Puerto Vallarta

Introduction

We have vacationed in Puerto Vallarta (or PV) six years in a row, and plan to go again in 2024. On our trips there, we met dozens of expats from other countries including the US and Canada, and it’s not hard to see why. PV is friendly, safe, and fun. It caters to tourists while retaining it’s Mexican identity.

On many of the trips we take, we are running from one tour to another while navigating the transportation system and struggling to communicate with locals with hand gestures and valiant attempts at the native language. In PV, we can completely relax and not have to worry about any of those things. Which is nice sometimes!

While you probably won’t break the bank traveling in Puerto Vallarta, it is more expensive than other parts of Mexico. Read this article by Journey to Mexico to help you nail down your budget!

Getting Around

Uber is very cheap here, although if you stay in Amapas or the Romantic Zone you won’t need it. If you stay in the Hotel Zone, Marina, Nueva Vallarta or you plan to surf or take day trips to Sayulita, Buciaras or one of the other local towns, I would rent a car. Our go-to is RentalCars.com. They offer great selection and prices. While they will show the cheapest price, you should go with a “real” company like Hertz or Enterprise. They are less likely to ding you when you incur a scratch, or rip you off like when we went to Mex Rent a Car and they tacked on several hundred dollars in insurance and fees to the original price. Another thing to note when renting a car in PV: parking can be annoying to impossible, so make sure your hotel or Airbnb has dedicated parking.

If you aren’t renting a car, I recommend staying downtown, somewhere close to the Malecon (boardwalk), where you can walk to restaurants, galleries, shops, meetings and the beach.

Where to Stay

The first two years in PV, we stayed at the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa in the Marina. The hotel grounds and it’s amenities are spectacular, not to mention the views from every room. If you are looking for a resort experience, book a hotel in the Marina or Nueva Vallarta. Booking.com is a great website for finding accommodations, as their prices are the best and their maps and reviews are very helpful when scoping out the best location for your trip.

However, we are now Airbnb converts. The third year we stayed in PV we rented an Airbnb in Amapas, minutes from the Romantic Zone. It had an insane view and a spacious interior and a kitchen, all for about $78 a night (including taxes and fees).

Be aware, however, that even moving one neighborhood over can translate into a completely different vacation experience. Do your research to make sure you aren’t staying next to a night club, or a condo building under construction, or a very “authentic” neighborhood, to make sure you understand what you might experience during your stay and choose your hotel or Airbnb accordingly.

During our most recent trip to PV, we booked a condo in Alta Vista. The photos were nice and it was a 5-10 minute walk from Basillo Badillo (the main thoroughfare for shopping and nightlife). For two straight days, we dealt with crowing roosters, barking dogs, loud mariachi music at all hours of the day and night, and loud hammering on the other side of our walls and chop saws grinding through metal. We couldn’t sit outside on the balcony because of the noise, or sleep very much. After enduring this torture for 48 hours we cut our losses and booked another Airbnb in Amapas, in the same building we had rented the Amapas studio a few years ago. It saved our vacation!

Fun Activities

Tours:

Viator.com is my go-to when discovering fun tours and activities not just in PV, but in any destination. Most of the tours I went on in my first few years traveling to Mexico I found on Viator, from the half-day city tour to the full-day San Sebastian tour, and I have always had a great experience, whether it was the booking process, post-booking communication or the quality of the tour itself.

In addition, you can check out Vallarta Adventures, a tour company that offers outdoor experiences including whale watching, snorkeling, ATV rides and boat excursions. We did a full-day trip where they took us in a catamaran to the Marietas Islands to go snorkeling, and then hung out on a private beach.

Day Spa:

If you are looking for relaxation, head to Metamorfosis Day Spa. I had one of the best massages of my life there–90 minutes for $60. The spa itself was nicely decorated, bright and airy. I had spent $300 for a massage at the Marriott the year before and it wasn’t as good as Metamorfosis.

Hiking:

A half-hour drive south from downtown Puerto Vallarta is Boca de Tomatlan, a picturesque fishing village with a hiking trail that leads you to a hidden beach. The hike takes about 90 minutes round-trip with some intense hills, so your butt will be sore the next day. The effort is worth it, as the trail takes you past both huts and mansions perched on the side of the mountain, and gives you peeks of Puerto Vallarta through the trees across the Bay of Banderas. The hidden beach is a patch of sand nestled between walls of rock, with a restaurant nearby.

Ziplining

Nogalito EcoPark is a few miles from Zona Romantica and offers a canopy tour with 11 ziplines providing panoramic views of the jungle and ocean. Our tour guides were also hilarious and made the activity even more enjoyable. They provided round-trip transportation from a meeting point close to our hotel. There is a restaurant onsite offering traditional Mexican cuisine.

Food

There are some top-notch restaurants in PV, but also make sure you do a food tour. Vallarta Eats has a Tacos After Dark tour that showed us all of the best spots and trucks off the beaten path, which we could return to later on our trip. They also have a chocolate tour, where the tour guide introduced us to mole, chocolate tea, and about 5 pounds of various kinds of chocolate. I also ate the best chocolate cake of my entire life on that tour. I felt sick afterwards, but it was entirely worth it.

We were also introduced to the Churro Guy, who has been selling churros on a corner next to a church for decades–a bag of hot, crispy, cinnamon pastry sticks for a few pesos each. While the chocolate tour doesn’t include booze, the Tacos After Dark tour does. We let them know beforehand that we don’t drink, and they were very accommodating.

There are many trucks that line the streets of the Romantic Zone and Emiliano Zapato. There is one truck somewhere around Calle Francisco Madero which sells almost exclusively tacos el pastor that are extraordinary.

Running

The Malecon is ideal for a quick jog–just make sure you go early, since it gets pretty crowded later on. The boardwalk is literally on the beach, with spectacular bay views. For a more strenuous workout, run into town, where there are winding streets with significant hills. There are also random stairs everywhere, like when you head down the River Cuale pathway that splits the new and old town. The higher you go, the better the views.

Surf Spots

Puerto Vallarta is less of a surfing destination, and more of a fun place to visit where you can also surf. For starters, there is no surfing in Puerto Vallarta itself. You will need to drive about an hour north to get to the surf breaks. The good news is that it’s a very easy drive; pretty much a straight shot on Rt 200 to the Punta Mita area. This was my first time driving in Mexico, and I had no problem making the trip. Just watch out for the rando unmarked speed bumps on the highway. I seriously thought I ran over an IED the first time I hit one. 

If you are going to describe the surfing in Punta Mita with one word, it would be mellow. Maybe I am just accustomed to the fast punchy beach breaks of NJ where I usually surf, but Punta Mita is not exactly a place you go to get your heart racing. This can be a positive or a negative depending on how experienced of a surfer you are. Regardless, there is plenty of fun to be had. There are waves pretty much every day which range from knee-high to a very gentle head-high. The wind is light every morning, so wake up early and take advantage of the glassy conditions.

The water is tropical, just bring a spring suit for the chilly mornings. You will be fine in board shorts the rest of the day. 

I surfed 4 different breaks around the Punta Mita area. Burros, La Lancha, Sayulita, and my favorite, Bahia. They are all fun for different reasons, and all fairly easy to find with a Google search. There are plenty of established surf shops for renting boards and buying gear. I suggest Wildmex and Mictlan. These shops will rent you a shortboard, but you will be better off on a longboard or a fish. 

There’s really only two things to worry about in Punta Mita: rocks and sea urchins. Wildmex offers insurance on rented surfboards for around $2 a day. It’s worth it so you don’t have to worry about dinging a board. As far as the urchins, just be careful where you step. When you wipeout on a wave, try to fall flat. I had to learn that the hard way.-Tim

Recovery Meetings

One of my favorite things about PV is that there is an Alano Club right in the center of the Romantic Zone. They have meetings there all day, every day, including multiple AA and NA, as well as Al-Anon and even an OA meeting. Here is the link for more information: https://alanoclubpv.org/