Puerto Vallarta – End of the Latin America Road

As we mentioned here, we wanted to finish up our time in Mexico by revisiting Puerto Vallarta. It would be our last destination before heading back to the US to visit with family and friends before heading to Europe.

Arrival and Departure

The bus from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta takes five and half hours. We left from the Tonela station, on the east side, with a stop at Zapopan on the west side. We were on ETN (luxury bus company) in a double-decker bus, probably the most comfortable bus we have taken in our six months in Latin America. The fare was 680 pesos* each. The only other stop was in Nuevo Vallarta about 30 minutes outside Puerto Vallarta. Along the way, we went right past Tequila, and we could see the many agave fields from the road.

We would have loved to stop off and see how tequila is made but it wasn’t exactly a hop-on/hop-off bus.

Arriving in Puerto Vallarta, we arranged an Uber to take us to our accommodation. Surprisingly, the bus station in Puerto Vallarta is a Federal Zone (the first one we’ve run into) so the Uber driver couldn’t come onto the bus station property and we needed to meet him outside the station.

While we wanted to check out Puerto Vallarta as an expat destination, our primary goal was a little relaxation by the beach on our last week in Latin America (on this leg of our travel), so we exchanged a timeshare for a property on the beach in the hotel zone. By the time (about 3 months out) we had checked hotels and Airbnb’s in our favorite area, Old Town, they were way too expensive for what we were getting, probably because we were in the height of peak season.

Another Red Tide

The next morning, we discovered to our dismay that Puerto Vallarta was experiencing a red tide. Out of the last three of our cruises that have stopped here, two had been during a red tide. Now to run into it again, it seems highly unlikely that we have just been unlucky. With a little research, we discovered that this one was the second this year, so for us it brings into question the whole ecosystem of Banderas Bay, where Puerto Vallarta is located. We also learned that there were four possible sewage spills leading up to the previous episode in February, probably related to the appearance of the red tides. Has Puerto Vallarta outgrown its infrastructure? The red tide disappeared after we had been there for about 3 days.

Puerto Vallarta Neighborhoods

While Puerto Vallarta is made up of many neighborhoods, expats (and tourists) are clustered in four main areas: downtown (centro), specifically up in the hills east of downtown; Old Town, also called the Romantic Zone (a strange name); the Marina, where most of the hotels and tower condos are located; and the South Zone which is south of the Old Town through a tunnel and is made up of numerous small cove beaches, including Mismaloya, of “The Night of the Iguana” fame. The beaches further north are longer, although they are broken up by man-made sea breaks which makes taking long beach walks tricky.

Exploring

We did venture off property one day and took a bus to centro for 5 pesos each. The bus dropped us off right in downtown.

From there, we were able to walk along the malecon, which has had numerous improvements since the last time we were here, all the way to the Old Town.

When we got there, we also discovered the beach to be much more commercial than the last time we were here.

We wandered a little while, had lunch at Los Muertos Brewery (also not here before – we liked the pizza better than the beer), then ventured back into the hills to check out the neighborhood. We meandered and climbed just a bit (we’d had enough steps for awhile) along various streets, then crossed the bridge back into Old Town. What struck us was something that we were reminded of from previous visits, that anywhere close to the main roads is going to have a ton of noise from the buses and other vehicles. The alternative is up into the hills which requires climbing a lot of stairs.

On our way back to the hotel zone, where we were staying, we took a wrong bus and ended up in a much more typical Mexican middle class neighborhood. We saw no other gringos in this area and were getting a few strange looks, not threatening in any way, just well isn’t that unusual to see gringos here.

After wandering around and visiting the Walmart that conveniently just happened to be in the area, we Ubered back to our resort and learned the error of our ways from the Uber driver: we took a green and white bus instead of a blue and white bus.

Housing

We stopped off at a few property managers and real estate agents, and what we discovered was a bit of a shock. We saw a 1 bedroom in the Old Town for $1900 US in low season and $3500 a month in high season. Of course, that number could be reduced significantly by renting in more middle class Mexican neighborhoods away from the water, east of the Marina district. But if you want to be in the hills above Old Town or downtown, be prepared to pay a pretty penny for it. However, checking Airbnb for next year, Old Town yielded some prices which were less than what the property managers were charging. Surprisingly in contrast to rentals, we also saw condos for purchase from in the mid $100k to mid $200k range. Of course prices can go way higher depending upon desired space, view, and amenities.

Conclusions

The week we were there, we had just about perfect weather, low 80’s every day with great breezes. While we like Puerto Vallarta, enjoy our visits there, and will probably continue to visit, the recurring presence of red tides would give us pause if we were planning a more permanent relocation.  Also, for us the higher cost of accommodations just doesn’t seem worth it, when for less money we can rent closer to better beaches on Mexico’s east coast.

We are briefly back in the USA, visiting family, taking care of business, including paying a certain uncle by April 17^th.

*The exchange rate at time of writing was 18.5 Mexican pesos to the US dollar.

Next Up: Transatlantic Cruise

Ian & Ann