Puerto Vallarta HELP

Jettin' Fool · 08-28-2007, 07:00 PM

The wife and I are looking into spending a week in Puerto Vallarta in November and neither of us have never been to Mexico. I'm looking for advice on:

1) Recommended All Inclusive resorts
2) Things to do and see
3) Other?

Any advice and/or opinions are greatly appreciated!

JF

Reel_Big_Fish · 08-28-2007, 07:20 PM

My wife and I were there at the end of March 2006 for our honeymoon. We stayed at the Dreams all inclusive in PV. We really enjoyed it. They have different organized day trips that you could take, for an additional cost. The one we did was a Sierra Madre tour ride. They picked us up in a safari type vehicle and off into the mountains for some short hikes and through some old towns. We saw some very cool things.

I'd do it all again!

Sea Saw · 08-28-2007, 08:06 PM

Have a taxi take you to PePes (pee pees) to eat ,really good food.and the day cruises in the bay are alot of fun.enjoy

garyk · 08-28-2007, 08:16 PM

Get your passports.

luckyr · 08-28-2007, 08:37 PM

Dont book a fishing trip on the street or in the Hotel lobby.

Liquid Asset · 08-29-2007, 08:25 AM

One more vote for PePee's. The margaritas are outta this world.

Paradise Village is sweet...up in Nuevo Vallarta.

Zodiac Fisherman can help you out on a charter. Give him a PM.

You might try renting a villa. We did that on our honeymoon and had a blast. Very resonable too...all kinds of variations. Some even include maids and cooks!

Take some day trips to Punta Mita, San Francisco and Sayulita(sp?). We'll sometimes negotiate a taxi for a day or 6 hours and head up or down the coast and stop at beaches along the way.

LA

Iwish · 08-29-2007, 12:02 PM

We were there for our first time in April of this year. One thing that we were skeptical about but did decide to do it was the Zipline. You have to do it! It was one of the coolest things I have done while on vacation. What a rush. We would do it again in a heartbeat. There is also a day cruise that goes from PV to a place I think called Los Arcos and you snorkel for about an hour and then you go either on a hike to a waterfall or you can ride horseback. When you get back to the boat they take you to lunch at a private beach, all the tour boats stop there, and then you head back home. We enjoyed that too. It does take up the whole day though.

There is a place to eat down by the end of the boardwalk and I can't remember the name of the place. I can tell you exactly how to get there and if you ask the locals about it they will tell you where to go. There is always a line there and the food is excellent. I don't remember the name being the one mentioned earlier but it is definately worth a stop. The boardwalk is also a very fun place to go in the evening. There are street vendors and performers all over the place. Don't rent a car. Cabs are very inexpensive and will take you wherever you need to go.

When you get there, exchange your money first thing. If you pay in american currency you will overpay for everything. It will be obvious when they ask you if you are paying in american and then the price changes. There are exchange banks all over the main drags.

I would also suggest getting a place that is not All-inclusive. You will pay a hefty fee for the all inclusive resorts and you will have a hard time spending that money if you went out to the nicest places and ordered nearly everything you wanted and then some. Staying at an All-inclusive place, we felt, would make us feel like we had to eat every meal there in order to get our money's worth. Some will also allow you to only do a few days of it so you may check into that too.

If you are into it, Senior' Frogs has a foam party that is really a ton of fun too. I think it is on Tuesday and Friday nights but it might even be more than that. It may sound kind of corny but when you get there and see it, what a hoot.

Shopping, that's a whole other subject.

Fishing- We chartered a boat where the captain was named "Pete" and he was a very honest and respectable guy. He was priced very well and worked hard for us. We didn't catch anything but neither did any other boats that went out that day that we saw or heard of. Like mentioned before, check with some of the other recommendations on the board and you should get satisfactory results.

Good luck and have fun whatever you do.

julezilla · 08-29-2007, 12:10 PM

A quick tip about exchanging money: don't take cash with you to exchange. Wait until you get there and simply withdraw money from an ATM. You'll save a bunch on exchange fees that way.

MacFish · 08-29-2007, 01:30 PM

We stayed at the Royal Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta, just to the north, and won't stay in that area again. You're a cab or a bus from PV and, regardless of what property you saty at, you're basically trapped in a resort that could be anywhere. Puerto Vallarta is too much fun to not have easy access to the city and I will stay in close proximity next time. Oh, don't get talked into the bullfights, they are pretty gory and not much fun.

SlamminKokes · 08-29-2007, 02:58 PM

We stayed at a place called Meza del Mar years ago! It was all inclusive and was a great deal! Not the fanciest of places but was definitely liveable and was close to downtown! Id love to go back!

Hook-Line-N-Sinker · 08-29-2007, 07:03 PM

For our honeymoon, my wife and I stayed at the Premier Hotel & Spa. It is adults only, all-inclusive, and was very nice. Although I don't have anything else to compare it to, I would recommend taking a look at it.

Have Fun!!!

Zodiac-Fisherman · 08-29-2007, 11:26 PM

Puerto Vallarta offers some of the best Giant Yellowfin Tuna, Blue/Black Marlin fishing in the world.
Corbetenia Rock is 40 Miles west of PV, The Banks is 54 miles out.
Launch from punta mita, eliminate 40 miles run time daily.
Charters start at a G a day.

Late fall is prime time for yellowfin.

DarrenH · 08-30-2007, 01:00 AM

My wife and I stayed at the Buenoventura Resort all-inclusive and really enjoyed it. Not the fanciest but the food was great and the room over looked the bay. A friend of mine stays at paridise village in Nueve Vallarta and he says he would never stay anywhere else. We booked a fishing trip from a beach vender and we got what we paid for. It cost 300 bucks for the boat (about 38 foot) but pretty old and really old gear. A two hour boat ride out and my brother in law caught a small durado his friend caught about a 30 pound tuna and I got a nice do-do about 45 pounds. As soon as I got mine they turned the boat around and headed back. On the ride back the deckhand filleted our fish then scraped the meat off of the carcasses into a bowl and made the best ceviche i've ever had he diced up some cucumber, jalapeno,cilantro, and lime juice, sturred it all up and we ate it right out of the bowl. We gave half our fish to the guy we booked our trip from and took the other half to the resort and they cooked it for us three nights in a row however we wanted it. All in all we had a great time and am looking forward to going back. I hope you and your wife find a great place and enjoy weather while were up here wishing we were down there.
DH

FastAction · 08-30-2007, 10:26 AM

I stayed at The Marriot Casa Manga, its close to the marina. Go to the Marina and book a trip with a successful boat. PV is a cool place, I liked it alot better than Mazatlan. All in all Mexico is till mexico and I have decided for my future vacations (including my Honeymoon in 3 weeks) to spend the exta $$ and go someplace a but more upscale and nice. All inclusive in Mex is the way to go! Make certain to go to your doctor and get some cipro for Travelers diaharreah aka Montezuma's Revenge.. That will ruin your vacation!

CamoHunter · 08-30-2007, 05:46 PM

My wife and I went in May. We stayed about 20 minutes out of town in Nuevo Vallarta @ Villa Del Palmar Flamingos. (it is a time-share hotel, but I think it is general public too.) Don't do the T/S presentation...

It was a nice hotel but it was $20-25 dollar taxi ride into PV. We also did the Zip line and it was fun.
Pe Pe's does have good food.

CH

skybuster · 08-30-2007, 07:53 PM

If you happen to get a case of the Tijuana two-step while south of the border just stop into any local pharmacy down there and buy some Lomitil. They are tiny little pills that will dry you up quick. I've actually brought them home before, they work excellent.

Jettin' Fool · 08-31-2007, 07:27 PM

Thanks to all that responded. I'm sure there's more of you with some advice? Wheres the best beach?

JF