Puerto Vallarta is an honest-to-goodness authentic Mexican town as well as a world-class resort, so visitors here enjoy a wider range of experiences than your typical vacation destination offers. Plus we’ve got all the requisites for that much-anticipated trip down south – weather as good as it gets (similar to Hawaii’s, but the peso gives you a lot more bang for your buck), gorgeous scenery, 100 km of pristine beaches on the bay where Puerto Vallarta is situated (Banderas Bay, Mexico’s largest and deepest, and home to award-winning sport fish, giant turtles, manta rays, dolphins and whales), more than a thousand restaurants, and every imaginable activity to engage in – even flying through the tree canopy!
Experiencing Vallarta: Where to Stay: One of the most alluring features of Puerto Vallarta as a destination is that — unless you are traveling onboard one of the many cruise ships that dock for the day at our Maritime Terminal or are simply driving through on your way somewhere else — when the day is done and it’s time to get some well-deserved rest after exploring our town, the lodging options are as plentiful and varied as our restaurant choices.
Puerto Vallarta 101: All packed and ready to go? Here are some last-minute details you may want to keep in mind as you prepare to discover paradise!
The Ultimate Beach Guide: What’s your idea of the perfect beach? Maybe it’s a stretch of sand lined with trendy shops, restaurants and bars, exacting service and comfy reclining beach chairs under a shady palapa. Or perhaps the thought of a secluded beach with clear water, a picnic lunch and your trusty beach bag full of nautical necessities is your idea of perfection.
The Unique Neighborhoods In and Around Banderas Bay: It’s impossible to paint all of Banderas Bay with the same brush, so to help you get a taste of the different neighborhoods around the bay (“colonias” in Spanish), we’ve created this handy list of some of the most popular.
Experiencing Vallarta: What to Do: In our previous issue, we explored the many different ways visitors connect with our destination, whether it is for a short vacation or for a lifetime. In this second and final installment, we take a look at some of the leisure pursuits to keep in mind as you design your perfect Puerto Vallarta experience.
The Birth of a Tourist Destination: The history of Banderas Bay, one of the largest bays in the world, and that of Puerto Vallarta go hand in hand.
Fiestas and Festivals: Every day is a día de fiesta in Mexico! Here is a list of official Mexican holidays and important local festivals you may want to keep in mind as you plan ahead for your paradise vacation.
Puerto Vallarta Businesses and Individuals Unite to Keep Bay Clean: Three of Puerto Vallarta’s most well-known companies; Botanical Gardens of Puerto Vallarta, Canopy Las Juntas y Los Veranos and Vallarta Adventures, are teaming to remove garbage from a well-traveled highway to beautify the area, improve environmental conditions and boost tourism in a one-day volunteer driven event
Dinner to Benefit Casa Hogar Maximo Cornejo: To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Outback Steakhouse has begun its festivities with a monthly dinner for each of the three associations that the popular restaurant will benefit this year: Becas Vallarta, Casa Hogar Maximo Cornejo and Pasitos de Luz.
VirtualVallarta.com Readers' Choice Poll 2010 Results Now Online: The results for this year's annual poll on Puerto Vallarta's favorite restaurants were made available online to the public on Thursday, July 15, 2010.
Laura Quiroz: Laura Quiroz was only 18 years old when she came to Puerto Vallarta for Easter Vacation. When she saw the fishing village from the air, she was delighted and thought “here is where I want to live and die someday.”
Tribute for Sculptor Ramíz Barquet: Relatives and friends of the sculptor José Ramíz Barquet, who passed away this last weekend, met at the Centro Universitario de la Costa (CUC) to deliver and present the sculpture entitled La Familia, a sculpture made of bronze by the artist with the intention to offer it to the university as part of its cultural heritage.
Dark Fields is Filming in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit: Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit were elected to film important scenes for the US production Dark Fields, directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist) starring Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper.
Cathy Von Rohr: Originally from Toledo, OH, she had graduated from Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute three years prior and was freelancing as a graphic and exhibit designer. As such, Von Rohr couldn’t resist fellow designer Pamela Waters’ invitation to visit Mexico’s Pacific Coast.
Puerto Vallarta Government Commits to City Museum: Puerto Vallarta’s city council held a forum entitled Proyecto Museo Puerto Vallarta (Puerto Vallarta Museum Project) with lectures offered by museographers, art curators, architects and specialist in the field.
Puerto Vallarta Celebrated Its Anniversary as Municipality and City: Puerto Vallarta celebrated its 92 years as a municipality and 42 as a city this past May 31 with a formal session where the local government awarded outstanding personalities in social, art, culture, ecology, education and the tourism field with the traditional Premio Vallarta accolade.
Hacienda Mosaico Announces Fall-Winter Workshops: Hacienda Mosaico recently announced the workshops that will be offered at this popular artist retreat, scheduled for the upcoming fall-winter season.
Best Local Interior Design Celebrity: Peter Bowman: Local designer Peter Bowman was singled out by the prestigious Architectural Digest as one of this year’s top 100 designers in their January 2010 issue.
Festival Gourmet Announces Expansion: Festival Gourmet International and Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitor's Bureau representatives announced the XVI Festival Gourmet International, which will take place from November 11 to 21, this time also including restaurants from San Blas and Tepic, Nayarit.
Café des Artistes Pays Tribute to Mexico: Café des Aristes has designed a new “Bicentennial Menu” to celebrate both the important restaurant’s 20th anniversary, and Mexico’s bicentennial independence celebration.
