Puerto Vallarta - The Love Bridge Beckons

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Fisherman - PV downtown

Sea Horse - Mallecone

We received a few requests to help plan the PV trip, so here are some quick tips if you are interested to make Puerto Vallarta your vacation spot.

We flew by Alaskan, and it has typically great deals for <$270 round trip - we just used our Northwest frequent flier miles. The flights were only 60% full to and fro.

We stayed at The Fiesta Americana for 3 nights (which was gifted by Wells Fargo as part of our last REFI) and 4 nights at Paradise Village Resorts in Neuvo Vallarta, about 15 miles from the PV airport.

Fiesta American was very nice, with a pretty big contemporary pool with a consistent depth of 3 feet and also a big
toddler pool area (1 feet). This is the trend with the new pools looks like. It was very close to downtown PV and we loved it as it was conveniently located to some good eating choices for us and the kids. The beach there was not as nice as the one next to Paradise Village. The service was excellent. Rishub really liked the hotel - we didn't get a
kitchenette here though. This was close to the Boardwalk (Mallecone) and also the Marina (Marina Vallarta). We took the Pirate Cruise Ship (Marigalante) that leaves from Marina Pier - close to Marina Vallarta. This was well organized cruise, good service and they cooked a special veggie meal for us on request too. (Everything is negotiable in Mexico, and I mean everything - we negotiated the price of the ticket for this cruise ship. So give it a try. Towards the end of the trip, we were even negotiating the taxi cab rides bringing it down by 20% - only a couple bucks, but hey I felt right at home ;) The folks there are very nice and they love a smile and a friendly attitude) . The boardwalk near downtown had the HardRock cafe (decent food), Pipi's restaurant (Tex mex food that we hated, very expensive and bland) and lots of shopping. If you are at the boardwalk on Sunday evening, they usually have a outdoor
concert going on or the Mariachi playing, great ambience. The first two weeks in December has these Christmas Carol processions to the church of Guadalupe, through the streets and we saw a few of them, one of which was accompanied by Aztec

dancers and musicians - sometimes the best things in life are free.

We also saw the Love Bridge (see picture) of Richard Burton and Liz Taylor, which started PV on its path to fame a few decades ago. The shops at the Malecone are many and prices are not flexible, but they do have everything you have in mind. Mallecone has many of these famous sculptures by a renowned Mexican artist and we took pictures in front of most. We did try the flea market near the Mallecone, but we weren't in the mood to haggle too much and just shopped from a fixed price shop. It is easier to change currency at the hotel itself, as against dealing with the long lines at the banks. Banks need to see the passport and it is a pain to carry it around.

The famous arches Los Archos at the Mallecone, that gave the open air amphitheater its name, symbol of Puerto Vallarta around the world, was destroyed by Hurricane Kenna's fury October 25th, 2002 and was rebuilt. The town was wrecked by this hurricane and lots of rebuilding has happened. So - many things (like the Fiesta American
pool) are only a year old or so.

We stayed 4 nights at Paradise village. Picture below is the sunset at Paradise Village.

Paradise Village Sunset

Paradise Village is a resort tucked away in a corner of Neuvo Vallarta (new Puerto Vallarta, akin to New Bombay etc) and is quite cut away from the hustle bustle. They have some Tigers, Panthers, Lions caged at the resort, and was fascinating for the kids. They also had a baby Lion and a baby Tiger that were feisty but playful. An oversized Panther was just keen to lash out at them for some reason. Food wise, we found only a few choices in the mall nearby, if you are a vegeteranian. This place is too Americanized, every person there seemed to be from the USA or Canada. The Spa there is world famous and Seema loved it. There is an alligator slide in the pool of the hotel that may be challege for toddlers, but should be fun. The beach is wonderful there and I enjoyed some great jogs in the early morning sunrise. The day started by 10AM - for the resort guests and if you were up earlier, you had the world to yourself. Wonderful shells on the beach, water was nice and warm. We also went to Bucerias - a sleepy fishing town close to Paradise Village which also had cliff divers (we had seen them in Apaculco) but looks like the AAA book made a mistake - we didn;t see any. The shopping a bit cheaper than the Mallecone. The idea is not to go anywhere once you are here at the resort and the pool area would be jam packed each day with pool volleyball, bingo etc arranged for the lazy holiday crowd. The service was not very impressive in the hotel though.The mall close to the resort was overpriced and totally catered to the American crowd, nothing mexican about the mall or stuff in it. But the whole resort created a very secure setting for the Americans to come vacation and feel at home.... fits right into the typical American expectations. They even had Dominos and McDonalds in the mall , along with Brazilian, Mexican, Italian food + a deli. Saturday nights the resort even have a party for the kids (Pinata) with lotsa free giveaways - Guys had to draw a smiley on the tummy with a lipstick to get the golf voucher, not my forte I admitted ;)

BTW the coconut water was the best part of the trip, they sold it outside for 15 pesos ($1.50). The papayas were great too.

The place thrives on tourism and the resorts, hotels are very keen to have the 'Kali-phornians' take a 90 minute presentation to either buy into a time share or a points program or some such thing. So avoid following up on a conversation that is initiated by a local, he is just trying to coax you into another presentation.

And one last thing, as a green card holder, you do need a visa for Mexico - rules have changed. US citizens can take their passports / naturalization paper

I am sure you will surf and find many great links..

Old and new blend in Puerto Vallarta
By Laurence Iliff
Dallas Morning News
Posted: 01/15/2009 12:24:14 PM PST
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Two states of mind coexist in this resort area on the warm Pacific Coast. And they couldn't be more different, as my sister and I discovered.
To the north of the airport lies spanking new Nuevo Vallarta in Nayarit state. To the south, old Vallarta in Jalisco.
My sister and her husband stayed at the new jewel of Nayarit's tourism industry — the Four Seasons Resort at Punta Mita — and even weeks of planning weren't enough for them to get the digs they wanted.
They ended up slumming, relatively speaking, in the cheapest room at just over $600 per night with twin beds and no ocean view.
I, on the other hand, was actually slumming, picking the best bargain I could find on a couple of weeks' notice in the heart of old Puerto Vallarta.
My entire package — three days, two nights in a two-star hotel and round-trip airfare from Mexico City — was still $200 shy of their nightly room rate. And their six-day holiday cost thousands of dollars.
Vallarta, to use the generic term that covers both old and new areas, is unique among Mexican resorts in the variety of what it offers along more than 50 miles of beautiful coastline. It ranges from cobblestone streets bordered by outdoor cafes popular among the locals, to absolute seclusion where English is the official language and the only other people you will see are fellow guests and the hosts.
Americans are flocking to buy multimillion-dollar beach lots in Nayarit as well as hillside condos in the so-called "romantic zone" in the extreme south of the port.
I was determined to enjoy my vacation on the cheap and not allow it to pale in comparison to my relatives' just because of the thousands of dollars that marked the gap between our budgets.
But let's begin in the lap of luxury.
For a price
I tracked down my sister and brother-in-law in the bustling airport on a Saturday. They were easy enough to find since their driver was waiting for them with a prominent sign.
We were whisked into a nearby Suburban and offered moist towels and refreshments.
About 45 minutes later, the Four Seasons guard tower appeared, and we were waved in by smiling greeters.
Minutes later, an English-language tour of the extensive grounds commenced aboard an electric golf cart. Soon, we were noshing on the chips, guacamole and salsa spread out before our arrival.
On our first walkabout, a peacefulness filled the jungle-like grounds where the ocean ebbed far below, birds chirped and only the occasional passing of a golf cart momentarily broke the spell of being on a deserted island.
More than a hotel, the Four Seasons at Punta Mita is a paradisiacal compound, with gourmet restaurants, a full-service spa, and acres and acres dotted with the agave plants used to make tequila.
The setting is striking, on a hillside overlooking a remarkable chunk of sandy, wild real estate.
Live guitar music wafts through the lobby, voices are kept to a murmur, the stars are brighter because of the seclusion, and the ocean provides the soundtrack.
On the cheap
Shift south.
Diesel buses and music blaring from overtaxed radios at taco stands were the first sounds I heard after venturing a half-block from my hotel, El Pescador.
But inside, the hotel was quiet and clean. I passed up the $16 per night charge for an ocean view and even turned down the $5 per night mini-fridge.
With two convenience stores and a supermarket within two blocks, cold drinks and cheap food were five minutes away.
So was the bus stop. As I waited for my room to be readied, I ventured toward the sea wall area, or malecón, which took about 10 minutes by bus. Cost: 45 cents.
The sea wall is dotted with sculptures, some whimsical (aliens walking up a ladder on their way back to outer space) and some with a local feel (a Mexican couple dancing in traditional dress).
On the other side of the street, early afternoon party-types were buying drinks along the seemingly endless line of restaurants, bars and clubs that face the ocean, my favorite being the Cuban haunt Bodeguita del Medio.
As the sea wall ends, the Zona Romantica begins. It's dominated by older hotels, some remodeled, others in just passable shape. But most are inexpensive, and nearly everything is within walking distance.
The area has outdoor cafes, sandwich shops and retro bars.
After taking the bus back to the hotel, I found my room tidy if a little dark. My window looked onto a hallway. Only a sliver of ocean was visible.
The pool was simple but nice, and there was free Internet service in the lobby (or a computer with Internet that could be rented).
During my weekend stay, the beach was packed near the restaurants and bars, but not so much in other areas.
Drinks were cheap, about $2.50, and included an umbrella for shade and a couple of chairs.
malecón night life was lively, with different musical styles pouring from both gringo-ish and very chic Mexican clubs, and the Zona Romantica was hopping well past midnight.
My sister and her husband were probably already asleep. The Four Seasons lobby-bar had closed, and the place probably was dead quiet.
But that was the beauty of slumming. With $20 in my pocket, I could stay out late and have enough for a $4 dollar taxi ride back to my hotel and drinks on the beach the next day.
There, I would close my eyes and hear the same ocean that was crashing onto sands at Punta Mita, and the same seagulls, interrupted, to be sure, by murmuring voices.
All in all, it's still the beach, still Vallarta, and definitely worth every cent.
If you go
Where to stay:
Hotel El Pescador, (877) 813-6712, www.hotelelpescador.com.
Four Seasons Punta Mita, (800) 819-5053, www.fourseasons.com/puntamita.
Tourism info:
General information on Puerto Vallarta, www.vallarta-info.com. Nuevo Vallarta"s official site, www.rivieranayarit.com.