Puerto Vallarta

The Riu Jalisco is a 700-room hotel on the ocean. We found the grounds to be clean and well manicured. It is an all-inclusive hotel that always had plenty of food (although the menu does not vary much). In the evening, the Nyarit restaurant requires a reservation - it is not just a meal but part show as well. Make sure you go there at least once.

There are always activities occurring that one can join in on, ranging from Spanish lessons to beach volleyball to croquet. There was entertainment in the evenings - the dancing was quite good but seeing it one night was enough.

The pools and one of the restaurants have an excellent view of the ocean. It really is quite pleasant to eat while hearing the waves crashing onto the beach. Although this resort is right at the ocean, most rooms do not have an ocean view. We were lucky and had a room that faced the center courtyard which has the fountain. It really was quite pretty, and it was fun to watch the weddings on the bridge right from our balcony.

About an hour's walk north on the beach is the flea market - I suggest waiting to purchase until you reached the second row off the beach. The stores there are much cheaper than the first row. You must barter for everything of course. If you aren't able to get to this flea market or the one downtown you don't have to worry. Three nights a week around a dozen vendors, painters, etc set up tables in the center of the resort towards the end of the afternoon and stay for the evening. I preferred to deal with these vendors than the ones on the beach.

If you enjoy alcohol, there are several bars (all free, of course) and alcohol in each room. I recommend the mango daiquiri. Children are allowed at this resort, although there were not many when we were there. The hotel is located about a half-hour north of Puerto Vallarta, and to get there, you can take a bus, which is cheap but takes longer, or a taxi, which will cost about US$18.

Since our hotel had very little seafood, we were excited to find a restaurant dedicated to shrimp (although they have some other dishes). Although not cheap, the food was awesome and plentiful. I recommend the newspaper shrimp or the coconut shrimp - which comes with a great sauce. They also have a great wine list. Like many restaurants in Mexico, if you go when it's dark, you can look up and enjoy the stars. The bathrooms are also ocean themed so be sure to check them out. There was also a small band/singing group that entertained for us. Be sure to have the Spanish coffee, which is a show in itself as the waitress will light it on fire right beside your table.

Since I had never been to Hooters, I agreed to go. I was very disappointed in both the food and the service.

The food was below average American bar food. It was typical fare like wings and fries, but with US prices. I would have preferred to eat at our resort.

The service was lacking, despite the fact there were three waitresses and only four tables of people.

The only good thing about the restaurant is its location. Located right off the boardwalk that edges the ocean, it does have a decent view. If you are meeting someone, it is excellent to use as a landmark. Most of our taxi drivers spoke only about 20 words of English, but all the drivers knew where Hooters was. It is also located very close to excellent shopping, including the flea markets.

If you were expecting the waitresses to look a certain way because of the name of the restaurant, I would recommend going to a Hooters in America.

Thankfully, we took this $30 tour near the beginning of our stay. We registered with our tour guide at the hotel, and the tour bus picked us up at the front door the next day at 9am. We got to see a bit of scenery as we stopped to pick up other passengers along the way to downtown. The tour guides were very funny and had only a slight accent. We first stopped downtown at the seawall—which is a very pretty place to view the ocean. We took a short tour through town, including stopping at the famous Lady of Guadeloupe church. There was a 45 minute stop for shopping—they take you to a jewelry store with clean bathrooms, but you are free to leave. The famous marketplace was only a couple of blocks away. You can get a taste for what shopping is available, but you have to go back if you want to do any serious looking. One of the other stops was the Don Crispen tequila factory. Unfortunately it was a Sunday so it wasn't operational, but we did get a tour and the opportunity to buy some tequila. We had to pay extra for the meal and your choice was only one restaurant, and although the food that we had was good, someone else who I spoke to went at a different time and was not impressed. There was a cliff diver and some petroglyphs to look at also. We should have worn bug repellent, as we got bit since the restaurant was in a rural area (we didn't notice it at the time, but suffered for a couple days afterwards). Although our brochure said the tour was until 3:00pm, other people on our bus had the correct ending time of 5:00pm although it did depend where your hotel was located as the bus dropped you back off at your hotel whether it was in Puerto Vallarta or in Neuvo Vallarta. We found the tour to be well worth the money.

Wow! Going to the zoo was definitely an experience I won't forget. If you want nightlife this is the place to go. The music is VERY LOUD. If it had been a little quieter I would have given it more stars. Do not go here if you want to do any talking or visiting with your group. The men in our group got patted down when they came in, although the women did not.

This is the place to go if you want loud music, lots of dancing, and cheap drinks. All the women in the group got coupons for two free margaritas. One guy ordered a beer (all drinks appeared to be 2 for 1) and got two beer in his own bucket complete with ice!

There are also girls who come around with tequila shots. You can't miss them as they blow their whistles louder than a traffic cop. They roam around (way too often) and will give 3 shots of tequila for about 35 pesos. They are kind enough to tilt your head back and pour them in your mouth for you. Being a bit of a germ phobe a was pleased to see they appeared to use a disposable plastic shot glass and each different customer seemed to get a clean one. The also offered "moppets", which I assumed was when they put your head into their chest, but that did seem to be an optional part of the shooters.

I won't go back, I am just a little too old for that. But if you are young and love to party you will probably have a great time.