| Page Views: 9,413 Last Visit to Puerto Vallarta: August, 1995 | Family vacation in Puerto Vallarta by Carmanah - last update: Oct 17, 2007 |
| Me, my sis, my Mom at our hotel in Marina Vallarta |
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| Mismaloya Beach, south of Puerto Vallarta |
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
Location: 20° 40' North, 105° 16' West
Population: 177,830 (2005 Census)
Founded: 1851
In the summer of 1995, my parents had thought we'd drive down the Oregon coast for one week in August. Due to the poor exchange rate at the time, we discovered that it was cheaper for our family of four to fly down to Puerto Vallarta and stay there for two weeks than it would be to drive down to the USA and only stay for one.
All through out my life our family drove to our vacation location. Sometimes we'd go camping, sometimes we'd stay in motels, and if we were lucky we'd go on a big trip down to California, but for the most part our vacations were spent in Canada. And whereever we went, we drove. So the fact that we'd actually fly down to Mexico - a country with a different culture and language - was incredibly exciting for us!
We took Canadian Holiday airlines from Vancouver to Puerto Vallarta, stopping briefly in Mazatlan. The flight took 4 hours. Our hotel, the Velas Vallarta, was located a 2 minute drive away from the airport in the town of Marina Vallarta, a 10 minute drive north of Puerto Vallarta. While August is typically monsoon season, we had gorgeous weather when we were there. |
| Downtown Puerto Vallarta's Malecon |
|  | Puerto Vallarta is located on the coast of the Pacific on the Bahia de Banderas. The nice thing about Puerto Vallarta was that the city has culture - it wasn't just built for instant tourism. It's also situated in a rainforest zone, so just a short drive from the city, you could be in the middle of a jungle.
While some touristy things are great, my family tried to see the real Puerto Vallarta, and the authentic Mexican towns in the state of Jalisco. Somedays we'd stay by our pool and relax, but most days we were out there exploring, trying new foods, discovering new areas, and experiencing new culture. |
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| Pros: | "Comfortable weather. Friendly, helpful people. The mountains and tropical rainforests. You can leave the city limits and find yourself in a whole new world. The city is small enough to explore by foot." | | Cons: | "The ocean gets deep really fast - not ideal for a poor swimmer. The ocean's polluted due to polluted rivers. Hotel timeshare vendors are annoying. Many assume you're a cruiseship tourist and therefore a sucker." | | In A Nutshell: | "A great location for a family vacation" |
Carmanah's Puerto Vallarta Travel Tips
 Carmanah's Puerto Vallarta Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | Mismaloya | 1995 |  2 |
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 Comments for Carmanah about Puerto Vallarta | | | | |
88Starflite Sun Sep 30, 2007 06:33 UTC
Daiquiri Dick's, I tried the parasailing in Banderas Bay, first time, and it was great. Have you ever tried it? | Jonathan_C Tue Apr 4, 2006 15:10 UTC
Lovely kid's perspecitve on PV, Robyn. We're thinking of dragging our whole family down there this winter and your perspective is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. | Sandi-2004 Sat Nov 6, 2004 07:52 UTC
Excellent photos & comments. Very helpful. I'm thinking of exploring the Pacific Coast cities of MX this winter. Your pages were a nice introduction to PV. Best wishes from San Francisco, CA | JetlagCity Tue Oct 19, 2004 22:26 UTC
Really enjoyed your memories of this place from when you were a teen! The rainforest climate sounds so different from Mazatlan! |
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