Rita

Going to PV in a week! (11/21/99). Need help on food- eat in/ or out... will have kitchen. Are grocerys stores available and clean- or all over priced hotel stores? Anything times 6 is expensive- so good "must do" with kids ages 10-14, and food, food, food (with prices please!). I have 4 teen/ pre-teen sons--- FOOD, FOOD, FOOD... lol... Thanks for your help...ASAP

Sandy

Rita: If you're wanting to do quite a bit of cooking there are lots of grocery stores with good quality food. North of the Marina (?) there's a huge Sam's Club which is exactly like a Costco except they have lots of fresh fruit & vegetables as well.They have terrific American grade beef...really tender steaks. If you don't have a Sam's Club membership card you can get a day pass (go thru the Exit door to the desk). You'll have to either take your own plastic bags or purchase them there. Also there's a supermarket called Gigante across the highway from the Sheraton (?). If you're staying in the south end of town you can go to Supermarket Gutierrez Rizo at the corner of Vallarta & Constitucion. I love this store & could spend hours in it. If you keep walking past the northend of the Malecon you'll eventually come across the big grocery store called Ley's. Try & avoid it on a Sunday night...really crowded. When you go shopping at any of these places if you're carrying a large purse of any kind you'll be asked to check it so we usually just take a fanny-pack. We just got back from the PV area on Thursday & found the restaurant prices are up a bit from last year so with 4 kids you might be well advised to stock up on things to have in your suite. Even if you have breakfast & supper at "home" and take the kids out for lunch you'll save a lot of money. We found groceries very reasonably priced. Anything with American brand names will be more expensive so,for instance,instead of buying the Kellogg's corn flakes just buy their national brand. <BR>Hope this helps you a bit...any further question don't hesitate to ask! <BR>

Cheryl Z.

<BR>Hello to anyone interested in the supermarkets in PV (I've answered Rita's emails to me re this, but thought this might help some others): <BR>The super market that we frequent when we are there is the Super Mercado (or something like that) in the Continental Plaza Hotel/Las Glorias Hotel area. They have other locations too, and are similar to the Gigante. It's huge, clean, good prices, and they take credit cards, pesos and US dollars. <BR>Be sure you visit the bakery and get some hot, fresh buns, baked constantly all day, and grabbed up quickly by anyone who knows how good they are. If the bins are empty when your're there, try waiting to see if the next batch is coming out soon. I can easily eat 2-3 <BR>(and they're big!) quickly with nothing on them, they're so good! It's best to make daily visits as the bread has no preservatives and just doesn't taste as good the next day. Then go to the back of the store and check out the deli, especially early in the day too, for the freshly made quacamole, salsa and other things. We live on this kinda stuff for breakfast, lunch, snacks when we're down there. The salsa and quacamole sell out quickly too and then often not made the rest of the day. I can't tell you how good this stuff is!! We also buy the white cheese, can't remember the name, but it starts with an M I think, comes in round plastic wrap, and use this on the bread (yummy) or melt on flour tortillas and make our own quesadillas, adding the salsa etc. ( more yummy) <BR>These stores also have little pharmacies and you can get amoxicillin, lomotil etc there with no prescription. <BR>And if you forgot something from home - toothpaste, underwear, kids toys etc. you can get it there. <BR>One last comment - in the same complex right across from the exit of this store is an ice cream bar and juice store - absolutely wonderful fresh fruit bars. Shaped like our fudgecicles, better than our popcicles, we buy a couple dozen, stuff them in our freezer, and they're gone in a couple days! The strawberry tastes just like strawberries and cream. Many really great flavors. <BR>Other treats to enjoy down there - the regular ice cream is great (at Bings or any place) and the lemonade is wonderful too, made with fresh limes (no lemons down there.)

Pancho

The supermarket that the above poster is referring to is "Comercial Mexicana". It is a major supermarket chain found throughout most parts of Mexico. The bakery at the Puerto Vallarta ( Las Glorias ) store is excellent.

Kim

Hi their, we are going to PV on Jan 1 with our 12 yr old and our 9 yr old niece, any suggestions you have since returning from PV would be appreciated. <BR>Any tips on things to do/see, is their a waterpark in PV? We await your insight. Thank You.

Webjefita

This site claims that PV is "the most mexican beach destination"? That sounds good to me, is that true? <BR>http://www.puerto-vallarta.com/ <BR> <BR>I love Mexican culture and speak spanish fluently. Is PV really that rich in culture and not at all americanized? <BR> <BR>Webjefita

Pancho

Puerto Vallarta is a major international tourist destination. However it has done an excellent job at retaining it's Mexican culture and traditions. There are many nice small towns and villages nearby. It is my favorite tourist locale in Mexico and I have seen them all. The only downside is the beaches aren't the best but that is not a priority with me.

maryvdh

I can recommend you to visit the web-site http://www.royale-tours.com if you are planning to go to Puerto Vallarta. It has good info and pictures of excursions and activities.