For the first time in years, we decided to go south for a winter vacation in the sun. With our two oldest daughters away, one at university and one on a student exchange trip in Germany, we thought we would treat ourselves to a week on the beach over the March break.
We wanted something not too expensive, where there was lots to do and see, and where we could get out of our hotel and wander around.After researching on the internet we picked the old town, or "Romantic Zone" of Puerto Vallarta, on the pacific coast of Mexico.
We stayed at the Hotel Tropicana, right on the
beach. At the back
of the hotel, we could laze on the beach under a palapas (a large
umbrella of palm fronds). From the front we had acess to the
village with its markets and hundreds of restaurants. You can see the
steet-side entrance below.
The
pictures further down were taken from the balcony of our hotel room,
overlooking the hotel courtyard, pool and the beach. It was wonderful
to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean surf at night.
As you can see, there was also a beautiful view of the ocean and around Banderas Bay. The hotel is on the south end of Los Muertos beach, which is lined with restaurants and small hotels. There's a pier nearby from which you can take a water taxi, or a fishing excursion.
You can walk along the beach and select a restaurant for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Have a candlight evening dinner right on the beach! Puerto Vallarta is a safe place. You can walk anywhere at any time of day or night. The city water is purified, and you can eat most anywhere without worry.
There are two seasons, from
November
to May is "dry", June to October is "wet".
It almost never rains in the
dry season,and the temperature is in the high 20s (celsius!)
during the day snd the high teens at night.
Our whole week was sunny and
hot... perfect beach weather. The only real clouds were on our
first day, and we had no rain at all.
Around Puerto
Vallarta We
spent quite a bit of time in the Puerto Vallatra Romantic Zone, within
walking distance of the hotel.. There is so much character and color in
this part of the town, that we could spend lots of time just wandering
, visiting the markets and taking in the sights and
sounds.
Las
Caletas We took a day trip to
Las Caletas, a seculded, beautiful natural paradise south of Puerto Vallarta. The natrual beauty of Las Caletas was discovered by the famous film director John Huston who lived there for many years. It is accessible only by sea. Our trip started with a tour around Banderos bay, including some whale watching where we saw a female and her calf.
San Blas and La Tovara
We took a one day bus excursion north of Pueta Vallarta along the
coast. We first stopped for breakfast at Rincon
de Guayabitos resort in Nayarit state, known for
its great surfing. From there we went on to the La Tovara reserve, a large
mangrove swamp with a crocodile hatchery. From there we went on to the
old spanish fishing village of San Blas.
Pueto Vallarta viewed from Banderas Bay
The romantic zone, where we stayed, is to the right-hand side