Our Visit in November, 2004
We traveled to PV on November 8, 2004. We stayed in a condo there until November 19. We wrapped up our vacation with 3 days in Yelapa, a small boat-only access community on the south shore of Bandaras Bay, about a 30 minute boat taxi ride from PV.
In PV, we decided to stay in the older area south of the Cuales River. Our condo, Plaza Mar, is on Los Muertos Beach. This is an urban area. We were in a one-bedroom unit on the sixth floor. Two floors up was the rooftop pool area. Down to street level and through the secure lobby area and we stepped out into a vibrant and interesting neighborhood. Our choice to stay in town was a marked contrast to the more popular choice - there are dozens of large resorts, most north of downtown, with thousands of rooms. Many of these are all-inclusive. These resorts are so inviting that often their guests don't get out and around as much as we did. If you want the ultimate margaritaville tropical vacation with the poolside bars, nice grounds and lots of on-site amenities, and are willing to pay for it, the resorts are the way to go. If you are willing to put up with some occasional minor inconvenience, want to explore around and have some small adventures, staying right in PV as we did may be right for you.
While at Plaza Mar we covered a lot of ground. We traveled by bus - no need to rent a car. Our bus travels were inherently interesting and took us from Punta de Mita to the north all the way to Tuito in the south. Tuito is off the map, south of Boca de Tomatlan.
Monday, November 8 - Day 1 - wheels down about 4 PM. Taxi to town, about $18 with tip. Condo was a pleasant surprise, very nice open air atmosphere but very secure. The unit shows some wear (14 years old) but we liked it a lot. Wandered down to the beach, around town a bit, had a great seafood dinner at Polo Mariscos about six blocks from the condo.
Tuesday, November 9 - Day 2 - we intended to walk to the marina area but it was too far so we caught a bus. Hung out at the marina for a while. Nice moorage areas surrounded by condos. Annual cost to moor a 40' boat is about $6,000 and slips are available. We bought some groceries, had lunch at the condo and dinner at Langostinos on the beach where the food was nothing special.
Wednesday, November 10 - Day 3 - Bus to Tuito, an old village inland. About 1 hour ride, harrowing. Bus drivers are fearless. Tuito pretty neat - very few tourists since the beach is nowhere near. Susie set up to paint the old church and attracted quite a crowd. At first, just the kids being curious - but word spread and soon a broader cross section of Tuitoites were strolling by, sneaking a look at her work. I wandered around the main square and met a resident gringo, Charlie Brown. Very nice and interesting guy who has married a Mexican woman 30 years younger and is helping to raise her 2 kids. He has been in Tuito for 8 years and seems happy with the life. I bought some Racilla from Charlie, the local mescal hooch. Pretty good stuff and the subject of some pretty good material on one of the web site links I provided on the first page of this section. I think we had dinner of burritos at a street vendor close to the condo - delicious and only $3.50 each.
Thursday, November 11 - Day 4 - We hung out in PV. Pool time. Dinner was at the Red Cabbage, an out-of-the-way cafe that was recommended on the web. It was outstanding, and we returned a week later.
Friday, November 12 - Day 5 - Took the Los Veranos Canopy tour. Canopy tours were popularized in Costa Rica (we heard). What this one amounted to is pretty well described at the Los Veranos web site. Check it out and then return here. After Los Veranos we stopped at Mismaloya, famed (in PV anyway) as the site of the film Night of the Iguana. It seems Burton and Taylor were quite an item in PV and the town still hasn't gotten over it. Can't remember our dinner details exactly, but we may have eaten at Los Morenos, another street stand. Great tacos for $.55 each. They make the tortillas with their own press when you order.
Saturday, November 13 - Day 6 - We hopped on another bus and spent several hours at Destiladeras, an excellent beach on the north shore. Bus ride was brutally crowded as it was a weekend day and all the locals were out and about.
Sunday, November 14 - Day 7 - Darned if I can remember what we did. Probably was a down day wandering around and hanging out by the pool. Dinner at a nearby recommended restaurant, La Ronda, was a disappointment.
Monday, November 15 - Day 8 - we hopped yet another bus and went to Boca de Tomatlan (south shore). From there we walked to a great beach, Las Animas, where we enjoyed a couple of Pacificos and lunch. We "heard" about this trail on the web and it was great fun. Most folks get to Las Animas via water taxi or small day cruise boat. There are several photos of our Las Animas adventure in the photo gallery. Also somewhere in this time frame, we had chicken for dinner - take out from a joint where they grill it over charcoal. Very good and we had the leftovers the next day. Pretty exciting, huh?
Tuesday, November 16 - Day 9 - Another down day, we hung out.
We developed an evening Margarita ritual. On about day 2 we bought a bottle of pretty good tequila and every few days we bought limes. The limes were great - smaller than we see in the US but so juicy, and almost free. Anyway, tequila + limes + sugar + ice + blender = bliss. We also quickly developed a taste for cerveza and put away an astonishing amount of Tecate, Pacifico, Sol and Corona, all with lime. We were happy to conform to the American in Mexico stereotype.
The weather throughout was warm and approached muggy a couple of times. November is early season as the rainy season runs through October. We concluded that our timing was just about perfect - we took advantage of off season rates but had great weather and no crowds. From the sound of things, December through March or April is much busier.
We never turned on the air conditioning although it was tempting. However, it cooled down OK at night and we slept with doors and windows open. We also took advantage of the ceiling fans in the condo. Speaking of the condo, you can see it here.
Life on Los Muertos beach is pretty good but the vendors are relentless. They walk around carrying their wares and do their best to sell stuff to you. During one lunch on the beach at Los Muertos, at the Burro Bar (food was just fair, by the way), we were pitched by at least 20 vendors. It's not quite as bad as it sounds but it does try your patience after a while. However, we tried to respect the fact that they were trying to make a living. There are also 3 parasailing outfits in a short stretch of beach and they all did a pretty good business. The beach is pretty well lined with bars. If you needed a chair or some shade the easy way was to sit down under an umbrella or palapa (a grass roofed tropical-looking shelter) and order a beer.
The gay community was well represented on Los Muertos, particularly the south end of the beach.
We had a fair amount of down time during this vacation. Books got read and beers were emptied. We ate too much but tried to compensate by walking endlessly. Most streets in old town PV are cobblestone and most have sidewalks in various stages of disrepair. As we walked we typically passed Mexicans of every stripe sitting around waiting for a bus, visiting with friends or just doing nothing. It was best to throw out a Buenas Dias, Hola or Buenas Noches, depending on the time of day, which greeting was immediately and enthusiastically returned with a smile.
More about the food - it was outstanding most places we ate. The street vendor food was arguably the best and undoubtedly the best value. We did not get sick but to be honest I am not quite right now that I'm home - some intestinal stuff going on (need I say more?). It's not bad and I wouldn't change anything we did. The water is supposed to be OK to drink in PV but they sell a lot of the 5 gallon bottles that load onto dispensers. We had one in the condo and used that water for drinking and ice.
Wednesday, November 17 - Day 10 - we again traveled (by bus, of course) to Punta de Mita, at the northernmost entrance to Bandaras Bay. Nice beach but not as nice as Destiladeras or Las Animas, and a long bus ride.
Our last day in PV, Thursday, November 18 was pretty much a down day, goofing off at the pool, etc. However, in the afternoon we returned to the marina to witness the boats coming in during the bill fish tournament. Our timing was pretty good and we saw lots of marlin, sailfish and dorado (mahi-mahi) come in. This is a fairly big money tournament, $1,000 to enter which is just the entry fee. We heard that there was some bigger money in Calcutta style betting pools. See the photo gallery for a shot of a sailfish.
I've left some details out in this PV narrative. We met lots of nice people. We loved the rooftop pool area. We developed superficial relationships at the condo with the young and personable front desk staff. We had minor grocery store adventures, shopped a bit and spent more money than we expected. I did OK with my Spanish but for the most part it was unnecessary. Almost everyone spoke pretty good English. We walked on the shady side of the street.
On Friday, November 19 we checked out of Plaza Mar and boarded the water taxi to Yelapa. On the boat we chatted with a lady from California, a return visitor to the area who was going back to Yelapa to visit friends. Those friends spend their summers in Sitka, Alaska so before we knew it, we were part of the family. As a result of this casual water taxi connection we met several locals in Yelapa and learned more about the community than most gringos on a 3-day visit.
Yelapa is simply paradise with dog shit. And donkey shit. Provided you avoided the piles, paradise. There are no roads to Yelapa and no motorized vehicles. None. We didn't even see or hear a chain saw, motor bike or weed wacker. Nada. There were plenty of pangas on the water, however, which are outboard powered fiberglass skiffs.
Yelapa proper can probably be fully explored in one day although we never did see it all. It is mostly comprised of very modest houses, lots of them rental units, and the occasional store or restaurant. Population is something like 2,000(?). It is hilly and as scenic as anywhere we've ever been.
In the late '60's and into the '70's, Yelapa was a hippy hangout. If you ever wondered what happened to that old Haight-Ashbury crowd, we can tell you where at least one of them is. Our landlady, Lisa, is the real McCoy and has published a couple of books to prove it. She is a very interesting person and you can learn more about her at this link.
Yelapa has moved beyond its drug culture roots but remains a fascinating place. We stayed at a great beach front unit that can be viewed here. See also the photo gallery.
The beach in front of our unit was very quiet. For once, we were away from the vendors, although they are very much present in the bar area down the beach about 1/4 mile. While in Yelapa we had great food, took two hikes to waterfalls, snorkeled, hung out at Chicos on the beach and drank beer, ate out at Pollo Bollo, a great chicken place, twice, went to the local fiesta which turned out to be a school program to commemorate a local holiday (boring but great local flavor), and ate dinner at the Yelapa Yacht Club, no yachts in sight but great food and the disco started about 9:30. What a blast, we even got up and danced, joining a very eclectic group of locals and tourists gyrating in front of 2 speakers perched on a counter pass through from the kitchen. Dogs, kids, young and old.
We would have spent more time in Yelapa had we known how beautiful and interesting it is. We were a bit apprehensive that we would get bored with nothing to do. That did not prove to be the case.
Our time in Yelapa cemented our very favorable impression of the Mexican people. We found them to be very friendly, courteous and helpful, more so than could be explained by their economic necessity.
So what didn't we like about Mexico? Well, there is lots of litter when you get off the beaten path. In the high traffic areas, it is very well kept but walk a bit further and it goes downhill in a hurry. The vendors and the timeshare people were a tolerable nuisance. Don't drive in PV. The snorkeling was mediocre as visibility wasn't great. On balance, PV and Yelapa exceeded our expectations. We'll be back.
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