marty
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2004
- Messages
- 1,775
- Reaction score
- 231
My wife Lauren and I recently celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary (and to a much lesser extent, my 50th birthday) with a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is located on the shores of Banderas Bay, on the western coast of Mexico, basically at the same latitude as Cancun. Banderas Bay is part of the Pacific Ocean and is one of the largest bays in the world. We chose that destination because it has both the tropical beaches (which my wife likes) and the Sierra Madre Mountains and jungle (which I like). I also should note that in a very close decision, we chose Puerto Vallarta over St. Lucia, which VFTT’s AMSTony and ChanelGirl recently visited and thoroughly enjoyed.
We found Puerto Vallarta to be an excellent choice. The daytime highs were in the upper 70’s to lower 80’s every day, with pleasant nights in the low 60’s. Humidity was non-existent. The scenery was striking, as lush 3,000 foot mountains rose right from the sea. It was definitely the best place we have been to in the tropics (although we haven’t been to Hawaii, Darren)!
While we did our share of hanging out at the beach, sightseeing and other touristy things, we did do some interesting outdoor activities, too. They included:
• Ocean kayaking - this was a blast primarily because the waves were HUGE. I am a fairly experienced lake kayaker, but have never tried out the wild surf. Going out, the waves would take you almost vertical until you get out past where they break. Many other vacationers tried and failed in spectacular wipeouts, but I somehow made it out each time. Coming into shore, you could ride a big wave all the way in, although it takes a lot of concentration, some kayaking skills and a bit of luck. After you get out in deeper water, the Pacific is very calm and serene, with great views of the mountains beyond. You also can kayak right next to schools of large albacore and ladyfish feeding on sardines right at the surface, along with kamikaze pelicans dive-bombing them. The pelicans here are amazing and very proficient hunters (Larry D, you were right)! They are much different than the lazy harbor pelicans you see in Florida. We also did some somewhat insane body surfing and boogie boarding, with the waves tossing us all over the place!
• Jungle hike – there was a nice jungle walk that goes up a mostly dry creek bed that starts right at the resort. After about ¼ mile, it gets very dark and wild due to the jungle canopy and absence of the sounds of civilization. The hike has a lot of minor boulder climbing and is quite rough. Although the trail is not marked, it is next to impossible to get lost, as you are going up a wide creek bed. The hike ends where a small waterfall spills into a deep pool, with high gorge walls on both sides. I found an iguana skeleton in the creek, just below the pool. Very nice touch!
• Mountain biking in the Sierra Madres – this was the highlight of the trip. We arranged a private guide from Vallarta Bikes to take us up into the Sierras. Our guide was a 19 year old named Miguel, who was a fabulous host and very experienced cyclist. During the first part of the trip, we rode parallel to the Rio Cuale, which is a beautiful river that runs from the mountains down to downtown Puerto Vallarta. The Rio Cuale looked strikingly similar to many of the rivers in the northeast mountains, with clear, fast moving water tumbling over boulders. Lots of nice swimming holes too, although we did not stop. We also rode through an old Mexican village, crossed several streams and negotiated many steep ups and downs (a serious workout). We found many viewpoints of the Sierras along the way, stopping occasionally for photo shoots. Our final destination was a place called Piletas, which has a series of waterfalls and some natural and man made swimming holes in a lush jungle setting. There is a small palapa (outdoor bar/restaurant) there that caters to wilderness adventurers, serving all types of beverages and some Mexican food. After a mostly uphill ride, a cold cervesa (beer) felt really good, as did a quick dunk in the swimming hole! We then returned the same way and our guide took us to a taco stand, where we had some fish tacos which were out of this world!!
While Puerto Vallarta was a real blast, getting there and back was a real drag. On the way out, Lauren’s luggage was lost and took another day to arrive. On the way back, they flew us into Chicago O’Hare, which promptly cancelled all flights due to snow/ice, thus forcing us to find a hotel in a distant suburb for two days. It took us 51 hours to get home and our luggage did not arrive until the next day. We learned two lessons: never fly through Chicago and don’t fly the unfriendly skies of United. Their customer service was the worst.
Here are pix from our vacation. Warning to purists: the pictures are not limited to the outdoor adventure stuff. Those of you who know the venerable Alpinista might find picture #37 of interest! Puerto Vallarta
If anyone wants more information on this beautiful place, feel free to PM me!
Regards,
Marty (and Lauren)
We found Puerto Vallarta to be an excellent choice. The daytime highs were in the upper 70’s to lower 80’s every day, with pleasant nights in the low 60’s. Humidity was non-existent. The scenery was striking, as lush 3,000 foot mountains rose right from the sea. It was definitely the best place we have been to in the tropics (although we haven’t been to Hawaii, Darren)!
While we did our share of hanging out at the beach, sightseeing and other touristy things, we did do some interesting outdoor activities, too. They included:
• Ocean kayaking - this was a blast primarily because the waves were HUGE. I am a fairly experienced lake kayaker, but have never tried out the wild surf. Going out, the waves would take you almost vertical until you get out past where they break. Many other vacationers tried and failed in spectacular wipeouts, but I somehow made it out each time. Coming into shore, you could ride a big wave all the way in, although it takes a lot of concentration, some kayaking skills and a bit of luck. After you get out in deeper water, the Pacific is very calm and serene, with great views of the mountains beyond. You also can kayak right next to schools of large albacore and ladyfish feeding on sardines right at the surface, along with kamikaze pelicans dive-bombing them. The pelicans here are amazing and very proficient hunters (Larry D, you were right)! They are much different than the lazy harbor pelicans you see in Florida. We also did some somewhat insane body surfing and boogie boarding, with the waves tossing us all over the place!
• Jungle hike – there was a nice jungle walk that goes up a mostly dry creek bed that starts right at the resort. After about ¼ mile, it gets very dark and wild due to the jungle canopy and absence of the sounds of civilization. The hike has a lot of minor boulder climbing and is quite rough. Although the trail is not marked, it is next to impossible to get lost, as you are going up a wide creek bed. The hike ends where a small waterfall spills into a deep pool, with high gorge walls on both sides. I found an iguana skeleton in the creek, just below the pool. Very nice touch!
• Mountain biking in the Sierra Madres – this was the highlight of the trip. We arranged a private guide from Vallarta Bikes to take us up into the Sierras. Our guide was a 19 year old named Miguel, who was a fabulous host and very experienced cyclist. During the first part of the trip, we rode parallel to the Rio Cuale, which is a beautiful river that runs from the mountains down to downtown Puerto Vallarta. The Rio Cuale looked strikingly similar to many of the rivers in the northeast mountains, with clear, fast moving water tumbling over boulders. Lots of nice swimming holes too, although we did not stop. We also rode through an old Mexican village, crossed several streams and negotiated many steep ups and downs (a serious workout). We found many viewpoints of the Sierras along the way, stopping occasionally for photo shoots. Our final destination was a place called Piletas, which has a series of waterfalls and some natural and man made swimming holes in a lush jungle setting. There is a small palapa (outdoor bar/restaurant) there that caters to wilderness adventurers, serving all types of beverages and some Mexican food. After a mostly uphill ride, a cold cervesa (beer) felt really good, as did a quick dunk in the swimming hole! We then returned the same way and our guide took us to a taco stand, where we had some fish tacos which were out of this world!!
While Puerto Vallarta was a real blast, getting there and back was a real drag. On the way out, Lauren’s luggage was lost and took another day to arrive. On the way back, they flew us into Chicago O’Hare, which promptly cancelled all flights due to snow/ice, thus forcing us to find a hotel in a distant suburb for two days. It took us 51 hours to get home and our luggage did not arrive until the next day. We learned two lessons: never fly through Chicago and don’t fly the unfriendly skies of United. Their customer service was the worst.
Here are pix from our vacation. Warning to purists: the pictures are not limited to the outdoor adventure stuff. Those of you who know the venerable Alpinista might find picture #37 of interest! Puerto Vallarta
If anyone wants more information on this beautiful place, feel free to PM me!
Regards,
Marty (and Lauren)
Last edited:
