Just back from Puerto Vallarta
 

Hola my Fodor's lovers of Mexico. Here is my annual post! Just back from 10 glorious days in my beloved PV. Any questions, I'm happy to help if I can. -suze

Welcome back. Glad you had a good trip. Missed you on the Caribbean boards. :) Leaving for Cabo pretty soon. I am so excited.

Donde?

Can you do a short trip report? Anything new and exciting in PV? What fun things did you do?

You mean where did I stay, Stewbear?

Sure MichelleY, I'd be happy to, with the disclaimer that what I do in PV probably wouldn't float most people's boats. but I'll give it a try ;-)

I had an apartment high on a hill above Olas Altas (read *hiking* up and down 3-4 times every day -lol) in an absolutely lovely open-air 1 bedroom in a private traditional-style complex.

I went to Zumba classes most mornings... at the plaza in front of Eloisa's (8am M-F), Fit Club (9am M-F), and Yoga Vallarta (8am Tu/Th).

Besides that I just walk, walk, walk, around, around, around town. Lounge by the pool. Read 4 books. Got a nice tan. I stopped into the church and happened to get to be part of a wedding taking place at that time. Went up to Casa Isabels for the view and happy hour. One afternoon at C&C's on the beach. After much searching found Christmas wrapping paper with Feliz Navidad on it.

Hmmm... what's new and exciting is always all the changes, every year. The newly completed widening of the Malecon in Centro, for example, is very nice. And the not so happy changes like the continuing growth and addition of some (imo) sadly inappropriate gigantic condo buildings south-side. Rizo's is closed for good, boohoo.

Been around a few years now but Mikey's Deli at Los Mercados is fantastic, amazing, and the place I ate (well got food to go) most often. Terriffic addition to south-side.

Insider tip, try Luigi who has the gelatto stand in front of La Piazetta, it is excellent. Have the yogurt berry swirl. 270p small cup. Divine. Coconut and chocolate weren't too shabby either.

The Saturday morning Market Coop at Paradise Community Center at Pulpito 127 (across from Coco's Kitchen) is fantastic and fabulous. 9am-1pm. An incredible mix of local and expat vendors, bakers, vegetables, meats, crafts, handmade soaps and cards, coffee from the mountains, bagels, chicken rotisserie, clothes, etc. Highly recommend Roberto there, the italian fresh sausage man. His sign says Ego Sum Salumi Italiani. And he has a grill going for sausages, but also amazing procuitto, salami, packaged and sausages to take home to cook.

There's another similar market, different vendors, running on Badillo that same time/day.

"Southside Shuffle" every other Friday night was good. A bunch of the stores and galleries lining B. Badillo have an open house, serve wine, and make a bit of a street party. Includes Banderas Bay Trading Co, Galeria Puerco Azul, La Bohemia, Lucy's, Galleria Dante, Cassandra Shaw to name a few. Next dates: Nov 25, Dec 16 & 30, Jan 13 & 27, Feb 10 & 24, Mar 9 & 23.

I went to the party at Lucy's Cucu Cabana Thursday for Gil's latest titled "Slime & Punishment" and in celebration of her/their 19 years in business with the shop. They had a mariachi band out front, balloon & flag decorations, seats along the sidewalk, a huge vat of margaritas or no-alcohol fruit punch, shopping, book signing, etc. And a chance to meet both Gil and Lucy.

The band at Nacho Daddy's doing oldies and covers was pretty darn decent.

Well how about that? I guess I did do something!! :-)

Thanks Suze Mexico in general & PV in particular is such a great walking towm as is Zihuatanejo, Patzcuaro, Morelia & my new love Guanajuato.
PS I Will be in PV for a week or so in early March after a 5 year (has it really been that long?) absence.

Sounds like you did have a great trip with lots to do. Thanks for sharing.

Michelle, will you send me another e-mail for our GTG in Cabo. :)

Thanks Suze for your great report. We are heading to PV in January for a week. Sounds like we could be busy cause hate to miss anything. Though our intention is to read, swim and sun we can be easily distracted! Will use your info as our guide. Thx for this.

Thanks for the report!

Stewbear, You will be shocked and amazed at the changes in Puerto Vallarta even in the past 5 years. Starting with the airport! It's a lot bigger, and very sleek and modern these days.

I'll add on my restaurant list here too, and any other details I can think of, for others visiting soon.

Sounds like a great trip Suze.

That wasn't a mariachi band outside of Lucy's it was "Norteño" I was there, pity I missed you.

What makes them not a mariachi band JR? Not arguing with you, just curious who they are or what makes them different? They sure *looked* like a mariachi band (lol).

Need any help on your next visit to Puerto Vallarat suze !! :)

Welcome back.

A I understand it Mariachi must have-Brass instruments. Not familiar with Norteno. In Zihua none brass groups are called Musicas. Do not know if that is just locally there or not.
A wonderful tme to visit Guadalajara (home of theMariachii) is durning the Mariachi Festival.

That is interesting info Stewbear!

"Norteño"

I'm still curious is norteno the name of that specific group I saw (they were excellent) or it's the type of music?

Here are the restaurants I went to. Hardly an inclusive list of all the wonderful places. Just where I happened to end up. All meals were from good to fantastic.

Breakfast: Fredy's El Tucan, River Cafe, Cafe de Olla, Memo's House of Pancakes, Coco's

Lunch: to-go from Mikey's Deli at Los Mercados, CyC on the beach, Saturday Coop market at Paradise CC

Dinners: Coco's Kitchen, Joe Jacks Fish Shack, La Piazetta, Cafe de Olla

Dessert: Yarita bakery, Buonissimo gelato stand

Drinks: Cafe Isabel/Madison South, Nacho Daddy's

Norteño is a style of music http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norte%C3%B1o_(music)
different from Mariachi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariachi

muchas gracias, cabron. i should have just said there was "live music" :-)

We are looking forward to our first visit to PV in Feb. thanks to your recommendation. Arriving the day of our wedding anniversary-looking for a special place for dinner that night and wondering if we need reservations. We are staying in the Romantic Zone. Thanks

Coco's Kitchen (Púlpito 122) is beautiful courtyard setting with great food, easy walk, down jsut in off the beach across from Paradise Community Center. They have patio dining with sparkly lights in the trees, a comfortable but special setting. Fabulous coconut shrimp entree.
http://www.cocoskitchen.net/#!__about

Casa Isabel's up on the hill, their restaurant called Madison South has amazing stunning panoramic views of the city. I only had a drinks but their menu and food looked excellent.
http://www.casaisabelpv.com/bar-and-grill

I've never been but Vista Grill is up that same street as Casa Isabel's and supposed to be very nice. Same killer views.
http://www.vistagrill.com/

The River Cafe, is tucked away on the Rio Cuale (between Centro and Southside) and a very romantic lush setting, with some tables actually out over the water. Live music in their bar later in the evening.
http://www.rivercafe.com.mx/

Last but not least, right on the sand of Los Muertos La Palapa. Fine dining both under the palapa and out on the sand. Also music in the bar later most evenings.
http://www.lapalapapv.com/site/

Depending on day of the week and time of your dinner, probably wouldn't hurt to make a reservation.

Glad to see the River Café is still going strong, one of PV's special places.
Is Bolero about a 100 yards or so up river from there sill on the Island? It always had excellent food, very peaceful with outdoor seating overlooking the river.

I had breakfast at River Cafe two weeks ago, lovely as always. Not sure about Bolero, sorry didn't notice.

Thank you. We are staying three weeks, so look forward to trying them all. I think we're going to like it there!!!!

Suze, is that a typo regarding your Luigi's frozen yogurt being 270 pesos? Must be pretty darned good frozen yogurt for that amt., lol. I just came back from a 2 wk trip to Q. Roo and Yucatan, so I am in tune w/the peso to USD rate.

Yes darlin you are absolutely correct, 27 peso, single scoop. muchas gracias for the edit. It WAS fabulous, but not twenty bucks.
:-)

snorklesue~agree with suze~The River Cafe would be a perfect choice for an anniversary dinner!! :)

Suze, in looking for a place to stay next winter, 5-6wks,I am now looking at Puerto Vallarta. What is the nearest airport? Any problem renting a car for that long? We would be looking for a 2bed 2bath condo with pool and oceanfront. We love little harbor towns....any help?

hola cd-

The international airport IS Puerto Vallarta (code PVR) it's right in town, at the north end.

No problems renting a car but if your condo is in town you probably wouldn't need or want one. There are taxis everywhere and a very decent bus system. Parking and traffic downtown is very conjested.

Not to misrepresent PV I need to say is not a "little harbor town". It's a busy hussling bussling Mexican city with a population of 300,000 these days.

I have some good condo connections but none are oceanfront.

Thanks suze

There are some condos listed here
http://vallartainfo.com/rent.html

The website cabron mentions above is also good for seeing what tours and activites are available. And excellent maps.

www.vallarta-getaways.com is the agency I use for rentals. See "Unique Old Town Rentals" tab.

Thanks cabron and suze. I'm hoping to find a small harbor town somewhere but I will keep PV on my list.

Have you looked at Sayulita?

Have you looked at Zijuatenejo? That sounds a lot more like what you are seeking.

Or from PV up same direction but before you reach Sayulita you can check out San Pancho or Ricon de Guaymbitos. Or maybe south like around Barre de Navidad?

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle is a small harbor town, mostly pleasure craft, between PV and Punta de Mita. I you're looking for a fishing town, Tehuamixtle, south of Cabo Corrientes is even smaller and well known for oysters and lobster.

Thank you Suze for all your info! We're finally getting ready to pack for our 2 weeks in PV and have so many of your notes and recommendations for our time there. I'm looking forward to writing our own trip report. :)
By the sounds of it, you mainly do R&R trips. Have you done many of the local activities i.e., water sports, zip line, ATV tours, etc? As well as day trips from PV? We won't have a car, so we're at the mercy of using buses and taxis. We're staying right in zona romatica so we'll be able to do lots of walking. We're going to do the walking food tour our first day there so we know where to eat the rest of our trip. But we're trying to decide on what to do the rest of the time...aside from sitting on the beach and walking through town. :) There are so many options and so many providers, we're just trying to sort through them all. Have you personally dealt with any of them? Thanks!
SEA to PVR in 6 days and counting!

I think maybe my better question should have been - how much should we plan ahead of time and how much is best to just do "on the fly" when we get there? We'd like to be as prepared as we can (making sure we get the best deal and/or making reservations ahead of time) but also looking forward to being spontaneous. :)

TBalcom- we did the zip line with Los Veranos. They were great and I highly recommend them. Very fun and very professional. I would wait and book things once you are there.