THINGS TO DO
If you aren’t satisfied with spending all you time at the beach or pool relaxing, no worries. There are plenty of things to do here to keep you entertained.
Muelle de Playa Los Muertos
Located on Los Muertos beach is a pier completed in 2013. Also known as the “lookout” the pier was the winning design in an architecture contest as part of downtown revival initiative. It’s free to stroll and definitely worth a visit at night as it lights up in the evening. On a side note, the name origins of Playa Los Muertos, or deadman’s beach, is an interesting one. Some believe it was a former indigenous burial ground while others tell a story of pirates and smugglers with stolen ore and gold loading their ship on this beach only to be overwhelmed and killed by local tribes and left on the beach to rot.
Razor UTV Tour
We have actually done this tour with Wild Treks twice. While not cheap for small groups, the bigger the party sharing a vehicle the lower the per person cost. 6 people sharing a UTV is only $240. Safety gear and instruction are included. The tour takes you up the mountain to a small restaurant, Ranchos Las Pilas. The food is fine but the real attraction is the river running alongside the restaurant. It forms multiple separate jetties, waterfalls, and pools and it’s very refreshing after the dusty ride to the top.
Afterwards there is a tequila tasting before returning back to the bottom but not just any tequila. It’s artisanal, reasonably priced, and delicious. If you don’t like tequila, be sure to at least try the amaretto. They safely transport the tequila back to the store for you. If you decide to buy pictures, be sure to bargain. We’ve never paid close to asking price. Bring cash too as it ups your bargaining power.
Los Arcos National Marine Park
Los Arcos is a natural rock formation just off the coast of Puerto Vallarta. It is quite breathtaking and so perfect you might think for a second you’ve been cast in a movie where people happily live the rest of their days in some far reaching not truly existent exotic locale. Trust me when I say, this is where you start hatching a plan to not get on the return flight. No wonder PVR is so popular with ex-pats.
The best way to get here is via a guided organized tour. Prices start around $55pp but can go pretty high depending on length of tour, inclusions, number of stops, and number of people booked. Obviously private tours will cost more. Unfortunately tour companies come and go and the 2 we booked previously no longer appear to be in operation so I can’t make specific recommendations. I will say be careful about departing location as this tour sometime departs for Mismaloya beach which may be a bit of a trek from your hotel depending on where you are staying.
Yelapa Waterfall & Majahuitas
While I can’t specifically recall if I’ve been to Majahuitas, we have been to Yelapa as part of an excursion we booked to Los Arcos. However it appears to now be offered only in conjunction with Majahuitas which is a beautiful cove beach accessible by boat. Horrible right? I do highly recommend any tour that includes Yelapa. It is a unique community of indigenous people living free from government oversight. They reside on and control their own land. A 45 minute boat ride from Puerto Vallarta, you won’t find cars or restaurant chains here.
This colorful village trapped in time is full of winding alleyways. A few minutes from shore there is a beautiful hidden waterfall.
The Malecon
The Malecon is a kilometer long boardwalk that runs parallel to the waterfront. In addition to a variety of shops, bars, art galleries, and interesting restaurants, there are multiple public art works to ponder at regular intervals, all while taking in endless sweeping views of the ocean. You can spy local fisherman on the beach cleaning their daily catch with pods of pelicans waiting on standby to catch a tasty treat. On busy weekends you can often find local vendors with card tables selling their wares and a range street entertainers as well. You can easily spend an entire lazy afternoon strolling the Malecon taking it all in.
Be sure to lookout for the Danza de los Valadores. These dancing flyers swing from ropes dangling from a 30 meter pole. They preform every day from 10am to 2 pm and 6 pm to 10 pm, weather permitting.
Visit the Breweries
I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t at least mention the breweries here. Mexican beer in general is not great. There is a reason you add the lime. It’s to mask the flavor. The craft beer scene in general is very slow to catch on Mexico which is why its so surprising to find not one, but two breweries here: Monzon and Los Muertos. There is also El Granero, but I wouldn’t count it as a 3rd brewery as it is owned by Los Muertos and the beer menu appears to be identical at both places.
Both breweries serve food and offer some real bargains on their lunch specials. We enjoy the pizza so much at Los Muertos, we’ve actually had it delivered to our condo. The offerings at Monzon are a little more eclectic with a clear nod to gastropub fare. Fair warning though, like many venues in Mexico, the breweries are not air conditioned and open air with fans. Your beer can get warm pretty fast.
Explore the Downtown Area
We have never felt unsafe walking around Puerto Vallarta though it does tend to be a bit more rowdy crowd in the evenings. The locals want to protect tourism as well which is why you may see armed police and soldiers milling about public areas from time to time. They are there to discourage criminal behavior.
Old Vallarta is full of random artworks, murals, historical architecture. The Cuale River runs almost perpendicular to the shoreline and there is a cute swinging foot bridge for pedestrians. If you’re a big fan of neoclassical architecture, be sure to check out the Church of Our Lady Guadalupe. Although the construction of the church began in the 1920s, the belfry tower wasn’t completed until 1955. The original crown had to be replaced in 1981 as it was severely weather damaged.
TELL ME YOUR EXPERIENCES
We love “PVR” and hope to go again soon. We like to Uber to Walmart at the beginning of our trip and stock our kitchen so we can have a relaxed easy going vacation with a balance of fun activities with downtime by the pool and sunset knowing there is absolutely no where else we need to be at that moment. The real romance is experiencing everything this area has to offer the casual tourist. Have you been Zona Romantica? Comment below and tell me your experiences.
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