Day 6-Puerta Vallarta Tour

Morning started early with a bus tour of Puerta Vallarta. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had heard good and bad things about the city from friends and family members so I went into it with an open mind. Daegon and I joined the rest of the group and Rob kept the other kids so we could enjoy the tour. Our fun and knowledgeable guide Raphael started by asking us to call him Rafa (Rah-fey) and gave us a little sticker with his name on it so we could stay together. Our bus driver Andres (aka La Cora) was amazingly skilled at driving through the tiny one-way streets. I learned so much about Mexico and Puerta Vallarta from this tour! I’m so happy I was able to go!

Our first stop was The Malecon. We had a couple of photo opportunities along the ocean. There was a statue of a sea horse, which is the symbol of Puerta Vallarta. 

Sea horse statue 

Dolphin statue 

There was also a statue of two entwined dolphins to symbolize Puerta Vallarta’s sister city Santa Barbara.
After checking out the ocean, we walked across the street to a little park area where music was playing and we had a view of an old church. As our guide was talking to us, a flock of birds suddenly took of and circled above us. At least fifty birds! I immediately recognized how cool that was and how lucky we were to be standing there at that moment...but then I realized we were probably large poop targets.  😂 Fortunately we escaped unscathed!
We walked up the hill a block and had the opportunity to look inside the church. The old architecture and colors were breathtaking! I bought a hand-beaded hummingbird from a lady on the steps and it is my favorite color...teal!

Rafe (our guide) AKA "Bruno Mars"  😂

Cool painted letters

Can't pass up this photo op...along
with a million other people! 

Small outdoor stage 

The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe with
beautiful cut-out banners

Inside the church

We boarded the bus a few blocks down the road and drove to a spot with souvenirs, the beach, and a place called Mosaic Park. The park is still in progress and there were some ladies working on the benches. The parts already done were stunning! So beautiful! And crafted by hand one piece at a time! I had the opportunity to experience the bathrooms I have heard so much about. Let’s just say I have a very LONG grateful list today! We only had 20 minutes so we grabbed some water at OXXO and headed back to the bus. OXXO is the Mexican equivalent of our Maverik stores or 7-11. But there weren’t very many products I recognized in there. We were able to try some new things. Our guide said Puerta Vallarta has over 300 OXXO’s and you can find one every two or three blocks.

Columns at Mosaic Park

Mosaic wall

Beach at the end of the park 

My favorite bench in the world

Couldn't resist taking a pic-I want to make this! 

Ladies creating Mosaic walls and benches

The "nice" bathroom is downstairs-said Mom!

You can pay to use toilet paper! 

Next, we toured the streets near some mansions. Our tour guide told us it was the Beverly Hills of Puerta Vallarta. And that he lives there. “Mi casa es tu casa” he said. He was pretty funny! We stopped at a restaurant in that area called El Set for a photo op off a terrace. The view was beautiful and I understand why it is a stop on the tour.

Made him pose for this pic!

The views!! 

While we were touring, Rafe talked about schools in Mexico and the differences between public school and private school. He pointed some out to us. One school has shards of glass all along the top of the fences. The glass made me wonder if the glass was there to keep the kids in or intruders out.  😕 

We stopped at a place called Children’s Island. It is like a park with a river. And he said there were iguanas but we didn’t see any. There were lots of little shops. Ashton used his awesome bartering skills to buy me a cute frog I fell in love with for my back wall. ️ I probably said “no thank you” twenty times. So many people selling things!
As we traveled to our final destination of the tequila distillery, I saw some interesting things. Many of the buildings had big metal tanks on the top of them. Mom told me there were to gather water from the rain or they could be filled up by trucks to provide water to that home or facility. Another thing to add to my grateful list!


We passed a cactus plantation! The whole idea of intentionally planting a cactus is so bizarre to me since they naturally grow all over the place back home. I guess it was pretty in a different way.


The iron work! Wow! Fancy bars and intricate railings were everywhere in the area of La Playa Grande where we stopped at the tequila distillery. What is that saying about putting a tuxedo on a pig? It’s still a pig. Pretty iron bars don’t disguise the fact that that the walls are covered in graffiti. We saw some very run down areas but the decorative ironwork and architecture can be seen everywhere. Amazing! It’s surprising to see bars on windows and doors that have swirls and patterns.


We ended our tour at the tequila distillery. A guy named Daniel was the host of the sampling presentation. He was funny and energetic. I’ve never had tequila so I had a little taste of coconut tequila, lime tequila, almond tequila, and tequila that had been aging in a barrel for three years. Let’s just say it is also the LAST time I will be having tequila! 😂The distillery had a little area for eating from a limited menu. We had quesadillas and Diet Coke. Very good and just enough food. And the service was very fast!

Tequila lesson!

Eating area

Authentic Mexican Food

The ride back to the boat seemed fast. Although it felt like a very long day, I enjoyed it and learned a lot about Puerta Vallarta.


I was able to take a short nap while Rob took care of the boys. I took Ryker for a cheeseburger and fries. We watched Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again while we were eating. Trenton and Rob joined us. We spent the rest of the evening walking the ship so Ryker would be tired for bedtime. We walked the entire length of the ship three times and Rykie was still going strong. Teri took a turn walking him and he crashed hard when they got back. I love that backpack leash SO much!! It makes life easy!

The backpack leash!

Until next time...