take a boat to the beach or stay seated to snorkel. Half our group including 3 children chose to snorkel, and the other half with 2 infants and 3 toddlers lined up for the boats. Getting on the boats was difficult, as the waves were throwing them into the ship. The crew frustratedly rushed us to get on. When we were finally on the boats, they were unable to get to shore because of the waves. They decided to kayak each person. We were very against putting our infants in kayaks. They kept pressuring us and reassuring us that it would be fine. Desperate to get on land, we finally agreed. They began yelling “WHO CAN SWIM?!” So one dad hopped in the water, took a toddler on his chest, and swam for shore. One mom and infant barely made it in the kayak, with baby having to be quickly passed to a stranger on shore while mom was tossed onto land. Other baby was also handed to a stranger at the last minute, and mom was thrown into the water fully clothed, ripping her shirt and scraping her foot. The remaining toddlers were sent in dad’s lap in a kayak. Our bags all had to come separately on a kayak and were dumped into the sea. We watched elderly and disabled people basically abused into kayaks and nearly drowned.

Meanwhile, our other family members on the ship waiting to snorkel were told to jump in the ocean. As soon as they did, it was obvious there was no chance of snorkeling. The pirates began shouting for everyone to swim to shore. The rest of us watched from the beach as they swam for their lives to avoid getting thrown into the rocks.

Now with everyone soaking wet and crying, we tried to figure out a different way off this remote beach than the way we came. In the meantime, the waves are crashing up on the shore, trying to take our stuff along with them. None of the advertised activities are possible besides the “treasure hunt”. The open bar was laughable and nothing was “premium”.

After an hour of trying to find another way home, our group decided to go with the evil we knew and get back on the ship. The pirates handed out Dramamine, but we insisted that we would not put our babies back on kayaks. The promised they could get the speed boat to shore for us. That turned out to be equally terrifying, as the boat was being thrown at us by the waves and having to be held onto by many people. The pirates constantly pressured us to hand them our children to take into the crashing waves towards this thrashing boat. When we repeatedly said no, they kept pushing and insisting. It was truly traumatizing. We eventually had to scramble onto the boat one by one, slipping and almost getting hit by the motor, trying to keep our babies above water.

We finally made it back on the ship to endure an excruciating 3 hours back. Least of all but still worth noting, the food (including premium) was disgusting, horribly tough lobster and steak not served until at least two. Show was not family friendly, and at the very end are personal pirate had the nerve to ask three times for a tip. No, I will not be giving you more of my money after you risked our children’s lives and went against my will. After all this, we complained and all they would do was give us 50% back.

We discovered the red flag warning when we returned to our hotel, and also saw that two individuals drowned that day because of the rough seas. They absolutely should not have taken us out, much less to shore, and they were negligent in a dozen other...

This was one of the most horrifying experiences for my family and I. When I bought tickets for this tour I specifically asked for a kid safe and friendly tour as i was bring my teenager and toddler. this tour transfers you from the big pirate boat to smaller boats to then be transported to the beach. Same way back they put you on a small boat to be transported back to the pirate ship. Tides were high that day and one of the pirates mentioned that it would be dangerous to be transported straight back into the small boats, that it was probably better for people who knew how to swim, to swim to the small boat while holding on to a rope, and people who didn’t know how to swim and children would be transported into the small boat in a kayak, yet they decided to skip all that and just take us straight into the small boats. I saw some people slip trying to get on, i saw and elder women fall into the water trying to get on, i saw people getting completely wet with all their belongings, but the worse was when we got on, the tides got so high that the came over us while we were in the boat, my husband and toddler sitting infront of me and i literally saw the wave just completely take us in. as we came out my first instinct was to see if my husband was still holding on to my toddler. Barely got to take breath when i saw another wave coming and again it hit us, the boat started sinking and flipping over, the motor had completely detached, they started telling us to jump off as it seemed to be flipping over us, my teen daughter jumped off and again was struck by another wave that threw her near a rock, luckily she was able to use her hands to push herself away from it. My husband passed my toddler to one of the guys from the pirate crew they took her and then we jumped out. Once at the beach i could not find my teen daughter, this was the most horrific moment of my life i was screaming like crazy until i finally saw her come out of the water. with the impact i hurt my leg, part of my toenail came off, and have some other minor bruises, my husband hurt his foot and my daughters with some very minor scratches, but was very thankful to be alive! the crew approached me and said they would take care of my injuries once on the pirate boat. after this they finally decided to use the kayaks to transfer people to the boats and i was terrified to go back in the water but finally made it back safe to the pirate ship. only one member approached asked how i felt, but no one approached me to check my injuries. we were soaked, covered in sand all of our belongings wet, people around us gave us their towels, we were the last on the pirate boat by that time the showers were off so we didn’t rinse. my husband phone was soaked no longer working. i was in a horrible state of shock and my teen daughter cried the whole way back to the port. i feel like all of this Could have been prevented because the staff was aware of the conditions of the sea, this tour should have been cancelled or they should have cancelled the trip to the beach. i don’t normally ever write reviews for anything but i felt like people needed to know this, and be aware of the risks of this tour because they don’t inform you. if i had known i would have never brought my family...