Puerto Vallarta/Nuevo Vallarta Week

Best Things Nearby:
Nothing is close to the resort.

Best Things About the Resort:
The pool complex at the resort, especially the lazy river

Resort Experience:
We had reservations for ourselves and a gift certificate for a friend so that both of us could stay at The Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta. When we arrived, one of the weeks had been upgraded to the Grand Mayan. When we explained that we wanted to have both units in the same resort, they upgraded both to the Grand Mayan.

When you first walk in the entry, you are in a dimly light room surrounded by eight Mayan statues that are 20 feet high. It is very impressive. The Grand Mayan is very exclusive. As a guest at the Grand Mayan, you have access to the facilities at the Mayan Palace and the Mayan Sea Garden, but the other guests do not have access to the pool complex at the Grand Mayan.

The pool complex is fantastic. There are several interconnected pools with two swim-up bars. They also have wait staff that will come to your lounge chair. They have several happy hours throughout the day and daily drink specials. There is a lazy river that runs around the pools (that was our favorite). Towards the beach, there is a set of two wave pools with a large slide that comes down from a Mayan pyramid. They require you to have one of there tubes for the slide. Tubes are rented for $3 per day. The tubes are also great for the lazy river. On the far side of the wave pools is a water play area for young children.

The resort is kept immaculately clean. I frequently would encounter the cleaning staff cleaning the elevators. There is daily maid service with fresh towels every day. They did different designs with the bed coverings and would make animal figures out of the kitchen towels.

The rooms are large. I estimate about 900 square feet for a one-bedroom condo. There is a splash pool on the balcony of every room. We saw a spectacular thunderstorm one evening. Lightning hit our building and knocked out power for a few seconds.

The restaurants on-site are very good. We had excellent meals at Samba (poolside) and pool snack bar. We went to the Mayan Palace for the fajita night buffet. The fajitas were excellent. The buffet food was average.

We cooked in our room for several meals. We stopped at Wal-Mart our second day and did some grocery shopping. We also made our own daiquiris and pina coladas. The water at the hotel is drinkable. We drank it all week, and not one of the six of us had a problem.

We would have enjoyed the Mayan Palace, but the Grand Mayan is a definite upgrade. The rooms are bigger and the pool complex is more entertaining. The only downside to the resort is that it is so far out of town. We did the Canopy Tour and scuba diving. Both were on the other side of Puerto Vallarta, a 45- to 60-minute bus ride.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Ocean Quest Scuba Diving Center is a small dive shop run by a German transplant named Klaus Bosbach. The shop is located in the Romantic Zone of Puerto Vallarta, a short cab ride from the resorts in Puerto Vallarta. We took the bus from the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta for about $1.50 each. It took about 45 minutes and required changing buses.

When we arrived at the shop at 10am, Klaus’s assistant, Lutz, was there and fitted us for our equipment. The shop was big enough for four of us to stand inside. Klaus arrived at about 10:30am. We were doing four dives (in 2 days) and getting our full certification for six people. The cost was $220 each for a total of $1,320 (this included all equipment). Ocean Quest’s website says that they take VISA and MasterCard. When we got there, they wanted CASH! They tried to run my credit card, but it would not work. When we came back the second day, we paid with my wife’s credit card (same account, different card). After all the hassle, Klaus graciously waived his standard 10% SURCHARGE FOR USING CREDIT CARDS.

They took the gear in a pickup truck. We took the bus for about a 15-minute ride to the dive site. From the bus stop, we walked down a dirt road for about 400 yards. There are several local vendors that have shops along the road, and also some restaurants.

We got down to the beach, and the gear was loaded into a motor boat with seating for about 10 people. Since this was our certification class, we were told that we would do our confined water training in about 5 feet of water. We did it in 5 feet of water–with 10 to 30 feet of more water below us! If you want a quick, no-frills, no-excessive-instruction, bare-minimum class, then this is for you. We did all the required skills for the PADI certification. We did the skills once, and if we did it correctly (or at least close), we did not do that skill again. Most of our time was spent enjoying the dive.

When we got back to shore, they packed up the truck and headed back to the shop. We rode the bus for 5 pesos ($0.50) each for the bus. We stopped at Juan’s restaurant for lunch before catching the bus. They have good local food and $1 beers.

The diving was exceptional. See my entry on Los Arcos dive site.

I originally was going to go with Chico’s, the big dive shop. In my research, I found that Chico’s is one of two dive shops in the world to be EXPELLED from PADI.

Overall, it was a good experience. One big plus is that they limit their groups to six divers. I would recommend Ocean Quest for divers who are already certified or want a VERY short, bare-bones certification course.

We made our reservations through the Vallarta Adventures desk in the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta. The cost is about $70 each. The AIR-CONDITIONED bus to the Canopy Tour picked us up at a hotel that is a short taxi/bus ride from the resort. It took a little over an hour to get to the Canopy Tour location. It was about 25 minutes from downtown PV. On the return trip, the bus dropped us each off at our resorts.

At the location, they have lockable lockers that are about the size of a standard water-park locker. We were fit for our harnesses, and then they gave us about 5 minutes of instructions. Eduardo gave the instructions. He was very personable and funny. It was fun to watch his safety demo.

We then walked up the hill to the first zip line. On the first platform, you have to walk up a metal spiral staircase. It is about 15 feet up. The first two lines are short and get you accustomed to the zip lines. My wife was apprehensive about going. She is the kind of person that won’t ride roller coasters or any other thrill ride. She said that the worst thing was going up the spiral staircase at the beginning. After that, she had a great time. We all really enjoyed the adventure.

The harnesses are very secure. You have a primary strap and a safety strap. The way it is designed, you would have to be Houdini to get out of the harness while on the zip line. The guides were going down the lines, hanging upside-down with their hands free. It is very safe and well maintained.

The first few lines go through the jungle. Then the lines start crisscrossing the river. Some of the lines are 30 to 40 feet in the air. The last line goes right down the river over the rapids and ends at the restaurant/bar, where you can get a free soda.

The Canopy Tour people and the bus operator are not the same company. There was some confusion on when the bus would depart. The Canopy Tour guide said that it would be 30 minutes. The bus didn’t leave for over an hour after the last person finished. There was plenty of time for lunch in the restaurant.

I recommend, no, require, that you take insect repellent. There are lots of mosquitoes in the jungle. I also recommend wearing clothes that you don’t mind getting a little dirty. You will get some dirt on your shoes and may get some greasy dirt on your hands from the lines.

We dove with Ocean Quest dive shop. For info on them, see my Ocean Quest Dive Shop entry. We went out on a small 10-person motor boat with six divers and two guides.

On the first day, both of our dives had visibility of 80 to 100 feet! I was amazed at how good the view was, especially since it was the rainy season. Los Arcos is in the south part of Banderas Bay. The streams that flow into the bay on the south side come straight out of the mountains. The north side of the bay looked like 0 to 5 feet of visibility due to the muddy river that flows into the north side.

On our first two dives, we dove the "aquarium," which runs 25 to 60 feet deep. We saw many large schools of colorful fish. There were also a few eels and sea horses. The bottom is rocky, with some coral, but the coral is not very colorful. The water temperature was 90°F. It was very comfortable without a wet suit.

The second day, we dove Devil’s Canyon, which goes 25 to 1,800 feet deep. The visibility that day was about 40 to 60 feet. There was a thunderstorm in the area that was stirring things up. We did not see as many fish in this part of Los Arcos, but we did see three rays. We saw an eagle ray and a sting ray that was sitting on the bottom. We were right next to the drop-off to 1,800 feet. While we were looking at the sting ray, I noticed the sea behind one of the other divers getting dark. I then realized that it was a 20-foot-wide manta ray that had just come up the cliff wall! It was an amazing sight to see. The manta ray stayed in the area for quite awhile. It even came to the surface when we did and stayed about 50 feet away from us.

That evening, there was a HUGE thunderstorm over the entire bay. That probably hurt the visibility for the next few days. We hit it at just the right time.

My 20-year-old daughter and I went to the El Tapatio Tequila Factory for their tour. The distillery is in El Pitillal, which is located about 1 mile behind Wal-Mart. We took the bus to Wal-Mart and then took a taxi to the distillery. The taxi cost 30 pesos (about $3).

They have tours at 11:30am, 1pm, and 3pm every day (I don’t know about holidays). They have three different types of tours. For 75 pesos, you get the 30-minute tour, a welcome margarita, and tequila tasting. For 125 pesos, you get the same, plus the tour is 45 minutes and you get snacks (chips, salsa, guacamole, and tacos). For 250 pesos, the tour is 60 minutes and you get a Mexican buffet.

We made reservations for the short tour through our resort concierge. When we arrived, we were seated and three brightly dressed Mexican dancers danced for us. We were served our margaritas (blended or on the rocks). The margaritas were excellent. My daughter doesn’t like tequila, but she liked these. <<P> The tour was very basic. Our guide showed us the agave plant and explained how they harvest the plant. He explained the history of mescal and tequila. He showed how they do the distilling. It was short but informative.

We then did the tequila tasting. We tasted eight different tequilas. There were almond, coffee/chocolate, and cherry tequilas. There was one that was in a bottle shaped like a pregnant woman’s torso, which is reputed to be an aphrodisiac. The triple-distilled 100% agave tequilas are very smooth. And they said that 100% agave tequilas do not give you a hangover. My favorite was the almond-flavored tequila, which tasted like amaretto.

There prices for the tequila range from about $20 to $50 for a 750ml bottle. It is more than a bottle of Cuervo in the States, but sooooo much better. (Cuervo is only 51% agave.)

After the welcome margarita and eight samples, it was a good thing that we were taking the bus back to our resort. It was a good price for the tequila that we drank, plus the tour.