Bienvenido a mexico!
Can you guys believe this is
first time in Mexico?!
Welcome to Puerto Vallarta.
We touched down in the lush fifth largest city
of the state of Jalisco, after a quick 3 hour flight from LA.
Although we flew into Puerto Vallarta,
our plan was to make it up to Sayulita
for the first handful of nights.
The buses stop right across the street from the airport.
It's a quick and easy walk across the bridge.
We were lucky enough to have an adorable dynamic duo
of brothers who provided the entertainment.
We talked to them for a while,
they were just making their way over to the beach to hang out,
and this is their way of making some cash for snacks and bus rides along the way.
Super sweet kiddos.
After an hour bus ride, we arrived in Sayulita.
A quaint, colorful cobblestone street town
with a laid-back surfer vibe.
It's about 28 miles north of Puerto Vallarta,
has a year round temp of 84-88 degrees,
and attracts tourists and surfers from around the world
for it's relaxing atmosphere and peaceful energy.
Tourism continues to increase here
so the beach in front of the main little street can get super congested,
but if you just walk along the sand a bit,
you'll have plenty of space to yourself.
There's tons of shopping to do,
food to eat,
and plenty of street entertainment .
For the first couple nights,
we stayed at a hostel right in town called La Re Donda.
My boo has not had many travel experiences,
so you know I had to immerse him in a true Audventure and introduce him to the hostel life.
I love hostels because of how community-oriented they are.
They usually have fun and lively shared spaces
where you can cook a meal, play a game, or relax in the hammock.
Hostels are also great places to meet interesting travelers
from all over the world and exchange stories.
We had a private little bungalow that you'd have to climb this narrow spiral staircase to get to.
Felt like we were in a cute little treehouse
and even had our own private little balcony.
Alright, it's currently 6:30AM,
about to make our way by taxi to Punta de Mita
where we'll go and find someone to take us out to
Las Marietas and maybe go fishing
so we'll just go talk to the guys with all the little boats out there and see what happens.
Although many day trips to Las Marietas depart from Puerto Vallarta,
it's a longer distance and it's more expensive,
so we opted to leave from Punta de Mita.
It's a very small and quiet beach town that only has one main road
and a few beach side restaurants
which is where you'll be able to hire a 'panga',
one of these small boats to take you to the islands.
Our main goal was to visit the hidden beach which will hike up the price
of the tour because they only allow a limited number of visitors there per day.
We ended up hopping in with one other couple
and paying about $75 each for a day tour around the islands that also included snorkeling.
They offered an option without hidden beach for $25,
so it's definitely the exclusivity and regulations of that beach that make tour pricey.
Trust me though, it's worth it.
Just as the sun was peaking over mountains to bring in the new day,
we set out to sea to make our way to Las Islas Marietas.
After a short and choppy 15 min ride, we arrived at Marietas Islands National Park,
a group of uninhabited islands that were formed by underwater volcano eruptions.
There are two islands that are around 60,000 years old,
and although they are natural wonders, it is rumored that past military artillery tests
are the cause for many of the caves and rock formations on the island
In the 1960s, scientist Jacques Cousteau led a protest against harmful human activity
and in 2005, they were finally named a national park,
prohibiting hunting and fishing, and making swimming,
kayaking, and snorkeling the only permitted activity.
To get to the Hidden Beach you have to swim
through a 50-foot long small tunnel carved by the sea through the rock.
You'll be given a life vest and helmet and
your guide will most likely have a waterproof bag to carry your phone or camera.
You definitely need to know how to swim cause
the current can get pretty strong
there is actually a 12-year-old age limit to do this.
As you get close you'll start to see the beach and the crater that opens up to the sky.
Definitely a site to see.
Welcome to the Hidden Beach.
Made it to Playa Escondida
I've been here once before six years ago
But apparently there's a ton of regulations
and they only allow 160 people
per day to come here
There's only a couple of us here
It's exactly what I was hoping for
This secluded oasis is also known as Playa del amor
or the 'beach of love'.
It's a lover's paradise of crystal blue waters
tucked into a sandy cavern.
Visits are limited to 30 min, so after some exploring, a quick little swim
and a make-out sesh on lover's beach of course,
we swam our way back to the boat.
After the beach visit, we rode around to admire some other attractions like the
Bufadora or blowhole,
the many beautiful arches,
and this super cool one..
wait for it..
do you see it?
It's the profile of a lion's face, right here.
The icing on the cake for the day was running into a school of tuna.
You can tell by my reaction how excited i was.
it was an awesome moment.
We brought some cold ones with us to enjoy on the way back
and as soon as we were back on shore,
had a delicious lobster plate with a beautiful view.
Time for our bus ride back to Sayulita.
For our last couple nights in Sayulita we switched up our accommodations.
So this is all private little bungalow.
Look at this view!
It's all open air.
Got the bed here, bathroom, there's another little loft space up there.
This spot was $70/night
and I think it goes for cheaper during weekdays or offseason.
Wow!
I fell in love with this bungalow!
The view was incredible, felt like we were up in the trees.
Theres also a gameroom and plunge pool with a lounge area
that's shared between 4 bungalows on the property.
Although I absolutely loved the open-air layout
feeling the jungle breeze, if you hate insects, I'd advise against staying here.
Poor ricky got eaten up by bugs so
he had to take all measures possible and wear socks on his arms and my cute little pants.
Bye beautiful view!
I'll miss you!
Off to Puerto Vallarta now!
Ciao Sayulita!
Just checked into the last little spot.
Much different than the open air bungalow.
Little studio space here in puerto Vallarta
with the beautiful view still.
There was a rooftop infinity pool that overlooked the city and coastline.
Beautiful, relaxing and a nice balance between the other places we stayed.
The best part about our place was that it was a 2 minute walk
to Pancho's tacos.
The line starts early, and let me tell you, it's so worth the wait.
These were arguably, the best tacos we've ever had.
They're known for their tacos al pastor, Spanish for 'Shepard style'.
This style was based on the lamb shawarma brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants
It is a hugely popular street food throughout Mexico and now parts of the united states.
Mouthwateringly delicious.
I mean, I couldn't take my eyes of this hunk....
of meat lol
When the food came to our table, you best believe we did not say a peep to one another until our plates were clean.
And you already know we had to come back for more.
These tacos are so damn good
that we had to come back for more
There's already a huge line
For our last excursion of the trip,
we decided to book a guided hike through Airbnb.
Going on a hike to a little beach called Colomitos beach
about 15 miles south of Puerto Vallarta,
in the middle of the jungle.
We met as a group in the city center and hopped on bus to where the trail begins in Boca de Tomatlán,
a beautiful and quiet fisherman town.
The path runs along the coast and it takes about an hour to get to our destination, Colomitos Beach.
You can totally do this hike on your own, we just opted to try out the airbnb experience
and have a couple locals as guides.
Alejandro and Moises, an accountant and nurse respectively,
are friends and nature lovers who do these guided hikes on their free time.
You'll see iguanas along the way and breathtaking turquoise waters
peeking in between the trees.
Colomitos beach is considered the smallest beach in Mexico,
and one of the most pristine in Puerto Vallarta.
It gets crowded which I'm never too excited about,
so after spending a bit of time hanging out there,
we made a short hike over to a more secluded beach.
Now this is what I'm talking about.
The water was crystal clear.
You can see all the littles fishies swimming around your feet.
Alejandro and Moises made a delicious mango and fish ceviche for lunch
that really topped off the experience.
After a couple hours of sunbathing and swimming,
we hopped on a water taxi to make our way back.
Love these views.
It was a beautiful day of getting to know a more quiet side of Puerto Vallarta.
For our last night, we roamed around the city center and walked along the Malecon –
or the “boardwalk” – it spans 11 blocks right on the oceanfront,
and is probably the most touristic experience that PV offers.
It's a great way to take in all the colors, art, sounds,
aromas, and entertainment the city has to offer.
Another beautiful sunset,
and another fun Audventure in the books.