Photo Credit: Jay Sadler Project A.C. / Commander Rey Spearo
Start Giving Now for Vallarta's Largest Children's Celebration
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- Special to Vallarta Today By Commander Rey Spearo
- Around The Bay
Building on the foundational work of Jay Sadler and Dennis Rike, a new generation of veteran leadership is gearing up for the largest Three Kings Day toy delivery in Banderas Bay.
Cabo Corrientes Honors John Benus for "Campaña Contra La Basura"
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- Vallarta Today Publisher
- Around The Bay
Volunteer-led anti-litter campaign earns municipal recognition after mobilizing hundreds of students across El Tuito and surrounding coastal communities
Mexico's National Lifeguard Certification Sets Standardised Rescue Benchmarks
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
The Mexican Federation of Aquatic Rescue and Lifesaving, known by its Spanish acronym FESAME, administers the national certification programme that Puerto Vallarta's lifeguards recently completed. The federation sets standardised competency benchmarks for aquatic rescue personnel across Mexican beach destinations and oversees the evaluation process through which certifications are issued or renewed.
How Puerto Vallarta's Civil Protection System Scales Up for Peak Tourism
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Puerto Vallarta's Civil Protection and Fire Department operates year-round but transitions to an elevated operational status for the city's two peak demand periods: Semana Santa and the December-January holiday season. The scaling process involves changes to staffing levels, coordination protocols, and the formal activation of inter-agency agreements that remain dormant during lower-demand periods.
Puerto Vallarta Deploys Multi-Agency Safety Plan Ahead of Semana Santa
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Puerto Vallarta's Civil Protection and Fire Department has activated a coordinated operational programme ahead of Semana Santa and Pascua, a two-week period that typically brings the city's highest annual visitor volumes. Director Misael López Muro is overseeing the effort, which brings together local, state, and federal authorities in a unified command structure.
Urban Protected Areas in Mexico's Coastal Cities Face Constant Development Pressure
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Estero El Salado is an unusual case in Mexico's coastal conservation landscape. Most protected areas along Mexico's Pacific and Caribbean coasts are located in zones with limited urban development, where the primary management challenge is preventing future encroachment rather than managing an existing urban context. The estuary's survival within Puerto Vallarta's hotel zone reflects a specific set of historical, regulatory, and institutional factors that do not automatically replicate elsewhere.
Mangroves, Crocodiles, and Over 100 Bird Species: Inside Estero El Salado's Ecology
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Estero El Salado's ecological significance rests on the combination of habitat types concentrated within its 209 hectares. Mangrove forest, open water channels, wetland edges, and remnant terrestrial forest create a mosaic of conditions that supports a species assemblage rarely found at this density within an urban environment.
Estero El Salado Turns Six as Puerto Vallarta's Only Urban State Park
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Estero El Salado recently marked its sixth anniversary as a designated State Park. The estuary is located within Puerto Vallarta's hotel zone and covers approximately 209 hectares, of which about 135 are mangrove vegetation and wetlands. The remaining area includes medium forest remnants, thorn forest, aquatic plants, and secondary vegetation.
Semana Santa Is Puerto Vallarta's Highest-Demand Domestic Tourism Period
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Semana Santa and the following Pascua week represent the highest-demand domestic tourism period in the Mexican hotel calendar. For Puerto Vallarta, a destination that draws heavily from the Guadalajara metropolitan area and central Mexico, the two-week Easter season routinely produces the highest occupancy figures of the year.
Mexico's Passion Play Tradition Has Colonial Roots and Varied Local Forms
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
The Passion Play, a dramatic reenactment of the final days and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is performed in communities across Mexico during Good Friday. The tradition has roots in the evangelisation strategies of the colonial Catholic Church. It has survived and evolved over five centuries into one of the most widely maintained public religious performances in the country.
FOEDEN Is Jalisco's Mechanism for Delivering Disaster Aid to Affected Households
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
FOEDEN stands for the State Natural Disaster Fund, a Jalisco state government mechanism for channelling financial aid to individuals and communities affected by natural disasters. The fund operates as a complement to the federal FONDEN system, addressing disaster impacts at the state and municipal level when federal activation criteria are not met or when federal resources are insufficient.
Puerto Vallarta's Free Municipal Health Network Serves Residents Across the City
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Puerto Vallarta operates a municipal health network that provides free primary care consultations to residents through a combination of fixed clinic locations and a mobile medical unit. The network is distinct from the federal health system operated through the IMSS and ISSSTE, which serve formal sector workers and their families. Municipal clinics are intended to fill access gaps for residents who fall outside those categories.
Mayor Munguía Visits Las Mojoneras to Inspect Clinic and Discuss Community Needs
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Mayor Luis Munguía visited the Las Mojoneras neighbourhood as part of the ongoing Route of Good initiative, a programme in which municipal leadership conducts work sessions directly in local communities. The visit included an inspection of the Dr. Tucán Clinic, which is nearing completion, and a community meeting where residents identified their most pressing needs.
Puerto Vallarta Has One of Mexico's Largest US Citizen Communities
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Puerto Vallarta and the broader Banderas Bay area are home to one of the largest concentrations of US citizens outside the United States in any single metropolitan area. The scale and composition of that community shape the city's economy, social infrastructure, and civic landscape across many sectors.
Artisanal Spirit Production Supports Rural Economies in the Jalisco Highlands
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
The producers who make raicilla in the mountain municipalities of Jalisco operate within a rural economic context that is fundamentally different from the world of large-scale agave spirits production. Understanding that context explains why cultural preservation arguments in the raicilla sector are inseparable from economic ones.
Raicilla Is Distinct From Tequila and Mezcal in Ways That Matter to Producers
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- Norway Master
- Around The Bay
Raicilla is an agave-based distilled spirit produced in specific areas of Jalisco and parts of Nayarit. It shares the same broad botanical category as tequila and mezcal. But it differs in raw material, production geography, and traditional methods in ways that shape its character and regulatory status.