RV Caravans to Mexico

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RV Caravans to Mexico
from Travelers Guide to Mexican Camping

An excellent way to get your introduction to Mexico is to take an escorted caravan tour. Many companies offer these tours, by our count there are about 200 caravans into Mexico each year. These range from luxury tours taking several months and costing multiple thousands of dollars to tours of less than a week for a fraction of that price. Caravan Picture.JPG (36611 bytes)

A typical caravan tour is composed of approximately 20 rigs. The price paid includes a knowledgeable caravan leader in his own RV, a tail-gunner or caboose RV with an experienced mechanic, campground fees, many meals and tours at stops along the way, and lots of camaraderie. Many people love RV tours because someone else does all the planning, there is security in numbers, and a good caravan can be a very memorable experience. Others hate caravans, and do so for just about the same reasons.

Remember that there will be a lot of costs in addition to those covered by the fee paid to the caravan company. These include fuel, insurance, maintenance, tolls, and groceries. We hear lots of good things about caravans, but also many complaints. Common problems include caravans that do not spend enough time at interesting places, delays due to mechanical problems with other rigs in the caravan, and poor caravan leaders who do not really know the territory or speak the language. A badly run caravan can be a disaster.

We've given the names, addresses and phone numbers below of some of the leading caravan companies. Give them a call or write a letter to get information about the tours they will be offering for the coming year. Once you have received the information do not hesitate to call back and ask questions. Ask for the names and phone numbers of people who have recently taken tours with the same caravan leader scheduled to be in charge of the tour you are considering. Call these references and find out what they liked and what they didn't like. They are likely to have some strong feelings about these things.

Adventure Caravans, 124 Rainbow Dr., #2434, Livingston, TX 77399-1024 (800 872-7897 and 936 327-3428). (Website: http://www.adventurecaravans.com/ )

Baja and Back! RV Caravan Tours, 1 866 782-2252 (Website: http://bajaandback.com/ )

Baja Winters RV Tours, PO Box 2032, Palm Desert, CA 92261 (800-383-6787).(Website: http://www.bajawinters.com/ )

Fantasy Caravans, 103 West Tomichi Avenue, Gunnison, CO (800 952-8496).(Website: http://www.fantasyrvtours.com)

Good Sam Caraventures, P.O. Box 6852, Englewood, CO 80155-6852 (800 664-9146). (Website: http://www.goodsamclub.com/tours)

Tracks to Adventure, 2811 Jackson Ave., El Paso, TX 79930 (800 351-6053). (Website: http://www.tracksrvtours.com/ )

Vagabundos del Mar Boat and Travel Club, Adventure Tours, 190 Main St., Rio Vista, CA 94571 (800 474-2252). (Website: http://www.vagabundos.com)

You might also want to check with the owner association of the type of rig you drive, we often encounter owner association caravans. Usually this type of caravan is organized by one of the above caravan companies although Airstream, for one, generally does their own.