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Travel tips/tricks, things to do in Puerto Vallarta in June?

We are taking our first honest to goodness family vacation - myself (mid 30's), my mother (mid 50's), and my daughter (16) in June. We decided on Puerto Vallarta as our location and will be staying at the Marriott CasaManga.

Any tips/tricks would be greatly appreciated as we've never been to Mexico before (though we live in So. Cal). Any MUST SEE's would be great. We will be there for 7 nights and 8 days.

I know the basics - speak Spanish, shake hands (or kiss the cheek), don't drink tap water, watch salads and ice and other things made with water -- but I'm looking for advice on how to make the most of this adventure.

Thanks in advance for your tips!

Public Comments

1. Holla amigo,

That is one way of greeting in Puerto Vallarta. We have a lot of wonderful things for you to do here in PV.

I always recommend to first timers to take the city tour, but better the tropical tour. This tour gets you oriented with where everything is at. From the Marina to the downtown main square, Elizabeth Taylor’s house down town. Then you are driven south to Mismaloya passing by los arcos, a natural rock formation and an under water national park. See some of the local tropical jungle where the movie predator was filmed.

The Mexican Fiesta its a must see event. They have folkloric dances of the different states of Mexico. Custom colorful dresses. Mexican dinner buffet (all you can eat)and open bar (all drinks are included) The show its spectacular and they usually have fireworks.

Day boat trip, to one of the beaches that has no road access. If you come to Vallarta you must go on the water. We have several boats that take on daily excursions with open bar and lunch included. The quality of each one can be sorted by the price of the cruise.

A sunset dinner cruise is another nice thing to do while you are here.

All the above tours have an additional cost per person. If you are interested on getting some 50% off or free tickets to some of these activities there are promotions available for qualified travelers. If that is the case let me know at mexkimo@yahoo.com

Free activities include: walk in the old town. We have a board walk along the beach in the down town area. Most beaches have free access. Market down town find arts, crafts and some silver plated jewelry. Get your silver and gold in the jewelry shops only, not it the market.

Above all have a lot of fun and take a lot of pictures.

2. Take the buses around to learn more about the culture. Go north to Bucerias, beach at Distilladeras, Sayulita, or San Blas or go south to Mismaloya or Boca. I lived in Bucerias and I have never met as nice as people ever! I travelled many times to Mismaloya and Boca, as long as you can handle lots of turns on skinny roads. You could also enroll in the CEPE school in downtown PV to learn Spanish. I know you know, but maybe you're daughter would. I recommend staying off the "beaten path" to see more of the area. Even after living there, I still have never done the normal tourist attractions and I'm glad I haven't. Have fun!

3. The previous answers are very thorough, but I thought I would give you a bit of the "tourist perspective." My mother recently moved to PV, we are Canadian. We have never really enjoyed doing the tourist thing, so I was fortunate to experience the side of PV that tourists do not see.

The first thing I would recommend is spending a while living the life of a PV resident. Take the bus (5 pesos = 50 cents US), eat at a restaurant away from the tourist area, generally spend time away from the tourist crowd.

There are a few specific places I would recommend:
Southwest of PV is a little village called Yelapa, a great place to spend a day in the sun. There are a couple little restaurants on the beach, and a waterfall in the middle of a jungle that you can hike up to and have lunch at. When we went we took the city bus to Boca and took a water taxi from there. You can also get there from downtown PV; there is a Yelapa office at the Los Muertos pier.

Alot of our time in PV was spent walking down the Malecon, the boardwalk that runs the length of the tourist area. It is always bustling, almost 24 hours a day. They are in the middle of an extension of the Malecon; construction should be complete by the time you get there in June. I would definitely recommend spending some time on the Malecon. A word of warning, it is a big tourist attraction and as such you will be constantly approached by people trying to sell you things.

As the other posts mentioned, try to go to Bucerias. It is a lovely little town, and off the beaten path of the PV tourist area.

Our favourite day-in-the-sun place was Hotel Lindo Mar. It is south of downtown, past the tourist area. We walked an hour each way from our condo almost every day for happy hour. The restaurant and beach is part of the hotel, but you don't need to be a guest to use either. You can rent chairs and just lie on the beach, all day if you want, and it has a fantastic view. The food and drinks are great, as is the service.

That is all I can think of at the moment. I hope this has helped at least a little bit. I enjoyed my visit to PV so much that I am going to be living there for a couple months next year. You will absolutely love it, no matter what you do, but I definitely recommend staying away from the "touristy" things.

4. There are two shopping areas in the city of Puerto Vallarta...the Malecon (mal-ih-kon) which has newer, pricier shops and the more famous restaurants like Carlos O'Brian's and Senor Frogs, then there is the Old Town, which is more of a flea market style and has alot more handicrafts. Just hop in a cab and say Malecon or Old Town and they will take you right there. Now June is gonna be super hot, so you will spend lots of time in the water!! There are a couple of tour trips that you must do!! Do the Yelapa tour...it is really nice...everyone I know that has done it really enjoyed it. And also do the Rhythms of the Night tour...it's really cool, kind of like Survivor, with the torches lighting up the beach at night. I have been to Puerto Vallarta twice and did some bad tours and good ones and these two were the best.

And personally, I didn't enjoy Bucerias...dirty, and eating in the restaraunts there is questionable...it has the same shopping as Old Town, but not as much. And the beach there in Bucerias is full of garbage. And I really did give it a chance...we went there twice (2003 and 2007).