Trip Report (Villa del Palmar, Vallarta Adventures)

Report on your Puerto Vallarta trip, hotel, restaurant, tour, etc.

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hkflorence
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Trip Report (Villa del Palmar, Vallarta Adventures)

Post by hkflorence » Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:21 pm

Hey everyone, just wanted to say thanks for all of the great advice.

My boyfriend and I had an amazing time and loved every minute of it. We took your advice and went to Sayulita to surf. We were total beginners but rented board for a couple of hours for about 25 bucks. I got a nasty cut on my foot from the rocks so be careful! It was beautiful though and a fun place to visit. We took the bus there and it was cheap... rented some chairs and an umbrella.. had a good time.

Best advice - WEAR SUNSCREEN. We are both very dark skinned so didn't expect to burn so easily. After about an hour laying out we were both burned to a crisp. We found some aloe and rubbed that on us for the rest of the trip topped with lots of sunscreen.

We took the "outdoor adventure tour". I believe the company is vallerta adventures. WE LOVED IT. It was by far the best part of the trip. I would recommend being in fairly good physical shape if you attempt this though. We met at the marina, took an inflatable boat ride, rode a 4x4 vehicle halfway up the mountains and then rode mules the rest of the way. 14 zip lines down and two waterfall repels. I accidentally let the rope get under my shirt on one of the waterfall repels and ended up with a bad rope burn but I was the only one to do this. After we got off of the mules there was a little but very steep hike to the top. (they had water and cool aid waiting for us there )

Everything on the trip was a surprise for my boyfriend. He had no idea what the "outdoor adventure tour" was. I told the guides and they played along well. At first he thought the boat ride was it. Then he thought that after we rode the 4x4 vehicles it was over, etc. Imagine his face when he found it we would be ziplining down the mountain!

The scenery was beautiful. We ate at pipi's twice. It is on the malecon. It was delicious. Especially the homemade guacamole. YUM

We did the rhythyms of the night. It was great. Fantastic show. I loved it and it was pretty romantic. Some people had complained about having to sit with other couples but we had a seat to ourselves on the beach.

We really enjoyed the villa del palmar. It was great to have a kitchenette in our room. On our first day we realized the fridge wasn't cold. We called maintenance and in about 15 minutes they had it replaced with a cold one. No complaints! Though you should know that drinks at any hotel bar are ridiculous. Thats why its good to have a fridge in your room and a little foldable cooler to carry them down with you.

LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT.

We have plans to go back every year!

benito
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Post by benito » Fri Aug 22, 2008 6:30 pm

nice report, sounds like you had a blast.

hkflorence
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Couple Things to Add

Post by hkflorence » Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:14 pm

We were both a little worried about the money exchange but that was fine. We exchanged a couple hundred at the airport and then got the rest out at atms when we got there.

One night on the malecon we were just leaving pipis about to walk towards the beach and a taxi driver stopped us and pointed at an upstairs bar that was having opening night. We had free admission and free drinks all night and it was actually a small crowd. Can't for the life of me think what the name of the bar was but it was pretty much one block down from pipis towards the beach.

We did go to nuevo vallarta (Is that what its called?) Anyways, it was pretty far away from all of the happenings of pv. But the beach was beautiful. If you want to stay at the beach most of the time I would recommend this. If you want to do other things like restaurants, bars, marina activities, etc. I recommend pv.

We did ride the bus almost every where except on the way home from late nights in the bars on the malecon (taxi cost five dollars from those bars to the villa del palmar) The bus was an experience to say the least but I wouldn't have it any other way. Its cheaper and fun!

I can say that the people walking by selling things on the beach were a bit annoying at times as they never let you have a moment of just laying there. Every time they would walk up I learned to shake my head and say no gracious. And they usually left me alone. I decided not to buy anything until the last day because I saw two older women make the mistake of buying dresses when they had first arrived and they were covered up with vendors the rest of the time on the beach. If you make it clear you aren't going to buy something they leave you alone. I guess there is a rope offed area that aren't allowed to cross but that is just a little section of the beach and the pools. We wanted to be right by the water which is where they are all walking around. The pools there were really nice though.

There were some beautiful sand sculptures on the beach and we saw the guys doing that acrobatic routine from that huge pole on Sunday. Worth giving them a tip!

And yes, we enjoyed the malecon on Sunday. But we went every night on the weekend. Lots of food, shows, music, etc.

I highly recommend that you eat at one of those two story restaurants and enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Oh and I had read some reports about people being on the street or old part of villa del palmar. We weren't on the street side but our view didn't face the beach either. I'm glad because we had AMAZING view of the mountains and at night it was the prettiest sunset ever. There are alot of hotels through there which would have that same fantastic view. Beautiful mountains with an orangeish pink sunset with the roofs of the city below us.

We walked across the street almost daily to get a couple of groceries. Can't remember the name of the grocery store either but anybody down there can point it out to you. It was large and we used the bank atms there.

My boyfriend kept saying that it was the most amazing trip ever and that he never cared about traveling to any other place but there. Pretty big compliment!

I know on the earlier report it sounds like I got quite beat up ( big gash on my foot from surfing, deep rope burn on my hip and terrible sun burns but pv is so great I hardly noticed... until I got home!)

Again, thanks for the advice. Without this forum I would have never known about all of the best places to go and vet pv secrets :) This is the best forum that I have found for learning all about pv and reading unbiased reports

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travelbug_jp
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Post by travelbug_jp » Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:28 pm

It sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for taking the time to post your experiences. Now that you and your boyfriend have been bitten by the PV bug are you already counting the months till you return?
Joyce

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katnsocal
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Post by katnsocal » Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:54 am

Nice trip report, sounds like you had a great time. The only comment I have is the beaches in PV are public beaches and the vendors who bothered you were working their regular job, you were sitting in their work place. As you said if you had sat behind the ropes they are not allowed to come across them to try to sell you their goods. I personally love talking and joking with them and when you tell them "No thanks" they do leave you alone. I shop from the time I arrive until the time I leave, if I see something I like I do not hesitate to buy it when I see it. I look at it as part of the charm and experience of Mexico.

You guys had a fantastic trip, hope you are soon counting the days till you return.

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Post by Plus4 » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:02 pm

Very nice report.. :)
Thanks for sharing..

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Post by criss401 » Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:09 pm

:shock: Sure sounds as if you have the dreadful "PV Addiction". :shock: The only cure is to return to paradise on a regular basis! :wink:

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Post by pat » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:11 pm

My boyfriend kept saying that it was the most amazing trip ever and that he never cared about traveling to any other place but there. Pretty big compliment!
Yes, what ever you want to call it you caught it. Why do you think we are all always on here. We can't stand to be away and slurp up every bit of PV that we can. After 16 years of going back to PV we now own our own condo. Yippie!! Yes, you definitely have the bug.

I think I was there at the same time as you. July 29 to Aug. 19. I always stay at the Holiday Inn, the tall tower. We had some really great thunderstorms with an amazing amount of rain. Did you catch the storm where it lightened and thundered most of the evening and into the night with the thunder and lightening all around us? It was amazing!![/quote]

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