2021 Travel Guide
First Time to Puerto Vallarta? Here’s a Helpful Guide
By Neil Ward If this is your first visit to Puerto Vallarta (or you’re reading this from home before you leave), here are some tips that we’ve complied to help make your visit as fun as possible. First, you’ll be given a form to fill out on the plane that you will present at the immigration check point. Immigration officers will review and stamp this. Put this with your passport. Take a photo and carry it with you. It is a very important piece of paper as it documents your name, flight number, date of entry, and method of entry. This paper will be needed to board the return flight home to the US along with your boarding pass that the gate agent will collect. When leaving the P.V. airport to get to your accommodations make sure to get a taxi from the booth by baggage claim. You will need to know the zone you are staying in for the rate. Try your best to deflect the many, many drivers that will try to give you a ride as you pass through the airport. If you want to take an Uber, you will have to leave airport property (turn left out of the front door, go to the end of the building, turn left and cross the bridge to the other side of the highway. Call for your Uber there.) I stayed in the “gay district” Romantica Zone (or Zona Romantica). So in the taxi, it was about a 30 minute ride south through the hotel zone, the ocean front, and into the Romantica Zone. Think of the Romantica Zone as a neighborhood in the larger city of PV. It is about an 8 x 8 city block area and still shows it roots as a fishing village. This route was a beautiful welcome to the area. The gay district is very walkable, but be forwarned! Keep an eye where your feet are going, as many of the sidewalks are uneven and the streets are made from cobblestones. Wear comfortable shoes or walking sandals (But….a word of caution: Flip flops are not great for walking around the city as the sidewalks are uneven and the roads are paved with various sized rocks with cement filling in the cracks). I encourage you to take time during to walk around and experience all the colors and textures of the buildings, the hidden courtyards, the colors of blooming trees and bushes on the sidewalks, the many murals and tile works. It’s a great way to experience the neighborhood food stands and people. When crossing streets, there are no walk signs to signal when it is safe to walk across the street. So, it’s a little like frogger, 6
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you need to gauge how fast the oncoming traffic is going, find an opening and scoot across as the drivers don’t typically slow down. Luckily, with cobblestone streets, vehicular traffic cannot go very fast. There are a lot of stores that will accept Visa and Mastercard with a minimum purchase (500 pesos and up). Check with your financial institutions on foreign transaction fees. Some of these are up to 3%. Also, if you purchase anything by credit card it automatically includes a 16% government tax. I wouldn’t plan on card transactions being the method of purchasing goods. There are a lot of street vendors for food (You can get a decent meal for under $100 pesos) and merchandise (that you can barter with on price) that will not have access to a credit card machine. Tip: When there is someone bagging your purchases, it is customary to tip 1 or 2 pesos. If you need additional pesos there is a Banorte ATM on Olas Altas, just a block east off the beach and Malecon (the equivalent of the boardwalk) by A Taste Of Italy. Three air-conditioned lockable stalls help to give you safe access to cash. This ATM dispenses pesos and your bank does the currency conversion. Be prepared to wait a little bit as this is a popular ATM. Always look for skimmers on ATMs and monitor your credit card and bank accounts for fraud. If you like the beach, as I do, there are many places that provide umbrellas and chairs to sit in and relax but some do charge for trips to the bathroom. ( On a side note, public bathrooms are available around the city but there is a charge for use, a good way to use your loose peso change.) I went to the beach at Blue Chairs on the far south end of town at the Gay Beach. The service is great and they do not charge for trips to the bathroom. You can spend a whole day there splashing around in the water, eating, drinking, people watching, and sunning yourself. While you are there be prepared for the non-stop stream of people selling sunglasses, jewelry, blankets, etc. Also, there are guys who offer massages on the beach. Both will be dressed in all white. Be polite if you do not want anything. These people are selling their wares on the beach in the hot sun all day long. A simple “ No, Gracias” (No, thank you) will suffice. This also happens while walking down the Malecon, which is the boardwalk that starts north at Hotel Rosita and goes all the way south to Vallarta Shores. D e s t i n a t i o n P u e r t o Va l l a r t a
