PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO
we have been there few times on cruises in 2007, 2015 & 2022
and flew in to stay July 2016, Mar 2017, Jan 2018, July 2019, Jan 2020, Sept 2023, June 2024, June 2025
Puerto Vallarta is a clean & safe city, very green and pretty area.
you will find a lot of people speak English which makes it easier to communicate and get around.
Currency– Mexican peso- in Jan 2026 it was at aprox $18-$1US, if you are just there for the day don’t worry about getting pesos, just about anybody selling anything will take US money, if you are staying a few days pesos will get you a better price on some things.
Transportation,
Taxis are plentiful and an easy way to get around, fares can be a little unpredictable if you don’t know what to expect to pay, also knowing you are paying in pesos can help, Always establish the cost before you get in, here is a site that gives an idea of what to expect for taxi fares and other transportation, also taxi rates from the airport which can be a little higher than regular around town rates
PORT TAXIS are authorized only to pick up passengers from the Puerto Vallarta Airport and the Cruise Ship Terminal. They have a ‘monopoly’ on these two markets, so this and the fact that they can not provide any other service (not even TO the airport or terminal) makes them a little more expensive. go out to the street to get a yellow ‘city’ taxi for a better deal. The terminal is right on the main drag through town. Walk a block or so, stick out your arm, and flag down a taxi.
Uber, Uber has a strong presence, cheaper than taxis and easy to use
but not directly at the Airport or cruise ship terminal due to exclusive rights held by local taxis. To get an Uber, walk out of the terminal security gate across the main street to Walmart or Casino Life, have them pick you up there.
if you are getting picked up at the airport, take your luggage, walk out of the airport and go left and go across the walking bride, Uber can pick up there.
Buses, local buses are are good economical way to get around, there is a bus stop right by Walmart that you can catch a bus into town here is a great bus route site with lots of good info on which bus will get you where you want to go and how much. use this link for a overlay of the PV bus routes on your google maps, it has been super useful – PV Google Maps
Water Taxi, there are several location you can take a water taxi (like a small fishing boat), there are a few places that are only accessible by boat like Las Animas beach and Yelpa, here is a map and prices.
Stuff to do
here is one of the sites we went to before going that has some good suggestions of things to do in Puerto Vallarta, they are all good recommendations and we have done most of them http://www.puertovallarta.net/what_to_do/top-ten-things-to-do-puerto-vallarta.php
Beaches.
our favorite beach is Playa Las Gemelas, also the south end of Los Muertos Beach and Las Animas Beach are nice.
Playa Las Gemelas, you can take a Bus or Taxi/Uber to Girasol Sur condos, on the right side of the condo property there is a public beach access stairway down to the beach, this beach has a lot finer sand than the ones closer to town. there is also a restaurant that you can go to from the beach at the Girasol sur condo.
Las Animas, on the map here, we really enjoyed our visit to Las Animas Beach, even though it was a little crowded because of some beach cruises/tours, only problem is that it is mainly accessible by boat/water taxi, if you want to go there but don’t want to spent a lot of time on a small boat you can take the bus to Boca de Tomatlan (see bus route site for which buses to take) then you only have a couple mile water taxi ride the rest of the way, (there is also a hiking trail from Boco its about 3 miles, more info on that here) even though it is near Puerto Vallarta it is completely different than the beaches there, the sand is finer and softer, water is clearer and calmer!
Los Muertos Beach, map, in the old part of town at the end of the Malecon, away from the real big hotel/timeshares, we liked this area better than the rest of the beach along the Malecon too, not real sure why 🙂 might be because it is kind of the end of the beach so it feels a little less crowded.
Las Animas beach
south end of Los Muertos Beach, looking north to Los Muertos pier
Playas Gemalas
Panchos Takos !!!, part of the reason we have come back so many times is for Panchos Tacos, the best Pastor Tacos we have ever found, if you like tacos this is a must do, try the “AL PASTOR WITH CHEESE” it is about half way down on the menu and comes 4 to an order.
they open at 4pm so try to be there 3:30 to be first in line so you can get back to your ship on time
Excursions– we dont like to book excursions through the cruise line, they are usually more expensive, more crowded.
we usually like to find local operators that offer alot of the same things the ships will offer, this is a place we have booked alot of tours through, Tours by Johann & Sandra, they have sites for several different Mexico locations. they have a great zipline for about $50 a person
we have also started using Get Your Guide and have found them to be reasonably priced with good options
some of the things we have done in Puerto Vallarta-
Indio Canopy tour Zipline, here on the map we went during our 2016 visit and we ended up going free for listening to a timeshare presentation (they don’t try to push that on you if you come in on a cruise, just if you fly in). and then took our kids to the same one in 2019.
the zipline tour was a great trip, these guys sell the same thing we went on here, http://www.puertovallartatours.net/indio-canopy-tour.htm (i recently checked this, currently this one is not available but may come back, here are there current options ) they will pick up at the cruise ship terminal and drop back off there, most tours have a little wasted time that isn’t always welcome, this one wasn’t too bad. after the ziplines (which were awesome) there was a “tequila tasting” which was basically a little sales pitch for tequila, we got a snack at the restaurant while they were doing that, they do have various shuttle busses that go back and forth at different times, you don’t have to go back on the same one you came on, part of the reason they hang out longer and “give you time for lunch” is trying to push business to the little restaurant there, it was expensive and not that good, if you want to try to skip out on the extra stuff as soon as you are done with the zipline you can ask the people at “the front desk” if you can get on the first shuttle/van going back to the port, you might get lucky and leave sooner than the rest of your group, find out when it is leaving and if its a while relax, enjoy the scenery, sometimes guys will dive from the rocks into the river, its fun to watch, or you can play in the river (one word of caution: when we were there in 2015 playing at the river a lot of us got bitten by sand fleas, they itch for weeks, if your going to play at the river use some bug spray) overall the zipline tour was a great thing to do. if your not ready to go back to the ship you should be able to get the shuttle to drop you at one of their pick up stops in town, then you could take a taxi back to the ship
The Boardwalk / Malecon
a lot of fun stuff to see walking down the Malecon, it is a walkway that goes along the beach with shops, old church and restaurants along the way, variety of street performers, statues and Los Muertos pier, if you are there at the right time you will also see some neat sand sculptures. a good way to do this is have a taxi drop you at the north end, about 15 min from port, link to map here, and walk to the south end and catch a different taxi back, map showing Malecon end to end (you will stay along the beach the whole way though) also if you want to do some swimming the beaches are nicer on the south end (Los Muertos beach) or if you want to go from the south end back north have a taxi take you to Los Muertos Beach
Snorkeling, snorkeling on the west cost is not going to be as good as the Caribbean, but there are some decent spots, in Puerto Vallarta the best place i could recommend is at Los Arcos, when we went we ended up going on a beach snorkeling tour (Beach Boy) i would definitely not recommend that, we had about 20 min in the water.
the better option is to take a Bus or uber/taxi to Mismaloya Beach
here is where the bus drops you off in Mismoloya, walk towards the hotel and go down the road on the left side of the hotel, it will take you to the beach, there you will find a lot of people with small boats willing to take you out to Los Arcos, usually about $20 person, you can negotiate depending on how busy they are and your group size.
Mismaloya Beach
