Must sees in Jungle area of Puerto Vallarta - private tour?

[Jwerking]

We have reserved with Tony to pick us up at the Grand Mayan NV - a private van driver for a 10 hr tour for 9 adults - which will include the Veranda canopy tours and the "Jungle". Here is what he is proposing:

"This way you will have time to do the canopy, have lunch,( the best seafood you have ever tried) some hiking at the botanical garden which is
outstanding, and also safe and very pretty, visit Chico`s Paradise where there is a nice pond to enjoy the waterfall and the river, and also maybe some dessert. Sounds Good?Oh and also the Tequila Factory with taste and tour included."

Would appreciate any comments on Tony's proposed itinerary? Since it is a private tour - I am certain we can customize to our own interest. We are four young minded mid -50s parents with 5 young adult kids in their early to mid 20s. The canopy tour will be the highlight of the trip.

Thank you for any SUGGESTIONS, as we have never been to PV before and honestly do not want to be involved in real cheesy tourist stuff.

Joyce

 

[DougV]

It sounds like a nice trip. The restaurant at the Botanical Gardens is
really nice. It's a little pricey; but very good authentic mexican food.
If you don't eat there, be sure you explore the building. It is very nicely
laid out and the view from the top floor is great. Chico's Paradise has
a spectacular setting with the river running around it.

If you have a few extra minutes, ask your driver to take you down to
Boca de Tomatlan. You will pass right by it. It is a quaint little coastal
village in a pretty setting.

You will have a fairly long drive from NV to the Botanical Gardens.
Probably at least an hour and a half if you went non-stop. However,
you will get a pretty good over-view of the greater PV area. You
might ask the driver to take you via the downtown Malecon (boardwalk)
one way and via the Tunnel the other way. This would give you a
better idea of the lay-out of PV.

In any event, it should be a full and interesting day.

 

[Jwerking]

Thanks, Doug, for the suggestions. Yes, I realize that we are staying north and all the stuff we want to see is south of PV. We were interested in doing Yelapa - but it too is south. Have you been there - worth the effort? I understand that snorkeling is not great in PV - is the Los ARcos area and areas in the south definitely better for snorkeling than the Mariettas Islands?

Would you recommend doing anything north of Nuevo Vallarta - like Punta Mia or Bucerias? Is it safe to rent two cars for the day and do this ourselves or should us gringos stay off the road. For sure, I have no desire to drive in downtown PV, but going north may be okay ??????

Thank you,

JOyce

 

[pittle]

The beachfront restaurants in Bucerias are usually fun. Beer is cheap and food is good and reasonably priced. I like the 2nd or 3rd one north from the town square and flea market area. It is a white building and is El C...... 10 of us took a suburban one day in November from the GM. I think it cost $40-$50 for RT. The driver waited for us.

If you are just going north from NV, renting cars might not be too bad. Driving in PV is challenging and finding parking spots is nearly impossible.

Chaser's over the OXXO is a sports bar that my grown kids liked. They said the steaks were awesome. La Portena (an Argentinean Steak House) is across the street from Chaser's. We did not go there, but will next time. It is owned by the same people that own Buenos Aires Argentinean Steak House in the Marina. We ate Thanksgiving Dinner at Buenos Aires.

If you go to Chico's to eat, plan to stay quite a while. We have been there twice on tours and it seems the driver's take you there and it takes forever to get your food. Since you are generally paying by the hour, you are paying your tour guide while he gets his free lunch at Chico's. I think we were there nearly 2 hours last time! The food was good, just slow service.

 

[Jwerking]

If you go to Chico's to eat, plan to stay quite a while. We have been there twice on tours and it seems the driver's take you there and it takes forever to get your food. Since you are generally paying by the hour, you are paying your tour guide while he gets his free lunch at Chico's. I think we were there nearly 2 hours last time! The food was good, just slow service.

Hi Pittle:

Thank you for the warning. This was what I was afraid of - honestly, these tour guides are all hooked up with each other and I don't need to spend 2 hrs eating. More reason to just take a picnic lunch and find a nice place to eat somewhere. Actually, TOny the van driver suggested eating a the restaurant at Los Veranos canopy tour site and eating dessert at either the Botanical Gardens or Chico's Paradise. I like the suggestion about adding some of the beach towns instead of wasting our time eating in a restaurant or stopping at flea market to shop - no thank you very much.

BTW, thank you for the restaurant suggestions in NV. We will give some of of them a try. Unfortunately, while my family are foodies, my cousin's family (6 of the 9) are not - so are somewhat picky about food etc.

Joyce

 

[pittle]

There is a good Italian restaurant just across from the Sun Market grocery (next to the Sea Garden.)

Fajita Republic is good. It is near the Paradise Village area. Several of the restaurants in the food court at Paradise Village Mall are pretty good too.

Room service or pool restaurant service has good hamburgers that kids can share. These cost $10, but have 8 oz Angus Beef with fries. The club sandwiches were good too. I had a 10 year old that is picky, so we had those. I always shared with him and had tons of food.

The restaurants in Bucerias make chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and hamburgers for kids.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Our one and only time in PV we rented a car and I drove all over the place - to the Botanical Gardens, downtown three of or four times, Punta Mita, etc. I don't recall it taking 1-1/2 hours to get to the Botanical Garden from NV; more like half that time (30 to 45 minutes).

When we are visiting places such as Mexico, we greatly enjoy getting away from the main tourist areas and activities. So, on the Saturday before we left we decided to drive north and went to Tepic - about 2 hours drive north and inland. We enjoyed that trip immensely. Saturday is the big market day, so it was fun hanging out in the market area in Tepic with all of the crowds and shoppers.

Also, Tepic is the closest main city to the Huichol people, and Saturday is the day they come to town to do their shopping and trading. There were many Huichol booths set up in the market. The crafts were the same as what you see in the galleries and shops in Puerto Vallarta, but the prices were a bit lower. But in Tepic you are dealing directly with the Huichol themselves, so you know they are making a lot more.

So I can easily recommend a trip to Tepic if you want to get out of the tourist areas and see a different aspect of Mexico. Roads to Tepic are pretty good; two-lane asphalt paved in excellent condition. Very similar to what you would see as a county road in rural areas in the US. The main difference is that the shoulders next to the road are very narrow, there are no pullouts or turnouts, and Mexican drivers are considerably more aggressive about passing slower cars, particularly in areas with limited visibility.

 

[DougV]

PV Jungle trip

I just got back from PV ten days ago. We went to the Botanical Gardens
and to Yelapa. That was about my fifth trip to Yelapa. The unique thing
about Yelapa is that you can only get there by water. Thus, when you
arrive, you almost get the feeling you are on a tropical island. There are
no cars, only foot paths. The new thing this trip was there were several
Quad motorcycles parked throughout the village. It is interesting. However,
for a first visit to the area, I would recommend going to Boca de Tomatlan
to the South and/or La Cruz de Huanacaxtle (everyone just calls it "La Cruz")
to the North. It is the next village up after Bucerias. Another fun trip, especially if you have young people in your group is to go a little farther
North to the coastal village called Sayulita. It is just North of Banderas Bay
so it gets very good surf. This makes it a popular surfing spot for young
North Americans. The prettiest beach on the entire Banderas Bay is
Distiladeras. It is between La Cruz and Punta Mita.

Thanks, Doug, for the suggestions. Yes, I realize that we are staying north and all the stuff we want to see is south of PV. We were interested in doing Yelapa - but it too is south. Have you been there - worth the effort? I understand that snorkeling is not great in PV - is the Los ARcos area and areas in the south definitely better for snorkeling than the Mariettas Islands?

Would you recommend doing anything north of Nuevo Vallarta - like Punta Mia or Bucerias? Is it safe to rent two cars for the day and do this ourselves or should us gringos stay off the road. For sure, I have no desire to drive in downtown PV, but going north may be okay ??????

Thank you,

JOyce

 

[bellesgirl]

I also recommend going to Sayulita and Bucerias. Sayulita has good surfing if anyone in your group is interested. Do not bother going to Punta Mita - there is really nothing to do there; no town - only lots of American style condos.

If you are really in the mood for an adventure, Ricon de Guayabitas has a great beach with lots of restaurants and La Penita has a terrific market once a week. (I think it is on Thursdays). You can go to the market and catch a cheap taxi to Rincon to spend the rest of the day.