Puerto Vallarta wasn’t somewhere we’d been planning to visit. A few Hyatt points, a last-minute idea and the prospect of escaping to the sunshine over New Year’s were really all it took.
We booked a short stay in the Hotel Zone, packed our bags and headed to Mexico with very little planned beyond enjoying a few warm days by the pool. What we found was a colourful, relaxed city surrounded by ocean and jungle, with an incredible food scene, whales breaching in Banderas Bay and plenty of memorable moments along the way.
As last-minute decisions go, this one worked out rather well.
Staying at Sunscape Puerto Vallarta
We stayed at Sunscape Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa in the Hotel Zone, overlooking beautiful Banderas Bay. The resort was all-inclusive, had a large pool and was particularly popular with families, including lots of Mexican families holidaying over the New Year period.
The food at the resort leaned heavily towards Mexican cuisine, which we enjoyed, although Puerto Vallarta has such a fantastic restaurant scene that we were also determined to venture beyond the hotel.
One of my favourite memories happened almost immediately after we arrived. We opened the door to our hotel room, walked outside and looked towards the ocean just as whales started breaching in the bay. It was a pretty spectacular welcome to Puerto Vallarta.
Our stay also gave us access to a special lounge where we could help ourselves to drinks and snacks throughout the day, which was a nice extra, particularly when we didn’t necessarily want a full meal.
The location worked well for us too. There was a small shopping centre behind the hotel with shops, cafés and ice cream, and in the evenings we could wander around with plenty of other families and tourists.
Did We Feel Safe in Puerto Vallarta?
Safety is something we’re always conscious of when travelling somewhere new, and I know it’s something people sometimes wonder about when planning a trip to Mexico.
Our experience in Puerto Vallarta was very positive. We felt comfortable exploring different parts of the city, catching Ubers and walking around the Hotel Zone and Romantic Zone. We still used the same common sense we would anywhere else and generally didn’t stay out particularly late, but at no point did we feel uncomfortable.
I was also struck by how relaxed and family-oriented Puerto Vallarta felt. There were lots of Mexican families holidaying alongside international visitors, particularly over the New Year period, and in the evenings we happily wandered around the shops and restaurants near our hotel.
Of course, everyone’s experience is different and it’s always worth checking current travel advice before visiting, but based on our trip, we felt very comfortable in Puerto Vallarta.
Exploring the Romantic Zone
One of the things I hadn’t appreciated before visiting was just how much personality Puerto Vallarta has. The city is colourful, artistic and lively, with a particularly vibrant LGBTQ+ community.
The Romantic Zone, or Zona Romántica, was one of our favourite areas to wander around, with restaurants, bars, galleries and colourful streets that become increasingly lively as the evening approaches. It’s also where you’ll find some of Puerto Vallarta’s most interesting places to eat, and if there is one thing I would return for, it is definitely the food.
Puerto Vallarta Is a Serious Foodie Destination
I wasn’t expecting the restaurant scene to be quite as good as it was. There are so many beautiful restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, and we found it easy to make reservations in advance using OpenTable, which I appreciated.
One of our most memorable lunches was at Mar y Vino in the Romantic Zone, where you can dine with your feet in a shallow pool overlooking the ocean. It’s slightly theatrical, but also a lot of fun – and rather fabulous on a sunny afternoon.
Another fantastic restaurant was La Madalena, which we were able to walk to from our hotel. This is definitely more of an experience than simply going out for dinner, with cocktails presented tableside and a churros dessert cart brought around at the end of the meal.
We tried to find a balance between eating out and making use of the all-inclusive resort we’d already paid for. It seems slightly ridiculous to pay for all your meals at a hotel and then continually go elsewhere to eat, but Puerto Vallarta has far too many good restaurants to stay inside the resort every night.
One of my minor grievances with all-inclusive resorts is waiting outside a restaurant for 20 minutes until a table becomes available, particularly at breakfast when I’m at my hangriest and desperately in need of a nice frothy coffee. Having a couple of restaurant reservations organised also gave us an excuse to get out and experience more of Puerto Vallarta.
A Day on Banderas Bay
We chartered a boat for the day and explored the coastline around Banderas Bay, which was a beautiful way to see Puerto Vallarta from the water.
The landscape here is one of the things I loved most. Puerto Vallarta sits between the ocean and the jungle-covered Sierra Madre mountains, so you have this wonderful combination of tropical greenery, beaches and blue water, along with plenty of wildlife.
We had already seen whales breaching from our hotel room, but another wildlife encounter was slightly less idyllic. Walking back from the marina one day, we spotted a huge crocodile only a block or so from our hotel. I’m quite happy admiring Mexican wildlife from a reasonable distance, so that was close enough for me.
A Beach Day in Mismaloya
We also took an Uber down the coast to Mismaloya for a beach day. The drive itself was lovely, winding along the coast with the jungle rising around you, and Mismaloya was lively and fantastic for people-watching.
The ocean wasn’t particularly inviting that day, with a seriously intimidating shore break that convinced us not to get in. We found the currents around Puerto Vallarta a little unpredictable generally, so we ended up spending considerably more time in the hotel pool than swimming in the ocean.
Mismaloya also introduced us to the full Puerto Vallarta beach-vendor experience. Every few minutes someone seemed to appear offering hats, sarongs, massages, jewellery, food or a song from a mariachi band.
Once you’ve bought something, however, word seems to travel quickly that there may be more where that came from. Before long, the attention can become a little relentless. It’s part of the atmosphere and livelihood of the beach, but if you’re hoping to sit quietly with a book for several hours, you’ll probably need to become very good at saying, “No, gracias.”
The Great Pool-Lounger Battle
Back at the hotel, we encountered another phenomenon familiar to anyone who has spent time at a busy resort: the early-morning pool-lounger reservation.
People were apparently waking up with the sparrows to put towels, snorkels and various personal belongings on the best pool chairs. This drives me crazy, particularly when you look around a busy pool at rows of apparently empty sun loungers, only to discover that every one has been claimed by a neatly folded towel whose owner may or may not appear sometime before lunch.
I remain firmly opposed to the practice.
Thankfully, we had other things to occupy us, and being there over New Year’s Eve meant we also had an excellent view of the fireworks across the bay. It was a pretty spectacular place to welcome in a new year.
The Mexican Dress I Still Don’t Know Where to Wear
And then there was the dress. I bought a beautiful traditional-style full-length Mexican embroidered kaftan while we were there. It’s colourful, detailed and genuinely gorgeous, and I have worn it approximately nowhere.
Every time I put it on at home, I look in the mirror and wonder whether I’m beautifully dressed or simply dressed up in somebody else’s cultural attire, so back into the wardrobe it goes.
Perhaps it just needs another trip to Mexico.
Mrs Globetrotter Tips
- When we went: We visited over New Year’s, from late December into early January. It was a lovely time for winter sunshine and we were lucky enough to see whales in Banderas Bay.
- Book restaurants ahead: Puerto Vallarta has a fantastic food scene, so make a few reservations and venture beyond your resort.
- Get out on the water: Chartering a boat along the coastline was one of the highlights of our trip.
- Explore beyond the Hotel Zone: We loved wandering around the colourful Romantic Zone and taking an Uber down the coast to Mismaloya.
- Choose a hotel with a good pool: The ocean and shore break could be unpredictable during our stay, so we spent more time swimming in the pool.
- Expect beach vendors: You’ll be approached regularly on some beaches. A friendly “No, gracias” usually does the trick.
- Uber worked well for us: We found it an easy way to get around without hiring a car.
- New Year’s is busy: Expect a festive atmosphere, plenty of visitors and some competition for those coveted pool loungers!
