Stephy

Friends planned a trip here for January. I have never heard of this town and wondering if it is fun, relaxing and safe?

eileen

This is the small town that was apparently relocated when they built the Four Seasons resort. (We stayed at the FS in April, the town is right outside the gates of the resort). It is very small, some very casual restaurants on the beach, a few condos. A lot of the FS workers live there. I think there is also a relatively new resort there - Rancho Banderas Vacation Villas -- is that where your friends are staying? It is a timeshare/condo resort (I am a member of Interval and it is listed in my book). The whole Punta De Mita area is very beautiful and thus far, pretty undeveloped. The Punta Mita Resort area is going to be huge with Rosewood and St. Regis properties joining the FS, more condos, single family homes, golf courses, but so far it is just the Four Seasons.

Stephy

Thanks Eileen.
My friends are staying at some condo of of VBRO website they found. Mia Tierra or something. I guess Im concenred that I will be bored and we will have to drive about an hour everyday to do activities. Also is the driving and that community safe? Is the four seasons open to "non" residents?

suze

Driving is perfect safe but you're correct in thinking there's not much "to do" out that way. It would be worth taking a day trip at least once or twice into Puerto Vallarta. Other activities since they are not staying at a resort that offers them would be... sitting on the beach, taking a local bus or if they have a rental car driving, up or down the coast to other small towns. People who stay out that way more do so because they want to do nothing and just relax. People who are looking for activities, restaurants, shopping, galleries, tours usually chose to stay in or close to downtown PV.

eileen

Definitely visit the FS if you can, it's worth it just to see it. I think they will let you in if you have a reservation at the restaurant (I have heard that in the past they have turned non-guests without any reservations away). Since there aren't that many dining options in the town, I think you will want to eat at the Four Seasons once or twice. If you are golfers, the course is spectacular. We did take a hired car into Puerta Vallarta one evening, it took more than an hour to get downtown (it is a shorter trip from the airport -- about 45 minutes).

suze

I'll chime in again for Stephy's original question. <relaxing and safe> definitely yes. <fun> well that depends what your friends like to do. Do you know what they are expecting to find? Punta de Mita was a teeny-tiny town that was "moved" when the Four Seasons resort came in awhile back.

Besides lack of formal entertainment, I'm wondering about things like groceries and supplies. They might want to consider doing grocery shopping in PV when they first arrive before driving out to the condo.

Stephy

Thanks so much for all your advice. I have heard that it is best to get nessesties in PV or along the drive before PdM. Sounds like if we rent a car it will be just fine.
Thanks again everyone!

StanKase

Go in January, for a year from now it will not be as relaxing. We were there in March of this year and spent 8 days at the Four Seasons. It is a lovely hotel and the food is good (pricey) but not gourmet. You can relax because right now there are just developing the area. That is unless the condo is next to another condo or hotel under construction which could be a problem. with the heat they may be begin at 7:00 AM. There is nothing to do but relax even at the Four Seasons.Do not count on decent snorkeling for the reef growth there is almost non-existent.
A taxi into PV is about $80 RT with tip.They have rigged it so 90% of the drivers charge the same rate. A car is not needed either because there is no where to go other than PV. We are not shoppers so our 1 trip to PV was only for 3 hours including lunch.
When we were in Punta Mita there were 2 local places to dine but we stayed at the FS to be more assured of any food/stomach problems and we had no problems but we only drank bottled water at the PV lunch. I hope this helps. Enjoy while you can and bring books and sunblock.

suze

I will kindly disagree with a few points in the post directly above.

As far as the "rigged" taxi fare. It is a 1+ hour drive each way from PdM to PV, so I don't find $40USD each way an overpriced or unreasonable rate.

As far as <no where to go other than PV> as previous mentioned there are the towns of Bucerias, Sayulita, San Pancho, Ricon de Guaybitos, San Blas and the beaches of Destiladeras and El Anclote to name a few places.

To my mind, there is plenty to do in Puerto Vallarta that is not shopping. Visit the cathedral, the tile factory, walk inland to the local residential neighborhoods, there's a little museum, look around in the every day shops, stroll along The Malecon in the evening, see a free music or dance performance under The Arches.

StanKase

suze; My interests must just be different. With the lovely beach in Punta Mita other beaches hold little appeal just to see. We did visit several of the highlights you mentioned with a driver but completed that in about 90 minutes, plus walking around for 45 minutes and seeing what is for sale plus lunch we occupied just under 7 hours including the 1 hour uninteresting drive each way. I would have rather relaxed at the resort since for us the sights were not of great significance. But, "different strokes for different folks". I was just rendering our opinion having traveled to 7-8 different Mexican destinations over the past 15 or so years.

suze

A quick overview as shown to you by a driver is I'm sure a totally different perspective than staying in and exploring town. I certainly understand people enjoy different types of things when they travel. That's why I didn't even mention that you could get from Punta Mita to downtown PV by local bus for just a few dollars! Best regards...

Stephy

Thanks again. My husband however thinks that there will be good scuba diving and snorkling. From what Ive heard thsi is not the case. Are the snorkling, scuba and dolphin swim lots of cashola?

suze

The scuba diving is not good, and snorkeling only slightly better. I'm afraid he will be disappointed. What you've heard is correct, it's not exactly a secret that PV is not a snorkeling or scuba destination. Don't get me wrong, I love the area but am not interested in those kinds of activities myself.

StanKase

Stephy; If your friends are a little flexible on the cost of air fare and diving is somewhat important they might want to consider Amergeris Key (spelling is off). It is a 10 minute puddle jumper ride off Belize City.It is a little "tacky" in my opinion, but the snorkeling and diving is first-rate. If you are willing to forgo night life Anthony's Key Resort on Roatan, Honduras (about same air fare, at least from NYC,) is worth considering.
If Belize is a possibility and an island resort resort with a total of 36 guests is acceptable-"Light House Reef Resort" is a great place to decompress on a lovely long beach but have access to first rate diving and snorkeling, especially around the Blue Hole, a divers and snorkelers paradise, cannot be duplicated outside the US including Hawaii. The food at Lighthouse Reef is good home-cooking and reasonably priced. I hope this helps.

pmccallum

We just got back from a week at El Anclote beach (Punta de Mita) and loved it. Not a lot to do if you don't love to go out on boats but the people are great and it is authentic - not yet ruined by tourism. We all felt perfectly safe everywhere we went there. Surfing was good the first couple of days then the waves disappeared. We ended up hiring boats to take us out snorkeling (8 of us) off the islands - about a 20 minute boat ride, fishing, towed on buggie boards, etc. Great snorkeling but water can be cold in some areas. There are some nice beaches close by if you want a new venue for a day.

The Four Seasons is closed if you aren't staying there or aren't eating there. We were turned away by 2 guards. We took the bus into PV, which took 1 1/2 hours for $2. It was fun and I would definitely do that again. If you want to drive into town park at Wal Mart and then take a taxi in. We were advised to get groceries at Wal Mart before going to the condo but didn't. The stores in Punta de Mita have the basics - juice, eggs, bread, chips, etc. and we got by fine on that but if I were to do it over I would go to WM for the bulk of the food.

jeanniep

It's so nice to hear information on Punta de Mita. I just purchased fractional ownership at the FS and am curious if fresh fish (to cook ourselves) is available in the town of Punta de Mita?