Puerto Vallarta Questions
 

We're staying at the Villa Del Mar for a week in July. Never been before so lots of questions...
1. Should we rent a car or just take cabs?
2. Things I'd Like To Do...any tips on these? dolphin swim, zipline, a sunset dinner cruise, snorkel boat trip, shopping in town
3. I did not feel safe in Jamaica whenever we left the resort area...please tell me I'll feel safer in PV.

1) take taxis or the bus is very easy and cheap.
2) book your tours on-line and get the discount, usually 10% off, best shopping is on Basilio Badillo on the south side of town.
3) very safe in Puerto Vallarta, probably safer than your home town. :)

3. Puerto Vallarta is nothiing like the atmosphere in Jamaica. Local people are very warm and welcoming. I have vacationed there nearly 20 trips to date, sometimes solo/female and have never once felt unsafe.

2. www.vallarta-info.com to see about activities and get excellent free maps.

2. Shopping in town you can do on your own. Basilo Badillo & Olas Altas area on the south-side, and along the Malecon, and parallel street of Juarez & Morelos in El Centro are good areas for shops.

1. If you plan to take day trips outside PV to the north or south, you might want a rental car. If you are going from your resort into downtown a few times I would stick with taxis (because downtown driving & parking are crowded and somewhat difficult). It's also easy enough and very inexpensive to take the local busses around.

Here's my latest favorites, unique-to-Vallarta shopping suggestions:

Ambience by Marcia, Constitution 347 (off Badillo) a wonderful shop of handmade candles, soaps, lotion, fragrance. Very reasonable.

Lucy's Cucu Cabana, Basilo Badillo 295 Excellent selection of interesting small pottery, carvings, artwork, masks. Fun and festive. Good prices.

Candy & nuts. Specialties like dulce de leche, candied pecans, almonds, peanuts, spicy lima beans, pistashios, peanuts w/ chilies, etc. Delicious. The shop I used was near the Ley's supermarket in the hotel zone (Av. Mexico around Chile cross-street). I'm told there's another similar at Juarez & Mina in El Centro.

World of Tile, V. Carranza 374 on the south-side .www.talavera-tile.com pottery and tile factory with large selection and artisans at work.

Shop at Gigante across the street from the VDM for groceries.....

My favorite meals were at...

Breakfast:
Fredy's Tucan, B. Badillo at Hotel Posada de Roger

Dinners:
Mariscos Polo's, F. Madero #376
Fajita Republic, B. Badillo
Joe Jack's Fish Shack, B. Badillo
Cafe de Olla, B. Badillo
Cafe Roma, Encino #287

suze - what are prices like at the restaurants you listed?

"American Breakfast" at Fredy's is 64 peso (~$6.40 USD) and includes coffee or tea, fresh OJ or tropical fruit plate, beans or potatoes, bacon or sausage, and toast. They also have omlettes, pancakes, waffles, etc. at similar prices.

The dinner places I mentioned were around 150 to 250 peso ($15-25 USD) for 1 entree and 1-2 cocktail, beer or wine.

I have the exact prices at home, as I jotted them down this trip. I'm happy to post them later.

oops, I forgot the "2 eggs any style" in my menu description above!

My favorite restaurant in PV was a little tapas bar up the stair/street on the left side of the cathedral. I don't remember the name, but it has blue tiles on the outside and serves the most amazing tapas (and quite good sangria). It is on the same street as the veggie restaurant (which is also pretty good and very affordable).

Gaby's?

It's called Esquina de los Capricho, Miramar 402 at Iturbide from 1pm to 10pm closed Sundays. 222-0911

Thanks Cabron and NulGravitas... (why oh why do I always hear of another great restaurant right when I returned from PV?).

Where do I change my dollars for pesos? I know I can do this at my hotel, but I'm assuming I'll need some to tip on the ride to the hotel.

If you use a porter for luggage, want to tip the taxi driver, or have a bellboy's help at your hotel, I think it is OK to tip in USD that first day.

The other option would be to change a small amount at an airport currency exchange somewhere along the way. But that doesn't really help, because you need smaller denominations and coins for tipping, which is not what you'd likely get from currency exchange or by using an ATM.

(I save peso from my previous trip until the next one, to get around that issue of small change the first day. But since it's your first time that doesn't help!)

Never having been to Mexico, I'm getting comments from people about how I should not drink the water & be careful what I eat, etc. Please advise...

This may be true in some parts of Mexico, but it's not true in Puerto Vallarta.

Have the people making these comments even been to Puerto Vallarta? Some people I think picture old western movies and banditos when the word 'Mexico' is mentioned which is ridiculous.

That said, sure I'm always careful what I eat and drink when I travel some place new & do stick with bottled or purified water - it's sold everywhere, very common, easy enough thing to do.

A lot of people blame the water when in fact it's the copious amounts of tequila that make them ill......