Week at the Mayan Palace in PV

There are lots of tours on offer in Puerto Vallarta, and none of them are economical for a family to partake. But regardless of the expense, The Canopy Tour offered by Vallarta Adventures was worth is. Not only is it safe, having been set up by the experienced owner of the original Canopy Tour of Costa Rica (which we toured with about 5 years ago), but the rain forest of that area is beautiful. We found the PV Canopy Tour to be less scary than that of Costa Rica, because several of the platforms in PV are at ground level. But, there is still plenty of buzz in the tour to jumpstart your heart after a morning of lazing around the pool.

The town of PV is quaint, colorful, and clean (cleaner than downtown San Diego). Unlike the border towns, the markets of PV are very pleasant, shaded by giant figs. We felt little pressure to buy.

Quick Tips:

The local buses are quite good. The bus stops in front of the Mayan Palace at PV and takes you directly to the main marina (where the snorkeling tours meet) to Wal-Mart and downtown.

Before you "purchase" a tour, accept the free buffet breakfast at a timeshare sales pitch to save yourself a few hundred bucks on tours.

DON’T do the Santa Maria tour to Los Arcos, Las Animas, and Quimixto. The snorkeling at Las Arcos was terrible. A max of 30 minutes was allowed, the water was cloudy, and there were very few fish. The meal provided at Las Animas was disgusting. The waterfall at Quimixto was brown. The hike or horse ride to the waterfall was awful. Over 100 horses had traveled the path that day, so the stench of the horses was unbearable. The Santa Maria is a painfully slow boat. The staff providing the entertainment on board was oblivious to the presence of many children. Entertainment consisted of a staff member (within feet of young ones) bearing his bare, hairy butt to all, pole dancing, etc. The music was so loud that we couldn’t talk to each other without yelling. It was easily the worst tour we had ever been on.

Best Way To Get Around:

Buses are good from the Mayan at PV to get you to the main marina, from where the boat tours leave, to the grocery stores and downtown, but they have no air-conditioning.

Local buses also service the Mayan at Nuevo Vallarta, but they get overly full (and very hot) with workers at the end of the day.

Cabs are a bit more expensive, but a lot quicker and convenient. It costs bout US to go from the Mayan at PV to Wal-Mart (for when you are stocking up the kitchen).

We didn’t rent a car, but wished we had to get out of the tourist areas. But in PV, it could be quite dangerous if you don’t know how to do their left turn (i.e., drive in the far right lane to make a left turn!). We felt rather trapped in the resort because it was too hot to venture out without air-conditioning. A car would have been nice to escape to the northern beaches, which were much, much nicer than those in PV.

Best Things Nearby:
There was a bus stop, but nothing else really. The marina, which is across the street, is very expensive. A simple club sandwich with a handful of fries is about $7. The best deal for eating was the 2 for 1 on Monday nights at the pizza place across the street from the resort. The Mexican food at the marina is pretty good, but again, it's expensive, especially for a budgeting family (who are the type of people who stay at timeshares).

Best Things About the Resort:
The gym was nice. The pool was nice, though a bit small given the number of people who use it. There were plenty of pool chairs/lounges. Rooms were serviced daily. The grounds were very nice, as was the lobby.

Resort Experience:
The Mayan Palace at Puerto Vallarta is an older resort, but well maintained. The gardens are lovely, though limited in space. The pool is smaller than it should be given the number of people that use it (and we were there outside of peak season).

Unfortunately, the beach there is horrible. Because of the construction going on in the area (more high-rise timeshares and hotels), the sand has all but gone and been replaced by silt that gets washed down from the nearby river with broken bricks and construction materials. Go farther north and the beaches are quite nice. The beach at the Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta is much nicer than in the Mayan in PV, but you need to again go farther north to find what we might consider to be a beach worth staying at.

The resort offers plenty of day time activities centered around the pool, but nothing at night. We had expected to see at least some Mexican entertainment or dancing at the Mayan, but there was none. Only an expensive Mexican buffet was offered one night. We had our 10-year-old son in tow, and he had a great time in the pool, but we had hoped for him to experience some of the Mexican culture, but there was little (only extremely expensive and late tours).

The prices at the resort, and all of the surrounding restaurants and cafes, are very expensive. We couldn't even find a place to eat where the locals eat (to experience real Mexico), as they were all very expensive (a sandwich was around $7). We opted for Mexico over Europe, expecting a more economical vacation, but we would have spent no more in Europe. A 2-day-old USA Today newspaper sold for $4 at the Mayan, and there was nothing else there at all to read (or buy to read). In the end, we opted to purchase our groceries at Wal-Mart, which we hated to do, but the local stores were more expensive for what we needed.

This resort is a good choice if you have a car or lots of tours booked; otherwise, the resort gets to feel a bit small. Given the choice again, go for the Mayan at Nuevo Vallarta.

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

The Canopy Tour is great. There are a few now in Puerto Vallarta, so make sure you do the one that is run by Vallarta Adventures, because that canopy line was constructed by the most experienced in this type of activity, by the owner of the original canopy tour in Costa Rica. It's very safe and so much fun. You get an adrenalin rush. The instructors are very funny, too. Make sure you take the option to purchase the video of your tour (for around $45). Since you cannot take cameras on the tour, the video is the best way to capture the looks of faces within your group and the depth of the fields of the rain forest (which is in itself worth a drive to see - it is so beautiful there). We love our video. In fact, other than a few T-shirts, the video was the only thing we purchased in PV, and I am so glad we did.

The tour on the Santa Maria was terrible. Don't do it. The boat was very slow and the entertainment onboard was risqué/raunchy and totally unsuitable for the many children (and family-type adults) onboard. The music onboard was so loud that we couldn't talk to each other at all, and the there was nowhere on board to escape it. Our ears were still ringing when we got off the boat.

The food at the restaurant (lunch was included) was disgusting. The snorkeling was for only 30 minutes in an area that was cloudy and nearly void of fish. The waterfall was brown, and the hike up/horseback ride up stunk - literally - as about 100 horses had already traversed that track just before we had. The smell was vile. Look for another tour that does not include the itinerary of Los Arcos, Las Animas, and Quimixto, because these places aren't worth your time or money.