Tips & Tricks for First Timers to Puerto Vallarta!

Puerto Vallarta, Jal.- Prior to my trip I found the reviews so helpful so I thought I'd try to answer any questions that I had before I visted PV!

Spring Break 2015 was my first time to PV (3/14/15-3/21/15) I thought I would share useful information that will help you on your first journey to Mexico! Feel free to ask questions!

I am a college student so initially the price and location drew me to Hotel Rosita. I had planned my trip around spring break and booked one room to share for three people (myself and another female and a male- all in our early 20's).

I wrote a detailed review about Hotel Rosita and you should be able to find it on my profile if you are looking for hotels. Overall, would highly recommend this hotel.

Recommendations for first timers

Traffic

Traffic is CRAZY and they do not yield to pedestrians so always be aware of where you are walking. Even people biking will zoom past you on the sidewalk and if you have small children this can be dangerous. Many of the roads are made of cobblestone so it is a bumpy drive. Although the streets in old town PV are wide enough to have two one way lanes, there are no lines separating the lanes so driving is competitive.

Money-

Before my trip the exchange rate was 15 Pesos to $1 USD. If you can secure a nice exchange rate before you leave I would suggest this this. We had no problems paying in USD anytime during our stay but every business offers a different exchange rate (most business on the Malecon exchanged 12.5 Pesos to $1 USD) so it would be in your benefit to exchange them with your bank prior to arrival. The Cashola and Intercom ATM's only allowed you to extract money in USD with a $6.95 USD charge per ever $100 extracted. We only found 2 ATM's that let us extract our money in Pesos during our stay.

Safety

As a young female in my early 20's I felt comfortable walking by myself both day and night but was always very aware of my surroundings. I always kept my money in different areas on my persons and did not dress with excess jewelry. (The nicer you dress the more people will try to sell you stuff). When we walked in a group (two females and a guy) we had no issues...however continue below for a wake up call...

There are local police officers dressed in white attire keeping an eye on the tourists everywhere where tourist are expected to venture to travel. Use your best judgement venturing from the touristy areas because even a few blocks up from the Malecon did not seem a secure as the main boardwalk. Prior to our trip we have heard that the police may be associated with the cartel and met a lot of locals during our trip whom estimated that 25% of the police were not to be trusted.

One evening we went out to enjoy the nightlife and my male friend that was on our trip got a bit to intoxicated and tried to go pee on the beach next to the boardwalk. (Not smart thinking on his part, I know). A police officer approached him and threatened to take him to jail. He offered the officer $20USD and 5 cigarettes and he let him go. He is a clean cut, healthy looking white male and sober when he would walk by himself late at night his was searched for drugs two times. Of course he had no paraphernalia so there was no issues but even if you are a male traveling to PV it is important to be careful.

One other quick safety reminder is at the nightclub La Vaquita, my friend whom is a female set her iPhone down on the table and someone had stolen it within a matter of a minute. Her phone was gone and that was that.

Those two incidents were the worst things that happened to us on our trip. It is clear they could have been prevented which is why I am sharing the reminder to always be aware of pickpockets and don't trust anyone, even the police.

Food&Water

Drink bottled water if you are not used to drinking tap water in Mexico. All of the drinks we ordered has ice in them (lord knows it wasn't always ice made from clean drinking water) but we had no problems with illness. We also brushed our teeth with tap water and drank many drinks blended with ice and had no issues. If you are served water in a restaurant clarify that it is bottled water before you drink it.

Don't eat any of the food from the street vendors if you have a sensitive stomach because it sits out in the heat all day and bugs fly around the food.

If you go to a restaurant chances are they have a promotion for drinks so ask beforehand! Also, ask for an English menu.

Enjoy the Mexican cuisine, the chicken fajitas were delicious!

Tours

DO NOT BUY TOURS ONLINE BEFORE YOUR TRIP!!!

We scoped out he tours we wanted to go on before our arrival but went to Mexico with no agenda. Even if the tours have deals for 15% off online or buy 2 get 1 free, you will save so much money buying them in PV. You can bargain down any tour, for example a tour we went on was listed as $80 online and we booked it for $30 in PV. Also, even if you do buy tours in PV only put a down payment until the day of the tour to make sure you don't get ripped off.

We went on the Eden Ziplining tour which was very fun and coincidentally the set that they filmed Predator on. The tour guides were great so bring money to tip them. At Eden they had safety boxes to put your stuff in. The lock on the boxes were not the most secure but we had no problems with theft. The zipline itself was a blast- bring hiking shoes because you will be walking from one line to another (uphill). Also the hike is through the jungle so if it is a warm day with no wind wear bug spray. There is also a restaurant and a small waterfall/swimming hole to enjoy after the zipling tour if you choose to do so.

We went on a 'booze cruise' and it was a great tour. They gave us some slices of fresh fruit and on our way to Majahuitas cove we saw dolphins. At the cove we went snorkeling for 30 minutes where we saw sting rays and an array of fish. From there we went to small village of Yelapa where we could choose to lay on the beach or stay on the boat to go to another rural village where we could hike/horseback ride to the Cola de Caballo Waterfall. You do not need hiking shoes for this tour. They told us the hike up would take 45 minutes but we walked and made it in 20. If you do not take a horse you will be walking through 3 small rivers so wear shorts above the knee and sandals that can get wet. The waterfalls were beautiful and worth the journey! We ended up going back to Yelapa to meet up with the group that chose to stay and enjoyed a lunch before heading back. Overall it was a great tour and the staff was excellent!

Another day we paid $30 to go Parasailing which was an absolute blast!

Shopping

There are many street vendors and people trying to sell you things so be prepared to say no. You can always bargain the shop owners down. I was going to buy a backpack and asked how much, they said $40 and I told them I would pay $10 which they accepted.

The flee market was a few blocks from the main Malecon strip and things were much cheaper there! It is work checking out prior to the main shops if you are looking to buy presents for family/friends back home.

There is also a mall nearby but we never went there.

Nightlife

Be aware, especially if you are drinking! Read my security section for a few mishaps that happened when we were drinking.

There were not thousands of spring breakers the week we were in PV (3/14-3/22/2015) But we did meet many of other college students at the clubs, I'd venture to say around 300 were there while we were. There are 5 clubs within close proximity to each other near the beginning of the Malecon (Redneck Sombrero, Sr. Frogs, Mandala, Zoo and La Vaquita). There is a party going every night and if you like to dance you will have an absolute blast! Many good looking men& women in the clubs. Between the Zoo and La Vaquita, every weekday they gave me and my female friend wristbands to drink unlimited alcohol for free! Our guy friend had to pay. They all have great service but some nights we had to pay the Mandala a cover fee.

Locals

INCREDIBLY FRIENDLY! Many spoke good English and were willing to answer any questions we had. I had a wonderful trip overall, feel free to ask my any questions!