Car in Puerto Vallarta necessary??

We don't rent a car in West Coast Mexico. There is good public transport, and distances are short. Most of the taxis are Nissans and VW's, but there are 'colectivos', which are pickups with covers and seats down the sides that will easily hold 8-10 people. In Mexico, settle on the price for a taxi before you get in, and no tip is necessary- though I usually round it up a little- especially if there is luggage, or grocery bags, etc.

I'd only consider a rental if we were out at Nuevo Vallarta, as the distances are greater.

Jim

It depends on where you are staying. We generally stay at the Sheraton Buganvillias for a week or two and walk to Old Town and take the bus to the Marina, Bucerias, Punta De Mita, and Salulita. It costs about 50 cents pp to go just about everywhere in town. The cost to Bucerias is about $1 pp and to take it to Punta De Mita is less than $2 pp each way. The taxi to Bucerias would be about $25+ and to Punta De Mita about $40 each way.

When we stay in Nuevo, we will take a taxi to Bucerias for $10 max. Since we go to PV every November, we use our Nuevo week as a destination R&R vacation week, and then the Buganvillias weeks for getting out and about.

Parking is a challenge in PV. It is mostly parallel and/or on a steep incline. That is why we do not drive there. We did drive from Mazatlan to NV once, but did not drive into PV because we were in a Yukon XL and knew that parking would be an issue. We were staying at the Grand Bliss in NV and just enjoyed the resort.

We always get a car. Its just nice to be able to drive around and see things. I have drove through almost every part of PV. I consider driving around and seeing whatever one of my favorite activities in Mexico.

There is safe pay to park garages on the south end of the malecon very close to the cathedral and an underground parking garage at the romantic zone. I usually park at the above ground garage at the malecon.

You will see these guys with buckets and rags helping people park their cars. If you let them know your planning to park in their area and tip them a dollar they will try hard save you a spot. The guy last year near the north end of the malecon next to the casino was Arturo. He saved me a spot a couple of times.

Bill

Be impossible to get 5 adults into most if not all cabs. But for ~$10 for a cab ride from the marina to town or less than 50¢ each for the bus, I wouldn't rent a car. YMMV

Cheers

Five people will not fit into taxi's in PV. You can rent a larger van for a few more pesos though. We usually take public transportation. Often when these van drivers see you at the bus stop they stop and try to make a deal with you. If there are a few people at the stop and they are going around the same district then you can usually make a good deal with the van driver. Enjoy!

x3 skier said:

Be impossible to get 5 adults into most if not all cabs.

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We were a party of 5 the last time we were in PV/NV, and we never had a problem getting a van-taxi either at the hotel in NV or in PV for the ride back. One time we had to wait maybe 3 minutes while the cab driver called for the van-taxi to come, but most of the time there were both around.

The van-taxis cost a bit more, but it was still cheaper than two regular cabs.

BTW, in PV/NV the taxi fees are set based on zones. No negotiation needed, but it is always best to confirm the fare before getting in the taxi.

Kurt

Public transportation is cheap ie : buses. Cabs are also very reasonable, negotiate price first before you even get in cab.

5 people may be an issue unless you can have someone call for a van.
Collectivos are a thing for the other side of Mexico though they are starting to appear in Nuevo and PV...I would not count on it yet though.

If you do not need to drive I suggest you do not, parking is hard, rental cars are targets for police stoppage and well just easier to go public transport if you can. We frequently drive to PV but then just park our car and use public transportation.