We've been to Puerto Vallarta 20 times since 1984 and each trip has provided us with new memories and adventures. We returned on 11/21 from another wonderful 2 week vacation. The weather was in the mid to high 80's all week and the water temp was in the low 80's.
We went to the Puerto Vallarta Zoo for the first time and it was great! Admission is 100 pesos and you can buy a bag of food which contained bread, carrots, corn, peanuts, and pellets, with a chart on the bag telling you which food was best to feed which animals, for 50 pesos. The zoo was very clean with a large variety of animals which appeared healthy. There is an area with a snack bar and picnic tables where they have baby animals you can hold and play with. It costs 100 pesos to hold one baby or 300 pesos to hold the baby and play with the older cats. DH was allowed to enter the caged area to take pictures. I got to hold a 1 1/2 mo baby jaguar and a 78 lb 4 1/2 mo tiger with the help of the animal trainer (see my avatar) and then play with another tiger and an 11 mo jaguar.
We went fishing one day, which was not new to us, but catching 5 dorado and a sailfish (released it) certainly was!
We wanted to go scuba diving somewhere new without a long boat ride because DH had a bad experience one time. A friend who is a divemaster suggested he take us to Tehuamixtle which was a about 2 1/2 hours away by car, traveling to El Tuito and stopping for breakfast, then traveling via a dirt road to Tehuamixtle. The drive to El Tuito was along the coast to Boca de Tomatalan then turning inland. El Tuito is a cute little town, the people were very friendly and breakfast was very good. The dirt road to Tehua was is pretty good shape. They are in the process on building a highway which will allow the trip to be done in much less time once it is completed. As we were driving along we suddenly had to pull to the side of the road to let a cattle drive go by; 3 caballeros with their dogs and a about 40 cattle! When we arrived in Tehua we found a beautiful bay. There were 2 small inns and restaurants and a nice beach with crystal clear water. We dove from the beach and one of the fisherman followed us in his boat to ward off other boat traffic. The dive was at about 40', visibility 50+ ft and we saw a lot of fish, some coral, eels and a turtle. We had an incredible lunch at one of the restaurants; wonderful fresh seafood, large portions and inexpensive. Our second dive was on the other side of the bay with slightly less visibility but a lot more color. Snorkeling from the beach is also very good. There is a small wreck in about 15 ft of water no more than 30 feet from the beach. I would recommend this trip to anyone who likes to see new places in the PV area. We are considering staying overnight next year and exploring some of the other beach towns in that area next year.
We went to the Puerto Vallarta Zoo for the first time and it was great! Admission is 100 pesos and you can buy a bag of food which contained bread, carrots, corn, peanuts, and pellets, with a chart on the bag telling you which food was best to feed which animals, for 50 pesos. The zoo was very clean with a large variety of animals which appeared healthy. There is an area with a snack bar and picnic tables where they have baby animals you can hold and play with. It costs 100 pesos to hold one baby or 300 pesos to hold the baby and play with the older cats. DH was allowed to enter the caged area to take pictures. I got to hold a 1 1/2 mo baby jaguar and a 78 lb 4 1/2 mo tiger with the help of the animal trainer (see my avatar) and then play with another tiger and an 11 mo jaguar.
We went fishing one day, which was not new to us, but catching 5 dorado and a sailfish (released it) certainly was!
We wanted to go scuba diving somewhere new without a long boat ride because DH had a bad experience one time. A friend who is a divemaster suggested he take us to Tehuamixtle which was a about 2 1/2 hours away by car, traveling to El Tuito and stopping for breakfast, then traveling via a dirt road to Tehuamixtle. The drive to El Tuito was along the coast to Boca de Tomatalan then turning inland. El Tuito is a cute little town, the people were very friendly and breakfast was very good. The dirt road to Tehua was is pretty good shape. They are in the process on building a highway which will allow the trip to be done in much less time once it is completed. As we were driving along we suddenly had to pull to the side of the road to let a cattle drive go by; 3 caballeros with their dogs and a about 40 cattle! When we arrived in Tehua we found a beautiful bay. There were 2 small inns and restaurants and a nice beach with crystal clear water. We dove from the beach and one of the fisherman followed us in his boat to ward off other boat traffic. The dive was at about 40', visibility 50+ ft and we saw a lot of fish, some coral, eels and a turtle. We had an incredible lunch at one of the restaurants; wonderful fresh seafood, large portions and inexpensive. Our second dive was on the other side of the bay with slightly less visibility but a lot more color. Snorkeling from the beach is also very good. There is a small wreck in about 15 ft of water no more than 30 feet from the beach. I would recommend this trip to anyone who likes to see new places in the PV area. We are considering staying overnight next year and exploring some of the other beach towns in that area next year.