Rincon de Guayabitos,and Puerto Vallarta, Feb. 27 - Mar 16

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

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MartyC
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Rincon de Guayabitos,and Puerto Vallarta, Feb. 27 - Mar 16

Post by MartyC » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:37 pm

I start this trip report, and I use the name trip report loosely, admitting that I had intended to take meticulous notes and write a detailed report, but got distracted and stopped taking notes very early on, like day two. Suffice to say that Tina, the better half, and I had a great time as we always do in Mexico. Having said that, this trip report will be mainly pictures with a very little bit of verbal diarrhea.

Every year we try to squeeze as much time out for vacation as we possibly can. This year we managed 16 days in Mexico, a bit of a bonus.

Our trip actually starts at around noon on the 26th for our road trip to Seattle. We found a couple of cheap fares on Delta out of SeaTac and bought them a few months ago and got a room at a hotel near the airport that offers a week’s free parking for staying a night at the hotel. One night on the way down and one night on the way back and parking is paid for.

It had snowed a little the night before so it really felt like we were doing the right thing.

Image Now many of you are no doubt saying “Snow, what snow?”, but we have had more than our share this winter.

We had a descent if not short nights sleep and an uneventful flight to PV with a short layover in Salt Lake City.

We were met at the airport in PV by Tina’s sister and her boyfriend, who we often vacation with, and Sarah, our driver who would take us about an hour north to Guayabitos. We stayed for nine nights at Casa de Ensuenos, a bed and breakfast owned by a wonderful couple Charlie and Mona, who live in Oregon in the summer months.

Image The B&B from the street.

Image The B&B from the beach. There are three guest rooms on the upper floor and one on the main floor.

Some views from the house.

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Some pics of the house and the neighborhood.

Image The main floor patio.

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Image Nikita

Image Chico ( they also have a couple of cats)

Image From the roof deck.

Image Another from the roof deck.

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I could continue adding pics but I think you all get the idea. The house is beautiful, the neighborhood is great and we would recommend this place to anyone who is interested in vacationing in the Guyabitos area. One more thing about the B&B experience, the breakfasts. We experienced 9 wonderful morning meals there.

Here is an example.

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There was not a repeat among them. Fresh fruit every day, fresh squeezed OJ every day and freshly brewed coffee awaiting you when you wake up. As well, Charlie and Mona hosted happy hour every evening with frozen margaritas’ and snacks. And, beer on the honor system, just 8 pesos each.

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Post by sjl330 » Tue Mar 24, 2009 5:36 pm

Beautiful! And the food looked great too. Why oh why do we even live where it snows??? When so much of the world is a paradise. Oh well, it makes us appreciate it even more. Thanks for sharing.

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Post by MartyC » Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:25 am

A little about Guyabitos and the neighboring pueblo, La Panita.

Rincon de Guyabitos is a relatively small resort area with one fairly small 3 star all inclusive, several small hotels, condos and rental properties and some bed and breakfasts and of course good restaurants. It is on a large shallow bay and has a wonderfully wide and long beach. La Panita is a nice little town, population about 30,000 and its claim to fame with Tina and her sister is the market that takes place on Thursdays in the town square. There are also several very good restaurants in La Panita. The B&B was situated about halfway between the center of La Panita and Guyabitos.

Some photos of the beach, La Panita and Guyabitos.

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Image Gotta throw in the sunset picture.

Image This I’m told is called a centennial cactus and it sprouted this “flower” in about 30 days.

Image The over crowded beach at the B&B. Chairs and umbrellas are courtesy of the owners.

Image This is in one of our favorite beach bars, Davids, and these young ladies came from school to the beach to sell toys.
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Image Downtown Guyabitos

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Image Sorry to all the animal people out there but this is a box full of coloured chicks for sale at the Thursday market in La Panita.

Moving heavy construction materials Mexican style.

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4. Image I don’t think Workmens Compensation would approve.

Image Across the river from La Panita to Guyabitos.

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Next installment, a tour of an estuary and the town of San Blas.

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Marty's Photo Journey

Post by smitty » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:02 am

I loved the picture of the flowering cactus and the construction picture was priceless ! :lol:

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Post by Plus4 » Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:26 pm

Been waiting for this report..

Great start Marty looking forward to more.. E)E

Very nice pics...

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Re: Marty's Photo Journey

Post by MartyC » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:03 pm

smitty wrote:I loved the picture of the flowering cactus and the construction picture was priceless ! :lol:
Thanks Smitty. When I saw what the guy was doing I just had to take a series of pictures.

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Post by MartyC » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:05 pm

Plus4 wrote:Been waiting for this report..

Great start Marty looking forward to more.. E)E

Very nice pics...
Thanks. I've got work today but I'll try to post a bit more tomorrow.

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Post by BUFFETT 06 » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:29 pm

by far, the finest trip report I have viewed on here !!! nice job!!!

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Post by MartyC » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:08 am

BUFFETT 06 wrote:by far, the finest trip report I have viewed on here !!! nice job!!!
Gosh.... thanks Buffett. It's really not that informative. I think the pictures are the key.

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Post by Plus4 » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:12 am

MartyC wrote:
BUFFETT 06 wrote:by far, the finest trip report I have viewed on here !!! nice job!!!
Gosh.... thanks Buffett. It's really not that informative. I think the pictures are the key.
Not to take away from Marty's report...he did a wonderful job 8V8 of his report now and before but :) I agree with Marty ...... The photos are the Key...
Marty and I belong to a forum where Mexico trip reports are a huge hit..Photos sometimes speak larger than words..
btw...
sonofdob also did a good report with photos here... :)

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Post by MartyC » Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:55 pm

Now, this is where I kick myself for not taking at least a few notes. It seems that I have a good memory, but a very short one. I can’t for the life of me, remember the name of the estuary tour that we took. It was just outside of San Blas, and it was quite interesting. Our boat driver was very observant and pointed out alligators, birds, turtles, iguanas and anything else he thought would interest us. Here are some pics of the boat ride up the estuary.

Image Artsy shot of the boats.

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Image Camouflage bird.

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Image This is the area at the top of the estuary. There is a restaurant, a picnic area and a fence in the water to keep the alligators out, so you can swim if you want to. We didn’t swim.

(12 hours later)……
After some intensive research, I have discovered that the name of the tour is the La Tovara River Boat Tour. Love the internet.

After the estuary tour we went on to San Blas. San Blas was an important Spanish port from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and the Spanish built a fortress here to protect their ships. It is now a resort town and when we were there a shrimp fleet was anchored in the bay.

Image A view of San Blas from the grounds at the old fort.

Image We were told that all of the land that is now San Blas was under water at one time.


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The other building on the site is an old church which was built around the same time as the fort. Unfortunately, they decided to install a modern day tile floor instead of trying to restore the original one. Still, you could feel the history.

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Image The floor. They should have just left it.

Image The beach at San Blas. Not too busy this day. The sand here is very much like the sand at Grand Beach, for all you Winnipegers.

Here are a couple of shots from our trip back to Guayabitos.

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This marks the end of our first 9 days. Next instalment, back to PV.

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Post by Plus4 » Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:02 pm

Marty I really enjoyed your last photos..Makes me want to go there... :)

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Post by webmaster » Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:08 pm

Raising the bar when it comes to Trip Reports! Excellent job, loved the Internet Virus sign... sad to see the chicks treated that way though. I remember in DK once a newspaper published that for easter there would be a new product, a big chocolate egg with a real live chick inside. The newspaper was overwhelmed with complaints before they had the chance to inform it was an April fools joke...

Anyway, great photos and does actually make me want to visit these places I haven't visited yet.

Great. E)E

Mogens

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Post by katnsocal » Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:13 am

Great photos Marty. I haven't made it to San Blas yet, but Guyabitos and La Penita have been some of my places to take day trips for years. The market day in La Penita is something everyone who goes to Mexico should experience. San Blas is on my list of places to see on my next trip down.

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Post by MartyC » Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:44 pm

Plus4 wrote:Marty I really enjoyed your last photos..Makes me want to go there... :)
Thanks Sylvia. Do, I really recommend it It's a good day trip but worth the effort.

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Post by MartyC » Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:46 pm

mgallard wrote:Raising the bar when it comes to Trip Reports! Excellent job, loved the Internet Virus sign... sad to see the chicks treated that way though. I remember in DK once a newspaper published that for easter there would be a new product, a big chocolate egg with a real live chick inside. The newspaper was overwhelmed with complaints before they had the chance to inform it was an April fools joke...

Anyway, great photos and does actually make me want to visit these places I haven't visited yet.

Great. E)E

Mogens
Thanks Mogens. Try the estuary tour. It's worth the time.

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Post by MartyC » Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:47 pm

katnsocal wrote:Great photos Marty. I haven't made it to San Blas yet, but Guyabitos and La Penita have been some of my places to take day trips for years. The market day in La Penita is something everyone who goes to Mexico should experience. San Blas is on my list of places to see on my next trip down.
Thanks for the comments katnsocal. My wife won't miss the market. We didn't buy anything this year but the experience is worth the few hours we spent there.

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Post by MartyC » Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:06 am

The last days of this years vacation were spent as they should be, lounging on the beach, by the pool and, having the occasional adult beverage.

As we have been to PV numerous times, the camera was not really busy this year. One of the favourite evening customs is finding a great place for happy hour and to enjoy the sunset. There is a terrific boutique hotel, Casa Isabel, owned and operated by a couple from Toronto, up the hill a few blocks off the beach. This past year they have opened a bar and grill and it has become one of our favourite places to go for meals or cocktails.

This is Casa Isabel last year before they built the Bar & Grill. On the right side of the property you see two red umbrellas. They have build a palapa over that area, installed several flat screen TV’s, tables and chairs and voila, Casa Isabel Bar & Grill.

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I don’t seem to have any pictures of the bar but here are a few shots of the view and a pretty decent sunset picture.

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Image And a couple of sunset pictures.

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Our last adventure this year was a walk along the shoreline from Boca de Tomatlan to Los Animos just south of PV. The trail is about 8 km we were told. It took us about 3 hours. It is a bit of a goat trail and caution was the word of the day. It was worth the effort in the end as there was cold beer waiting at the end of our hike.

Image The beach at Boca.

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The following shots are of various views along the trail.

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Image That’s a foot bridge!
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The pot of gold at the end of the hike was a nice cold beer on the beach at Los Aminos and a boat ride back to Boca. That took less than 30 minutes.

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The next and final instalment will be doors, windows and gates, some of Tina’s favourite things to photograph.

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Post by MartyC » Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:31 am

Finally, a few pictures of “tile art”, doors, gates, yards and the occasional planted pot.

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That’s a wrap for this year. Next time, I hope it’s a Playa del Carmen trip report and another report on the PV area. That’s the plan. Now I need to win the lottery.

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Post by Plus4 » Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:59 pm

I am sorry this report is over...

I like Tina's idea of fun things to photograph... :)

I think our Community Home Builders should take a look at the way wonderful color is used in Mexico..
Our neighborhoods are full of cookie cutter homes colored in boring dull browns...

Thanks for taking the time to post your report..

Will watch on the Playa forum and on this one for next years.. :)

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