Caravans

I am thinking of taking a caravan but have not decided yet, I know I could get to many more places but the being on a schedule has never been the way I travel, normally, I like I stay, don't like I go.

I was thinking of going down by myself and staying in one place, Puerto Valarta or Ixtapa for example, and take organized bus tour instead of touring by my own. This way I can go wherever I feel is interesting for me.

People who take them tend to re-use the same company if they take more than one, unless they were unhappy. Many of the tours for several of them are contracted out and organized by the same registered Mexican Caravan & bus tour company, and many use the same tour guides as a result. The diferences are in Wagon Masters, price, route and time spent in locations. Most companies have an itinerary on their websites.

Thanks for the responses, not a whole lot of personal insight to different Caravans based on personal experiences, but some interesting tidbits.

I've never thought much about caravans, being the type who likes the freedom of staying where I like for as long as I like. Reading the comments here though I can see that folks would have the benefit of organization, explanation of the areas visited, and if all goes well, new friends.

We operate a bit differnt than that. We will keep up to 11 or 12 in one group. If more, we have a tailgunner (really an assistant wagon master) who leads 1/2 1/2 them about 20 minutes back. We hire the Green Angels (Like AAA) to follow at the rear in case of breakdowns. We don't wnat anyone out of CB radio range with someone in authority who knows the way. It is too easy to make a wrong turn accidentally.

alfredmay wrote:
I have been on 5 Caravans as a customer. Everything that Russ and Tequila said is correct in my book. I saw things in Mexico that I never knew existed. I went with Adventure Caravans and would recommend them.

There is one misconception that many people have and that is you travel in a huge group all the time. This is not so. In the caravans I went on RVs were sent off in waves about 30 minutes apart with 3 or 4 rigs in a wave. We were given times to be at a specific location or RV park.

X3
We have been on 3 Adventure Caravan trips to Mexico. They were well organized and you have a lot of fun with your traveling companions. I feel it is the safest way for a first timer to learn about Mexican travel.

As others have said, the tour companies can pull some weight. Many meals are included as well as local entertainment in the campgrounds in the evenings. Group rates can also be obtained for various tours and you will do more than if you just go on your own

I have been on 5 Caravans as a customer. Everything that Russ and Tequila said is correct in my book. I saw things in Mexico that I never knew existed. I went with Adventure Caravans and would recommend them.

There is one misconception that many people have and that is you travel in a huge group all the time. This is not so. In the caravans I went on RVs were sent off in waves about 30 minutes apart with 3 or 4 rigs in a wave. We were given times to be at a specific location or RV park.

Thanks Russ, I knew when I typed that Fantasy was not headquartered in Ca, I made a boo boo. It is hard to explain to people that a caravan let's you see the real mexico and places you would not see on your own. For example I went the first time to Guanajuato on my own. I missed about 90% of what is available there. Also with the numbers in a Caravan, we have the opportunity to do things like hire musicians to serenade us around the back alleys at night, stuff that is hard to arange on your own and impossible without a group. I only saw the mummy museum for the first time last year, I had no idea it existed. I have been to Puerto Penasco where you are, but haven't seen any of it either. I used to think Caravans were overpriced until I was in the position of having to hand out the money to pay for RV parks, tours & meals. I noticed Kevin Read who is on his first wagon master job and is notoriously cheap, also made the same comment on his blog. Mexico is no longer cheap, many RV parks are charging in US dollars at rates close to US parks. Gouging, IMO, which is one reason the company I am wagon mastering for at least, has moved its pricing to Canadian or Pesos next season. (The Canadian dollar & Peso generally follow each other as both are petro currencies). I know companies like Adventure & Fantasy invest a lot in advertising so have overhead in US dollars, as do all of us, however the currency of Mexico is not the US dollar, but you would think it is. It probably explains the fewer number of RV'ers down here this year as most were always Canadian anyway. This is a very irriating thing to me, it is ripping off Americans & Canadians alike, and the company I am with is now favoring parks that charge in Pesos whenever we can. We moved 4 days from a week in Mazatlan to Teacapan instead, to send a message to one RV park there. That park lost over $2000 as a result of spots that remained empty.

Anyway, you can't go far wrong with any of the companies I listed. People do need to know there have been fly by night ones out there. I remember one outfit (Cowboy Caravans, I believe it was called, defunct now) who left everyone standed on the US side of the border when they did not show up.

BTW, Russ if you ever want to wagon master again, contact me, they are always looking for experienced ones.

I no longer conduct caravans but I do support work for Fantasy Caravans (Las Vegas) and Escapees Mexican connection. Tequila is right, Mexico sights are not RV friendly so being in a Caravan you get to experience things that otherwise you would miss. I just had a group here of 60 rigs and we did 3 days of city tours and everyone thanked the organizers for letting them see the town, not just the next happy hour. It is important to get out and explore and that is one things being in a caravan can help with.

It can be confusing. You would fine with any of the companies I have listed. Just be careful with others, there is some deceptive advertising out there.Its a good way to learn how to RV in Mexico & do it safely, not that I feel it is unsafe anyway, but it is easy to damage your rig or get into trouble if you do not know where you are going. I have been coming to Mexico for 8 years and I am still learning. If you can speak Spanish it's a lot easier.