We will be traveling as a family (adult children with the youngest being 16) to Nuevo Vallarta and staying at the Grand Myan for the first time in May...interested in doing some side trips...any suggestions? Also would appreciate any suggestions for places to eat.

Dear mad:

We stayed at the Grand Mayan several years ago. Very nice!! We didn't explore NV per se - we did our outings to PV. Here is a link to our trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34729818

You may also want to check Tripadvisor. Their PV & NV board is more active.

Good luck and have fun.

MY

Eating/dining in Nuevo itself, I believe is pretty much based around the various hotels and resorts.

but you can head to Bucerias (a nearby small town) for a sampling of local restaurants. Or take a trip into downtown Puerto Vallarta.

Nuevo Vallarta is not a town, just a collection of tourist resorts.

The best side trip is of course to spend some time in Puerto Vallarta's central area.

Once that's out of the way then if you want something different maybe try the boat trip thru the mangroves north of town near San Blas. This is often marketed as an "Eco Tour" or "Mangrove Tour" from Vallarta, sold as a day trip with transportation provided ... nice boat ride thru the mangroves with plenty of wildlife, if that's your bag. Also San Blas is a welcome change from the blatant tourism in Vallarta (no time share vendors, no chain hotels or eating establishments, no Hooters restaurant on the malecon).

Here are some sites describing the boat/eco tours, which are not for everybody.

http://www.nuevovallartatours.com/sa...ovara-tour.htm

http://www.chartersmexico.com/puerto...erboattour.htm

La Tovara Springs is the main attraction and Trip Advisor has it ranked #1 in the area ...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...fic_Coast.html

Bill

"Hooters restaurant on the malecon"
Not anymore, it closed several months ago.

My friend did the San Blas nature tour as Bill described and enjoyed it very much. Transportation from PV was included.