Things to do in Puerto Vallarta

[nodoubtt]

I know PV is not as lively as cancun but for people that have been to puerto vallarta before, other than obviously enjoying the sun/beach and whatnot, is there any cool/fun things to do there? Any neat sightseeing to be done? Fun clubs? what about snorkeling & other various actvities, are there good sites for those?

Thanks for the help guys

[ExtraSlow]

Just got back from there. Apparently the snorkel tours are pretty decent, although i didn't go on them. They apparetnly go out to some islands in the bay that are marine parks or something? The snorkelling off the resort beach was awful. Other than minnows, nothing to see.
Fishing should be pretty good.

Biggest reccomendation is not to waste time at bubba gumps in town. My buddies wife had her heart set on going there, so we went. The four of us spent $140 on lunch, and it was totally forgettable. Not that it was bad or anything, but you're better off doing something local.

[LLLimit]

I was at the Dreams Villamagna last week in PV.
-Excursions didn't interest us at all.
-noticeably breezy all day, not too much of a nuisance for us
-mid-high 20s for temp all day.
-bused on the local transit out to the Malecon 1 day, walked around. Again nothing interesting.
-Yellow flagged beach all week, and cloudy water = no snorkeling.
-American everywhere, It was like I was on an episode of The Hills.
-Food prices in town were comparable to here
-internet cafe was 5peso for 15minutes i think.


If you're into snorkeling, Carribean side is where it's at.

[ExtraSlow]

Funny, I was at Dreams PV, the sister resort. Got back April 22.
Water wasn't cloudy out past the waves, just nothing to see.

[LLLimit]

Got back on the 23rd.
We walked up and down our beach with the strip of hotels, and it all looked cloudy.

Have to admit the water looked blue, clear, and generally a lot nicer at the Malecon. Maybe it gets nicer towards the south of the bay

[Rstar]

Sit on the beach and drink beer.

[T-Dubbs]

lots of cheap bars with 1$ beers.
see if you can hitch a ride to Sayulita/Punta di Mita, its a lil surf towns. lots of good surf, food and nice beaches!
Also if u ever make it to neuvo vallarta, check out the" No Name Bar and Grill" ( very good food and big portions) owned by Calgarians.
Theres tons of stuff to do there, ATV tours, dune buggy tours, zip line tours. fishing, beaches, bitches (doods- i dont know what u perfer)
i go there a few times a year, and dred returning to calgary each time.

hope i was helpful!


Todd

[tch7]

Puerto Vallarta doesn't have the beaches or party atmosphere of Cancun, but it's otherwise much better as far as I'm concerned and nowhere near as Americanized.

- Beaches right in PV aren't very good. They're much better in Nuevo Vallarta, although access is limited due to all the resorts.
- Canopy tours are fun. Vallarta Adventures is a good company, and their "Outdoor Adventure" is better than the basic canopy tour.
- Sayulita is a cool surfer village with a good beach and relatively few tourists. Worth a full day.
- Yelapa's not a bad day-trip by boat, usually involving some snorkeling stops.
- Snorkeling around the bay really isn't very good compared to the Caribbean coast. You'll need to take a boat to get to somewhere half-decent.
- Walking Puerto Vallarta's back streets is pretty interesting and gets you away from the crowds of the Malecon.

Restaurants/food:
- Cafe des Artistes is fantastic. It's high-end and one of the few restaurants you should dress up for, and prices are high for PV, but to get an equivalent meal in Calgary would cost 3 to 4 times as much.
- Pie In The Sky is a bakery in old town & in Bucerias, their besos (brownies) are quite an indulgent treat.
- Sandrinas in Bucerias is another great restaurant with a really cool courtyard out back.
I strongly urge that you visit these above three places. Some other places I've been:
- No Name was good in Puerto Vallarta, but I haven't been to it since it moved to Nuevo Vallarta
- El Asadero is close to the airport, doesn't get any tourists (most of the waiters don't speak English), but you just sit down and they bring out tortillas and plates of delicious BBQ. Since it's off the tourist radar, finding it might be tricky, especially since there is another much better known restaurant called Asaderos Grill.
- Oscars has a gorgeous setting, but the food wasn't memorable
- Pipi's is super touristy
- Brasil is a good Gaucho-style all-you-can-eat BBQ, but it's pricey.

[BloNdie]

Lots of good recommendations here: http://todopuertovallarta.yuku.com/


Amazing surfing in Sayulita if you can find your way out there.