PV Activities

[seabreezer]

Thought I'd share my thoughts about a few of the fun things we did while on a land based vacation near Puerto Vallarta. I'm not sure if the cruise ship schedules can accommodate doing any of this but here goes.

 

Restaurants:

 

La Palapa on Los Muertos beach in the Romantica Zone was excellent . There was a wedding happening right next to our table on the beach followed by Mariachis and fireworks - it just happened to be perfect timing for us but the food and ambiance are both great here. The Romanica Zone is also old PV and very charming.

 

Le Fort in Bucerias is a cooking class and dinner prepared by French chef Gilles Le Fort. He and his wife are charming and the evening was so much more interesting than just another restaurant meal. They also do lunch time classes. Our dinner was a lovely three course meal including wine pairings and champagne and pate to start while observing the lesson.

 

Don Pedros in Sayulita was surprisingly good considering Sayulita is a hippie surf town. We watched surfing and beach volleyball from the upstairs restaurant. The town is also charming.

 

Los Veranos Canopy Tour - there's lots of good info on this and I agree with everything good I've read about it. It is excellent, great fun and not scary at all!

 

Hotel Grand Velas Spa in Nuevo Vallarta - I've been to quite a few world class spas and this one ranks right up there with the best! The staff is incredibly well trained and the facility itself is beautiful and feels Mexican, modern, tropical and soothing all at the same time. Forget the cramped, overpriced ship's spas - this is a destination in itself!

 

Whale watching - Las Marietas Islands. This is a must do during whale season. We took a small boat from restuarant Columba in La Cruz that picked us up at our beach in Real del Mar. We saw whales frolicking, breeching, rolling over - the best whale watching ever. We snorkeled at Las Marietas and saw lots of fish and unusual coral but the water was too cold for me - I never did warm up. On the way back we fished and caught a dozen fish in about 20 minutes. The captain cleaned them for us and we cooked them for dinner that night.

 

This is a great destination and after spending a week in Cabo last year I think I prefer PV because there's so much more to do. BTW, we rented a car even though we were very apprehensive about driving in Mexico but it turned out just fine. The area is so spread out that it's really the best way to get around if you're there for more than a few days.

[seabum]

This is a great destination and after spending a week in Cabo last year I think I prefer PV because there's so much more to do. BTW, we rented a car even though we were very apprehensive about driving in Mexico but it turned out just fine. The area is so spread out that it's really the best way to get around if you're there for more than a few days.

 

Hi - we will be in PV next month.

 

we were thinking of renting a car/jeep fro the day and just "winging it" - generally just exploring the area.

 

From everything I've read I'm a little concnered about renting.

 

We've rented in cozumel before with no trouble - any more thoughts on PV?

 

Insurance - costs - safety - scams etc

 

Thanks,

[seabreezer]

We rented through Gecko Car Rental in Bucerias - about 20 minutes from the marina. They might come pick you up and take you back to the ship if you'd like for no extra charge. Full coverage insurance (including legal counsel if needed) is included in the rate. This is a small operation but they do have a website and they are very friendly and accommodating. They had the best rates when I was researching. You should book ahead because they don't have that many vehicles and look at a map to see if you're interested in exploring that end of the bay since it might not make sense if you're planning to head south - traffic is so bad going through the city of PV. Their cars are also just as nice as Hertz or the other biggies.