My visit to Puerto Vallarta

Hello all, and welcome to my blog post about my Puerto Vallarta trip. It was a 4 day trip so it is pretty lengthy but I hope you enjoy it and I hope it provides some useful information for you!

Flights:

My flight to Puerto Vallarta was very cheap. I paid about $102 round trip from Leon (BJX) to Puerto Vallarta (PVR). I bought this ticket pretty far in advance, maybe around April for my June trip. It is cheaper to fly within Mexico that from the US to Mexico if that is possible for you. I live about 5 hours from El Paso so when I want to fly to Mexico I can save money by driving to El Paso, crossing the border on foot and flying out from Ciudad Juarez. If you are curious about that process or have more questions I would be happy to answer them. We flew Volaris and the plane was pretty comfortable and the staff was friendly. I would definitely fly with them again. They boarded a little late each time but we arrived at our destination on time or early!

Getting around Puerto Vallarta:

We were not very familiar with the area so when we arrived we took a taxi from the airport to our hotel, Krystal Puerto Vallarta. The drive was about 8-10 minutes and the taxi cost us about 257 pesos. This is equivalent to about $13 USD. There were 3 of us so that was fairly cheap but keep in mind that the further your hotel is from the airport, the more expensive the taxi ride. The city center was a bit farther from our hotel. Rather than take a taxi we opted to take the bus to the center. We asked the people at the front desk and they told us where the bus stop was and the cost. The bus cost 10 pesos per person which is equivalent to about $.50. So we spent $1 each to ride to the city center and back. We walked up and down the Malecon which is the street that follows along the shore. There you will find many vendors selling souvenirs and food. To get back to the airport on the day we departed we also opted to take the bus. It was much cheaper to pay 30 pesos total versus the 257. The bus stop was across the street from our hotel and it dropped us off on the opposite side of the street near the airport. All we had to do was cross a pedestrian bridge and we were at the front of the airport. From there, I saw where the bus stop is to take the bus from the airport into the city which is what I will most likely do if I return to Puerto Vallarta. When you exit the airport, walk out to the street and then to the left and you will see the bus stop. The airport is not very big so it is not that far of a walk.

Hotel:

This is my second time in Puerto Vallarta and I have stayed at the same hotel both times. The location is excellent. I stayed at the Krystal Puerto Vallarta. It is approximately 10 minutes from the airport, there is a nice shopping mall next door and there is a Walmart nearby as well as several grocery stores. There is also an Outback Steakhouse across the street. There were 3 of us and I paid $355 for 4 nights. Less than $100 per night is pretty great to me! It is an all inclusive resort but we did not go all inclusive this time although I did the first time I stayed there. The food was very good each day and they had a great variety. The dinners had a theme each night. There are also several restaurants in and around the hotel. The first time I went we spent most of our time at the hotel so we went with the all inclusive but this time we went on several excursions so we did not. The rooms were very comfortable we stayed in a bed with two double beds. I wish the beds would have been a bit bigger but they were VERY comfortable. They have a new tower of rooms that is about 2 years old and it was much nicer than the room I stayed in the first time. We did get talked into going to a timeshare presentation and in return they gave us access to the breakfast buffet for free, a free city tour and 40% off of any other tour we booked. This is not the first timeshare talk I have attended. I knew we really were not interested but the perks were too good to pass up! So if you stay at this hotel and they offer, take them up on it. At the end you can say no and walk away and the 40% off of all tours is a great thing to have! I have no complaints about this hotel, everything is great and the staff is super friendly, I would definitely stay with them again. They also have the Reflect Krystal which is their new hotel in Nuevo Vallarta, I have not stayed there but I would also like to try that one.

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This is what our hotel looked like.

Our bathroom

My sister and I in the pool

One of the hotel pools

Activities:

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta on a Sunday at 10 am and left on a Thursday at 1030 am. Sunday after we got there since check in was not until 3 we had to wait. Luckily they have a holding area for luggage and you are welcome to begin using all the hotel amenities such as pools, dining areas etc. We decided to explore the city center and have lunch there and return to pick up our room keys. We received our room keys around 2 pm and we went straight up to the room and relaxed a bit before we put on our swimwear and ventured out. We went to the concierge desk to get information on the tours we could take. This is where they offered us the timeshare invitation but they defined it as a membership meeting. We agreed to get the free breakfast and 40% off of tours as well as the free city tour. On this trip we took 2 tours. One on Tuesday and another on Wednesday. On one of our walks to Walmart we came across Jose who is a travel agent. He showed us all the tours he could offer us and we booked one tour with him. He was very friendly and helpful and offered us his contact info for future trips. He helps not only with tours but also hotels. He gave us a lot of info and was not pushy about selling us his tours. He even told us he has tours to La Huasteca Potosina which is another destination on my travel list. (If you are planning a trip to Mexico and are interested in contacting Jose for hotel/tour info I will gladly share his info with you.) We knew we wanted to go on the city center tour and on another tour to Los Arcos, Las Animas and Quimixto. The city center tour we had already booked for free through our hotel. Jose was offering us both tours for 850 pesos which is equivalent to about $43. Not bad for both tours. We ended up booking the city center tour with Jose for 250 pesos or about $13 per person and cancelled the free tour with the hotel. The Arcos tour we booked with our hotel and using the 40% discount it was 480 pesos or about $24 per person. Let's talk about the city center tour first. The bus came to pick us up at our hotel which was nice and it also dropped us off there. We saw the Malecon, we visited a jewelry shop, a tequila shop where they showed us how they made tequila and they gave us samples. Our tour guide’s name was Nancy and she was very entertaining and all around a great host. She explained different historical things as we passed by them. Our last stop was the highlight! It was a trip to the Canopy El Eden. We took a short 15 minute hike through what looked like a jungle. It was also the set of the movie The Predator! We walked until we hit this like watering hole that had a little waterfall and you could swim in it and it had fish in it! It was very beautiful and felt secluded. There was also a restaurant there where you could eat some very delicious seafood! I had a breaded fish fillet and it was a generous portion that could have been shared between 2 people. After the Eden portion we headed back. We left at 9:45 am and were back at our hotel around 4:30 pm.

Here is one of the views from our trip to Eden.

The Eden Canopy which was beautiful!

A view of the waterfall at Eden Canopy.

The second tour, Los arcos etc, was through Vallarta by Boat. I HIGHLY recommend them. Their staff kept us entertained the entire trip and were just amazing. We booked this through Jose and through Vallarta by Boat. The price we paid included the boat ride, breakfast, lunch, an open bar, snorkeling activity with snorkeling gear, free time on the beach and a trip to a waterfall. You could do other activities for an additional cost such as parasailing, ziplining, jet skiing and riding a banana boat type floating device. The staff on the boat truly made the trip amazing. They were super friendly and made everyone laugh and feel comfortable. The boat had 3 decks and on the way home they played music and people danced on the first deck. They also had games that the people could play. If you did not want to participate in any of the activities they had alternate things you could do or you could stay on the boat and enjoy the open bar! The only negative thing was that this day was very cloudy and a little rainy in the morning but despite the weather the staff remained upbeat and showed us a great time! This tour departed from a port where many boats leave and arrive and luckily the port entrance was only about 2 blocks from our hotel! It was perfect!

Conclusion:

Our trip was great! The hotel was great and I think the best thing was the location of the hotel! On our tours we encountered amazing staff and had a great time despite the weather. I would definitely return to Puerto Vallarta and stay at the same hotel and also book any tours through Jose! If you have any questions please feel free to drop them below or send me an email! Thank you for reading this super long post and I hope you visit my page again!