Are you longing to taste a bit of the ‘real Mexico’? Do you want to go in search of a truly relaxing holiday? As I walked down the semi deserted beach following a multi-hatted man I thought to myself “does it get any better than this?” We had just come from a beach market where we watched the locals pick up their camarones (gigantic shrimp) for dinner and the restaurant cooks haggle for freshest and best deal of the day.
At this time, I may be viewing Mexico through rose coloured glasses but I say: VIVA MEXICO. This year my husband and I took a leap of faith and abandoned the safety net of the ‘all inclusive resort’ in favor arranging our own accommodations and flight.
Last year after returning from Rincon de Guayabitos, a small fishing village north of Puerto Vallarta, I immediately began planning our next visit. In previous years ‘Guayabitos’ was almost unknown by most North Americans. This sadly, is changing as development creeps north every year.
A friend recommended a website that listed most of the hotels and suites in the area. Most of the hotel links are in Spanish but a few have some English. The Google search engine will also translate many of the sites. Early in the year, I put together four sentences I hoped would say that we wanted accommodation that was reasonably priced and had a kitchen. Two weeks later I heard a small hotel called the Marysol2 Los Palmas. The sales manager named Consuelo Garcia Salazar or Chelo as she came to be known was very friendly and she quoted a price of $35.00 USD per night for her friends who would stay for at least a month. This would include airport pick up as well.
Some hotels will offer an airport pick up service for free or for a small fee. This is well worth the price as a taxi from the Puerto Vallarta Airport to Guayabitos can be up to $100.00 USD one way.
Once we had our dates confirmed it was time to look book our flight. This is what I found to be tricky as most airlines travel from Vancouver to Puerto Vallarta on a charter basis and most return flights deals simply don’t apply to anything over 2 weeks. We also preferred to travel direct from Vancouver to Puerto Vallarta and we paid a premium for it. Once there we found that many people from the Vancouver area travel via Air Alaska. This airline departs from Vancouver and touches down in Seattle.
Our flight was delayed and we arrived late but nevertheless the person sent to pick us up was patiently waiting holding a sign with our name on it. He grabbed our bags and signaled for us to follow him and off we went. We got into his pick up truck and headed up the coast. Once we arrived at the hotel, he put our bags in the room, handed us a key and welcomed us to Mexico. “Check In?” I said. He said “mañana” (tomorrow).
The next morning as we were checking in we were directed to go to the office. When we walked in I heard a voice in the corner that said, “Lilianna! This is Consuelo!” We both burst out laughing, and hugged each other like we were long lost friends. It was then that I knew we were “home”.
One of the nicest things about staying in town, away from the All Inclusive, is the exploration that becomes necessary. Because you need to find your meals or cook them yourself you have the delightful occupation every day to explore the best places to eat or find the freshest ingredients. At about 7 in the morning, the shrimp boats who have fished all night are at the beach. You can buy a kilogram of camarones for less than $8.00 USD, and the fisherman will even takes the heads off for you.
Our good intentions of cooking our own food and mixing up our own drinks went out the window once we came across a beach bar called David’s Place Restaurant Bar early in our stay. The food and drink in the small locally owned establishments are very inexpensive. You can easily have a meal including a couple of local drinks for under $20.00 USD.
We attended a birthday party and a wedding. We experienced real Mexican life aboard a Pacifico bus that took us up to Tepic, the capital city of the state of Nayarit. We found that with some planning, a little bit of Spanish, and a sense of humour, you can do it. You can jump out of the All Inclusive compound and into real Mexican Life. Viva Mexico! Email to a friend
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Are you longing to taste a bit of the ‘real Mexico’? Do you want to go in search of a truly relaxing holiday? As I walked down the semi deserted beach following a multi-hatted man I thought to myself “does it get any better than this?” We had just come from a beach market where we watched the locals pick up their camarones (gigantic shrimp) for dinner and the restaurant cooks haggle for freshest and best deal of the day.
. 
Our flight was delayed and we arrived late but nevertheless the person sent to pick us up was patiently waiting holding a sign with our name on it. He grabbed our bags and signaled for us to follow him and off we went. We got into his pick up truck and headed up the coast. Once we arrived at the hotel, he put our bags in the room, handed us a key and welcomed us to Mexico. “Check In?” I said. He said “mañana” (tomorrow). 
Our good intentions of cooking our own food and mixing up our own drinks went out the window once we came across a beach bar called David’s Place Restaurant Bar early in our stay. The food and drink in the small locally owned establishments are very inexpensive. You can easily have a meal including a couple of local drinks for under $20.00 USD.