BajaNomad

Puerto Vallarta Vacation

BajaGeoff - 9-13-2012 at 11:37 AM

The wife and I spent some time in PV last week for vacation. We stayed at the Villa Premiere which is right on the beach and walking distance to the malecon. Both the food and the service at the hotel were excellent....they have a very nice staff there. Twice I met up with my friend Jose who runs Vallarta Surf Guide. We got fun surf up in Punta de Mita on Tuesday, and really good surf on Thursday two hours north of town and pretty much had the surf to ourselves. I highly recommend his knowledge of surf in the area if you want to get into some uncrowded waves!

We flew Volaris out of TJ directly to PV which was easy enough. The only setback is they have very strict weight restrictions on checked baggage that we did not know about. They allow 33 pounds per checked bag and will charge you about $5 per pound for any amount over that limit. :o No additional charges for bringing surfboards though, which was nice.

Here are some photos from the trip...


Flying south over Baja and the Sea of Cortez


Our Puerto Vallarta accommodations


The first snack of the trip...tacos four ways


The beach out front at dusk looking to the south


Awesome sunset


Room view to the north


Room view to the south


Hotel grounds and pool area


Huevos rancheros and chilaquiles


Voladores


Exploring town


Deliciousness


Refreshed and happy, but not ready for vacation to end!

BajaGeoff - 9-13-2012 at 11:40 AM

Oops...forgot my surf pics!


Jose and I enjoying coconuts after our surf session in Punta de Mita...


The rivermouth north of Vallarta...no crowds and great surf!

Ateo - 9-13-2012 at 12:03 PM

Looks pretty darn fun.

Bob H - 9-13-2012 at 12:03 PM

Wow Geoff, great images you posted. I almost felt like I was there! Looks like you had a wonderful time. Love the food photos too ! Now, I have to go eat something.

desertcpl - 9-13-2012 at 12:15 PM

thanks for sharing, but got a favor to ask of you

we are planning on going to PV the end of the year, and looking for some nice places to stay,, I like thats its close to the Malecon
could you give us some details about the cost at villa Premiere,, is it all inclusive any other detail

ken/jane

P.S. we are one of your memebers

[Edited on 9-13-2012 by desertcpl]

oladulce - 9-13-2012 at 01:13 PM

Nice! Was there a swell while you were there or are the places exposed and pick up alot of waves? No airline board fees- that probably saved you the price of another ticket. Thanks for the report.

BajaGeoff - 9-13-2012 at 01:29 PM

Thanks guys. It was a really nice experience!

Ken and Jane....what we really liked about the Villa Premiere was that every single room there has a perfect, unobstructed view of the ocean. Proximity to the malecon was also a plus. The rooms start at $138 (low season rate) and we did opt for the all inclusive option, which was $40 per person, per day and included all of your meals and all adult beverages (house wine was L.A. Cetto....not too shabby!). Normally we are not the "all inclusive" type, but we knew that we were going to spend much of our time lounging at the pool relaxing as much as possible....with a short walk to the malecon if we wanted to explore a little. As you could see in the photos, the food not only looked great, but tasted great too! I also can't say enough about the staff, who remembered our names from day one and were exceptionally friendly. I would go back in a heartbeat!

David K - 9-13-2012 at 01:32 PM

Sweet trip!

DENNIS - 9-13-2012 at 01:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaGeoff
Oops...forgot my surf pics!


Jose and I enjoying coconuts after our surf session in Punta de Mita...



Punta Mita...as it was called around '65. camped out there one night and the only thing there was an old tipping over palapa. nothing else and nobody...'cept us.
I hear it's changed a bit.

BajaGeoff - 9-13-2012 at 01:36 PM

Oladulce....that big southern hemi swell had just peaked a few days before we arrived, so there was still some swell. My friend Jose had surfed Veneros at Punta de Mita on Friday and said it had 12 foot faces and was really good. We surfed Veneros on Tuesday and it was waist to shoulder high and fun....Thursday was really good up at the rivermouth....head high with some bigger sets here and there. Because of the geography of Vallarta there are lots of options...both for summer and winter surf. I can't wait to get back!

BajaGeoff - 9-13-2012 at 01:40 PM

Yeah Dennis....it definitely has. Lots of high end vacation rentals and expensive homes dotting the coastline.

CortezBlue - 9-13-2012 at 02:27 PM

Love PV
We try to go once or twice a year. We went last Christmas with my son and his girlfriend and had a great time. We stayed at Villa Del Palmar closer to downtown. It was a bit long in the tooth, but we wanted to be closer to down town for the kids.

I love the way they changed the Malecon to pedestrian only. It was so nice to be able to eat and hear the ocean and not a bunch of taxis.

We normally stay in Neuvo or Bucarias. We love to go to Claudio's for drinks and dinner in Bucarias

Can you give a review of the hotel and the room you were in?

33 pounds????

bajaguy - 9-13-2012 at 03:12 PM

OK, how did your wife get by with 33 pounds of luggage????

desertcpl - 9-13-2012 at 04:10 PM

we are looking forward to going, I just bookmarked the hotel

you sold my wife on the Huevos rancheros

she is addicted

and I also see that the hotel is an adult only, good

[Edited on 9-13-2012 by desertcpl]

huevos rancheros.jpg - 40kB

BajaGeoff - 9-13-2012 at 04:14 PM

Well Terry...she didn't! :lol: To be fair though, my small suitcase and surfboards outweighed her one checked bag.

To make sure we didn't go over on the baggage weight on the return flight, I packed my small suitcase with all of our heaviest stuff and brought it as a carry-on item. The surfboards and her suitcase were both below the weight requirement, so we were fine.

CortezBlue...I would give the hotel a solid 9 out of 10. The rooms are very nice but not extravagant....king bed, cable tv, minibar, ocean view balcony and a rocking air conditioning system. There are three restaurants on the property and the food exceeded my expectations for an all inclusive deal. Pool was very clean and it was a lot of fun to meet other travelers at the swim up bar. Staff was great....service was great....location was great.

BajaGeoff - 9-13-2012 at 04:18 PM

Awesome Ken! Yeah...I forgot to mention that it is adults only, which made the pool area very peaceful.

The other nice thing is that the Hotel Buenaventura is their sister property right next door and you could eat/drink there too with the all inclusive.

desertcpl - 9-13-2012 at 04:25 PM

that works just fine for me

Lee - 9-13-2012 at 06:33 PM

Love PV. Gotta get back there. Great pics.

Bob H - 9-14-2012 at 08:02 AM

Looked at the hotel's web site and they are aksing for $75 per person extra for the all inclusive. How did you get it for only 40 bucks?

BajaGeoff - 9-14-2012 at 01:06 PM

Hmmmm....I thought my wife said it was $80 per couple or per room. We definitely didn't pay $150 for the two of us.....

bajadock - 9-14-2012 at 02:51 PM

Nice trip report and pix, thanks, Geoff. Adults only pool? Koool, but, how did you get in???

BajaGeoff - 9-14-2012 at 02:55 PM

Fake ID's!

Hehehe.

Marc - 9-16-2012 at 12:11 PM

Great report. Never been there. On my list now.

Bajahowodd - 9-16-2012 at 03:43 PM

Great photos. PV is a fave of ours.

Just wanted to mention that when we go to that area, we have staye at Casa Iguana.

If you can deal with a hotel in Mismaloya that is a 5 minute walk to the beach, that has kitchenettes, a wonderful restaurant, and a store on-site, you might wish to consider this gem. A bus stop right down on the corner for those who might not want to drive into PV for their evening revelry for those who also don't rent a car at the airport.

Not to mention it is close to the site of the filming of some of those "Arnold" movies, within walking distance of some spectacular jungle scenery and waterfalls. And restaurants.

Oh, and the prices are incredibly affordable.

http://www.casaiguana.com.mx/indexeng.html

DENNIS - 9-16-2012 at 05:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
If you can deal with a hotel in Mismaloya


What ever happened to the movie set? It was still there when I was. I went through and touched all the concrete toilet seats knowing Liz Taylor probably used at least one of them. :biggrin:

willardguy - 9-16-2012 at 05:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaGeoff
Fake ID's!

Hehehe.
could you post a picture of fletcher's fake ID?:lol: