Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Our favorite town in Mexico so far is Puerto Vallarta. We stayed at an all inclusive resort in Nuevo Vallarta for a week on our honeymoon. 10 years later we had the opportunity to go back on our first cruise on the Oosterdam with Holland America. Then we went back again for Christmas on the Royal Caribbean, Mariner of the Seas. We can easily say that Puerto Vallarta tops our list of favorite places to vacation. We highly suggest to anyone who wants to visit Puerto Vallarta to go and stay there for a week. Pick an all inclusive resort so you dont have to worry about food, and visit all the wonderful places this town has to offer.
On our cruise we hired Mazatlan Frank's associate for a city and tequila tour. The cost was $43 per person, which was a little high considering lunch is not included. We had a good time though. Our tour guide Fernando met us at the ship docks to pick us up. We had also invited our new friends Tierney and Ryan to hang out with us for the day. We got into the tour mini van and off we went for a fun filled day! Our first stop was a little part of town called El Pitillal which is the older un-modernized part of Puerto Vallarta.. No big resorts or Walmarts. We drove by major landmarks which included the Seahorse Monument, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Main Plaza and a residential area called Las Conchas Chinas. This area overlookes the ocean and has amazing views. We got some great pictures there!! After a beautiful coastal drive we stopped at Los Arcos de Mismaloya park, which overlookes the resort where The Night of the Iguana movie was filmed. This resort looked like a great place to stay. It is nestled in it's own private cove and has a gorgeous beach with swimming and all kinds of beach activities. We might have to visit there some day. We then traveled up into the mountains where we stopped at a little family owned tequila factory called Mama Lucias for a tour and of course some sampling. They had very good tequila which came in fruit flavors and coffee flavored. They were all very good. The bottles of tequila were pretty spendy so we decided to hold of on buying any tequila here, but it was very tasty. We then headed further into the jungle towards our next stop, El Eden. This is where the movie Predator was shot with Arnold Schwartzeneger. There were set pieces left behind which was really cool. There is a restaurant here that is built around a waterfall and a pool. There is a rope swing you can use and also the rocks in the waterfall have a natural waterslide. Alan and Ryan took advantage of both the rope swing and the waterslide. Me and Tierney enjoyed our chips and salsa but were too chicken to get into the cold water. We spent about an hour or so at El Eden then our tour guide dropped us off at our favorite restaurant in town called PiPi's. They have the greatest food in Mexico!! Anyone who goes to PV has to stop here for lunch or dinner. The service and food is great and they even have a Mariachi band. After lunch we walked to downtown Puerto Vallarta to do some shopping and more tequila tasting. Puerto Vallarta has great shops and a wide variety of authenitic items to purchase at great prices. Of course they also have real vanilla, which we stocked up on for the year. We walked on the beach and played in the water and just enjoyed the beautiful little town as much as we could. We grabbed a cab back to the ship docks. Try to share cabs whenever possible because the cabs are a little spendy for just 2 people. Also be preppared for a wild ride because the cab drivers here are crazy!It was heart breaking to get back on the ship and leave PV. What a great city!! We can't wait to go back!!!
On our Oosterdam cruise we had the opportunity to take the shore excursion called Rhythm of the Nights. You climb abourd a double decker boat that is stocked with alchohol and it takes you to this island that is about an hour away from the ship docks. You get let off on the island where you get to enjoy a great show including fire dancers and great music. After the show you walk up into a little village where they have a dinner buffet set up. The food was really good and we had a great time!! The boat picks you back up for the ride back to PV. They turn up the music, start serving the drinks and the dancing begins. It was like a little booze cruise. We had such a great time. Unfortunately we did not get to do this tour this time because the Mariner of the Seas left port too early. But we highly reccomend this tour if you get the chance!!!
