gilliegrrl

I have a ticket to Puerto Vallarta for christmas and new year's. At this point I am planning on going to Yelapa and Sayulita, but I would like to see more if possible. I am the adventurous backpacking type and Puerto Vallarta is definitely not my cup of tea. Does anyone have any helpful ideas about places to go within that vicinity? What about the interior?

mikemo

South of Puerto Vallarta is the super Costalegre with many bargain places for backpackers and amazing beaches.
www.costalegre.ca
www.tomzap.com

suze

Don't sell Puerto Vallarta itself short. Have you been there before?

I don't know where you are staying, but downtown is a normal Mexican working kind of place. It's not all about tourists.

Venture inland in el Centro. Hike up the Rio Cuale. Head into any of the local residential neighborhoods like Remance, Pitillal, etc. Ride a bus around.

suze

into the Sierra Cuale mountains you can go to: San Sebastian, Mascota, Talapa.

South you can go to: El Tuito, Aquiles Serdan, Tehualmixtle, Playa Chalacatepec, Playa La Manzanilla to Barra de Navidad and Melanque.

North you can go to: Rincon de Guayambitos, La Penita, San Pancho to San Blas.

suze

^

gilliegrrl

thanks for the great info. I am curious about some of the mountain towns. Is it really worth seeing that area and should I try to stay the night there or just make it a day trip from PV?

suze

sorry, i don't know. i love puerto vallarta dearly and have spent a lot of time there, but i just stay downtown... because that *is* MY cup of tea -lol!


i don't think the distance matters so much, more it is about getting "off" and then back to Yelapa, is that is where you are basing the entire stay. it is not a very convenient or practical location to day-trip from.

hopefully 'Cabron' will spot this post. he has good info about the mountains.

you might also check over on the Trip Advisor forum on the Vallarta branch. it's very active there with several people currently living in PV plus loads of regular visitors.

cabron

Here's a few +4,000' towns in the Sierras.
San Sebastian, Mascota and Talpa de Allende.
Here's a map and links:
http://vallartainfo.com/outerlimits.html

iamq

On your way to Yelapa, stop at Majahuitas for a few nights. We were there in February and absolutely loved it. It might represent a bit of a splurge, but it would be a worthy one.

-Bill

bobrad

I have always enjoyed Rincon de Guayambitos. It's a somewhat sleepy shrimp fishing village with great prices. ! A large pizza smothered with shrimp was about $6.00 American. The shrimp sandwiches were to die for. The hotel rooms were not expensive and the beach clean. In other words we gringos haven't spoiled the place yet.

suze

Bill- she said she's the "backpacking type" -lol!!!
;-)

Junejuly

I lived in PV for 2 months about 4 years ago, and my favorite excursion was San Blas. It's about 4 hours away (depending on how many cows/busses are on the road), but really worth it. You can take a boat ride through the marshes there... it's amazing! So many birds of all kinds, not to mention the alligators and the turtles... I was enchanted and still think of it a lot to this day. PV can actually be a lot of fun if you go closer to Playa de los Muertos and stay clear of resort strip.
When you say mountain towns, which are you speaking of? Guanajuato, Morelia, and Guadalajara (though a city, not a town) are all good... in the interior of Mexico, the entire state of Michoacan is nothing less than amazing.

suze

<<PV can actually be a lot of fun if you go closer to Playa de los Muertos and stay clear of resort strip.>>

Here here!! Truer words were never spoken