Whale watching in Bahia de Banderas is a good time. Being caught out in a torrential downpour out in the bay, not so much.
Bahia de Banderas is a winter gathering spot for humpback whales, where they mate, give birth, and cruise around prior to migrating north. During our tour we saw over 15 whales, including several babies, hundreds of dolphins, and dozens of sea gulls and brown footed boobies.
Our small boat tour was with Vallarta Natours. There were nine of us along with a guide and the boat’s skipper. It was slightly overcast and remained that way for several hours.
We were not even out of the harbor before I was tempted to throw the old couple sitting near me off the boat. Instead of listening to what was being said by the guide, a marine biologist, they asked stupid questions. Yes, there are stupid questions. And those questions don’t get better when repeated. Even our guide was noticeably agitated. After about thirty minutes they ran out of questions.
Humpback whales are not difficult to spot as they surface frequently. But the bay is large and the whales are rarely too close. They are smart enough to avoid getting near the boats. While we saw many whales, we were not lucky enough to see any breach the surface.
For about 30 minutes, in the middle of our four hour tour, we were surrounded by a huge pod of dolphins. They were everywhere, hundreds of them, frequently jumping out of the water. The dolphins put on a good show.
Birds, I suppose, are used to following chartered fishing boats. Occasionally several would fly along with our boat. You could almost reach out and grab them.
After about three hours the waves picked up, clouds fell, and a light rain started. It was not bad, but eating lunch in the rain, on a small boat cruising through choppy waters, is not ideal.
We headed towards the marina. About 15 minutes from the dock the skies opened into a torrential downpour. One guy said he had never experienced such large rain drops. Everyone agreed. Stephanie tried to make the best of the situation, saying it was all part of the adventure. [Ed. note: That’s wrong.]
By the time the boat docked, we were soaked through. Thankfully our water resistant backpack did its job, so our extra shirts and my camera were dry. It stopped raining about five minutes after we docked.
As we were leaving our guide told us that rain in Puerto Vallarta in January is like snow in many places – very unusual. Just great.
This was the only time it rained during our five weeks here.
We learned quickly, fortunately the easy way, that transportation costs vary widely based on time of day and your ability to sniff out a scam.
Local buses cost $10 pesos a trip (ballpark 50 cents in USD), but routes are not published. You need to do some homework to make sure you are on the correct bus going in the right direction. Give yourself plenty of time as there will be a lot of stops. And the bus might be crowded, hot, and uncomfortable.
Taxi fares are supposedly a set price based on a zone system, but we’ve not seen anything confirming the exact fares. It appears to us that taxi fares vary a bit by driver, but not excessively. Always get a quote before agreeing to the ride. Ask around a bit and you will be fine. Taxis are everywhere.
Uber is available, but its prices can fluctuate wildly based on demand. We noticed prices fluctuating by almost $100 pesos for the same ride in a 30 minute time period. Uber is apparently taxed heavily, and sometimes its prices are much worse than a taxi.
We always compared a quoted taxi price with an Uber price before deciding.
Water taxis are where you need have some negotiating skills. We took a boat from Boca de Tomatlan to Playa Las Ánimas with some friends for a day of drinking beer and eating tacos under umbrellas on the beach.
Upon arriving at the dock in Boca, several locals told us that water taxis cost $100 to $150 pesos per person. One guy in our group knew better and held out for $50 pesos per person. Of course, there were five of us, so we had some bargaining power.
Leaving the beach to return to Boca we again demanded a ride for $50 pesos per person. After some arguing, we got a return ride for $50 pesos per person. The two Canadian guys that hopped into the water taxi with us sure were happy. They paid $300 pesos – each – to take the same water taxi from Boca to the beach that we took.
It’s one thing to pay $150 pesos when you should have paid $100 pesos or less, but to get taken for $300 pesos? I can’t believe they admitted it. I’m still laughing about it. That’s $15 USD each for a five minute boat ride.
Taquitos Acapulco-Vallarta turned out to be our favorite restaurant in Puerto Vallarta. Located in el Centro, the food here is good and the salsa is spicy hot – enough to make your mouth tingle. Heat is not dialed down at this place.
We had tacos pastor (pork with onion, cilantro, and pineapple) and pechuga de pollo (chicken with onion and cillantro) which we loaded down with salsa, pico de gallo, and lime. Our order of nine tacos cost $165 pesos, or about $8.25 USD. Beer is cheap, too, $30 pesos a bottle, or about $1.50 USD.
Okay, we did take a one week vacation here before leaving, at the Hilton Puerto Vallarta in Zona Hotelera. It is an all inclusive resort. Unless you choose to go on a tour (whale watching, already done; zip lines and ATV tours, no thanks; tequila tasting, nah; snorkeling, not this time), there is little to do at the resort other than drink, go to the beach, drink, eat, go to the pool, eat, and drink. And that is what we did.
Difficult question of the day: which pool? The one with a few kids playing and screaming, or the adult only pool with drunk 60 year olds doing shots while singing and dancing to 80s pop hits?
Or the rooftop pool, where, if you are lucky, you might catch the sight of humpback whales breaching the surface of the bay.
Once we entered the resort property, Puerto Vallarta and Mexico were left behind. We could just as easily have been in Panama City.
Or Canada. Seriously. Lot of Canadians here. The three most common things overheard at the Hilton resort:
“Eh”
“Eh?”
“Eh!”
Puerto Vallarta is a great for a winter escape, but Stephanie and I are not really beach people. A week at the beach is plenty. Five weeks in a touristy beach area is too much.
We hoped that our Spanish would improve in Mexico, as we learned a decent amount in Spain. Instead, whatever rudimentary Spanish we knew is now gone. English is so widely spoken in the tourist areas that conversing in Spanish simply does not happen.
From Puerto Vallarta we are returning to Memphis for a week to grab cool weather clothing and swap out camera gear before traveling to the equator.
Garrett and Stephanie
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