My girlfriend and I are coming to Bucerias/PV in June 2003. What can we expect in terms of weather/heat/humidity? (Not that we mind any of them) Also, we aren't exactly the resort type, more into authenticity, and hoping to find it here. Have talked to some people who are pretty jaded about PV and others who were blown away. We'd love to get some insight into what to expect. We were told that Bucerias and the coast beyond PV is where it is at - cheaper prices, nicer feel, less crowded. We're both hoping this is the case. We have tentatively booked an apartment in Bucerias - the Casa Linda. Is anyone familiar with this place? The website gave a good impression. Is $65 USD/night the going rate? We're also thinking of renting a car for the week so that we can explore. How is the driving? Any good/bad experiences? This will be our first trip to Mexico although we've both traveled Thailand, Europe, Greece, Turkey, etc. Any help that people can give would be appreciated.

again, any help would be appreciated...

First I have to say I am a huge fan of Puerto Vallarta!! Just love that place. I have been there 15 times in the past 8-10 years. Sounds like Bucerias might be what you are looking for. You could rent a car for a few days but there are also plenty of busses on that route going north (PV, Bucerias, Punta Mita, Sayulita, Ricon de Guayabitos, San Pancho, San Blas).<BR><BR>When/if you go into PV be sure to get to El Centro (the old downtown area) where the cathedral with the crown on top, the Malecon (seawall promonade), zocolo, etc. are located. And from there just to the south over the river (Rio Cuale) into the neighborhood around Playa Los Muertos (local beach).<BR><BR>The high-end packaged tourist resorts are fortunately (to my mind) located away from downtown both to the north in the Hotel Zone, the Marina, Nuevo Vallarta, and a few to the south along the highway. Leaving central PV a nice mix of local people and tourists who enjoy it there.<BR><BR>I feel the varied opinions about Puerto Vallarta often spring from what part of town the person has stayed in. There are *very* different worlds depending where you are around the Bay of Banderas.<BR><BR>Sorry can't help more as I always stay in Old Town PV and have never rented a car.

I used to go to PV back in the 80's and recently went back again for the first time in 16 years. It's really grown and while it's still an OK destination, I doubt that I would go back there again for any period of time. We had a couple of nights in the old part of PV, but then we moved to Sayulita for a week. That's north of Bucerias, and for a beach destination, it was perfect for us. Because there is no bank or cambio in Sayulita, we went to Bucerias to get cash midway through our week. I used to hear a lot about Bucerias so I was curious about it. It's much bigger than Sayulita and the beach seemed very nice. I'm not familiar with Casa Linda, but it looked like there was a fair amount of variety in accommodations there.<BR><BR>We've been to Mexico many times, but have only rented cars in the Yucatan. Buses are pretty good and inexpensive and that's what we use. I think the roads are ok - you have to be careful at night, etc. - the usual. <BR><BR>Are you planning to spend all of your time at the beach? I always like to get away from the beach for a few days - we usually try to split our time between a beach destination (which my husband always wants) and somewhere in the interior. This time we went to Guadalajara for a few days and that was a nice change of pace. Definitely a big city (I think it's 6 million people). <BR><BR>I expect it will be very hot and humid in June. We usually travel to Mexico in February or March. Costs should be lower in June.

thanks for youe help. We've been told Sayulita is also great, any recommendations of 1 BR or apartments to rent. And buses are adequate for getting around in general? Thanks again.

A good site for apartments, etc. is www.vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner) - that's what we used to rent in Sayulita. Lots of listings for Bucerias as well. <BR><BR>We find the buses are generally ok. We came back from Guadalajara on a &quot;luxury&quot; busline (ETN)- a lot nicer than the buses in Canada or the US! The bus out to Sayulita was more basic, but at only 17 pesos (less than $1.70 US), we could hardly complain. I find car rentals in Mexico fairly expensive, so we don't tend to rent them for more than a few days.

great help everybody...thanks...one more thing, we're now considering some suggestions for an overnight trip to Guadalajara while we're in the PV area. Any recommendations of places to stay? There ae an awful lot to choose from, it seems.

It takes 5 hours to go from PV to Guadalajara by bus, so unless you fly, I think it's a little too far for an overnight trip. We stayed in a budget hotel in downtown Guadalajara - it was clean and conveniently located, but quite basic. I did hear good things about some of the B&amp;B's in Tlaquepaque - that's basically a suburb of Guadalajara and there are 3 or 4 B&amp;B's.

Hi - you're going to LOVE Casa Linda &amp; Bucerias! We've stayed 2 doors down from Casa Linda (at Casa Ma&ntilde;ana). Lovely area. Can't go wrong staying there. Please feel free to email me privately if you'd like to chat more about this area. I'm very jealous by the way!