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| *Travel Tips>>>Puerto Vallarta Travel Tips |
Any Puerto Vallarta visitors out there? |
Travel Info My fiance and I are going to Puerta Vallarta in August for our honeymoon. I was curious to see if any of you had ever been there. Was there anything you know now that you wish you had known before you got there? Things I should remember to pack because I won't find it there? Places that we won't want to miss out on? Any other suggestions or tips (except don't drink the water...that one gets old...lol). Travel Tips Puerto Vallarta is a beautiful place. In August there is a tendency for a daily downpour in the late afternoon. It can be fun to be in a warm rain. The earlier part of the day is usually sunny and very warm. You can enjoy the beach or pool areas. The rain cools off the temperature and the evenings are comfortable. PV is one of the greatest restaurant cities in the world, but if you are on your honeymoon, you may prefer an all-inclusive hotel on the beach. Make sure you go downtown to Carlos O'Brien's for a meal and tell the waiter you are on your honeymoon. You will not regret this. Check out websites for things to do. "www.puertovallarta.net", "www.vallartainfo.com", and "vallartaonline.com" will help. The is golf, parasailing, snorkling, diving, pirate cruises, horseback rides, and much to do. Take a bus ride, it's only a nickle. Just make sure you know which bus to get on. Read about it on vallartainfo.com. Taxis are pretty cheap, based on zones. I stay in the "Romantic Zone" and it's $2.50 to go home and $5.00 to go downtown, and $10.00 to go to the airport. When you are just getting out of the airport, do not stop and listen to any of the people trying to sell you timeshares. Do not be polite. Just go. There is a place to exchange money, just past the hucksters. There is an airport taxi booth just before the exit. If you need a taxi, get it here, even if it is close to $20.00. You won't find a better way to get to your hotel, unless they provide the service. Not only don't drink the water from the tap, but do not brush your teeth with that water. Purified water is readily available everywhere. Any restaurant with tourist business uses it (Same with ice). Always carry bottled water with you when you go out. It is cheap, safe, and you need to keep hydrated. Learn a few words in Spanish (http://www.go2mexico.com/?page=spanish_h... This goes a long way in making your visit more enjoyable. Beach vendors can be ignored, but be polite with them. If you want to buy from them (and in many of the small shops), you have to haggle. It is fun. Whatever price they say, you say a price just over half, and go back and forth until you reach a happy middle. PV is paradise for most, paradise lost for a few. Others I was there about 4 years ago. I've been to Cancun and Cozumel as well and, to be honest, I didn't enjoy my Puerta Vallarta experience. Puerta Vallarta is very beautiful, has a European flavor to it and I did enjoy the whale watching experience (I believe that was in late Feb. or March and I don't know if they will be in the bay now that the temperatures are warming up north) and the parasailing looked fun. When we went, our resort (Grand and Club Marival) was filled with French Canadiens. For the first 3 days of our trip, we literally could not get a spot to sit at our beach or our pool; we watched as people/family would get up starting at 7:00am and put their towels and belongings on seats at the pool, the beach, and often both areas to save them for the day whether they used them or not. By the 4th morning, we (and some of the other few American tourists at the resort) had had enough and simply removed the items from these "saved" spaces; the Americans and French Canadiens did have a few arguements about this practice while we were there. In addition and even before these disputes, the French Canadien tourists just really seemed to have a strong dislike for Americans and didn't want to mingle with them at the resort or on the side trips we took. The water should be safe to drink at the resorts and the modern restaurants. You can find pretty much anything you need in town for toiletries, film, etc. and, if you can't find it yourself, the hotel may have stock the item (but that can be pricey) or can direct you to a local store; in fact, its usually my favorite thing to do now in Mexico to go shopping for regular, everyday items like the locals and many things are actually cheaper than bringing them from the States. Didn't mean to scare you and I doubt you'll have the same experience we had now that Quebec is quite nice in August so there shouldn't be the tourist issue. As a whole, Mexico is a nice place to visit and Cozumel is actually my favorite spot (having also been to many of the "islands" and Costa Rica); I think we just went at the wrong time.----I think vermontchef's description is probably fairer and more accurate than mine! Modified 11 months ago There's a Giant Walmart 10 minutes from the airport, so if you forgot something, no worries. If you exit the airport and cross over the bridge outside... the Taxi's are half the price of the Taxi's "licensed" to be in the airport. Even if you are in an All inclusive...first time you go to the bar, tip the guys behind it , there were three guys and I gave a $20 tip for them to split. Even if there were 15 people in line..they'd see me approach and come straight to me. They also kept my bottle of Tequila in the cooler, nothing worse than warm tequila. Don't waste your time with the Lobster...BIG dissapointment. The shrimp are huge... go with them. You will be approached hundreds of time during your visit for Timeshares. Just say THANK YOU NO and keep walking... don't even start a conversation, or you'll be stuck for 10 minutes , and a 90 minute timeshare appointment.... will take at least half your day up. Don't waste your honeymoon time on that. There's a killer restuarant you shouldn't miss.... $10 plate, there's so much great shrimp that it's falling off the edges , it's called Mauricios. If you want to go Deap Sea fishing.......don't go AFTER a full moon. Any all day trips you plan....... fishing.. canopy tours ( giant tree cable runs) etc... aren't any fun if your hungover. All the resorts have clean water so don't worry and have a great trip 6 trips to PV I do own a timeshare there but didn't buy iton my honeymoon. |
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