{"id":3265,"date":"2017-03-21T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T19:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=3265"},"modified":"2017-04-28T13:25:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T17:25:44","slug":"travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Debi Lander<\/em>
\nmail@floridanewsline.com<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was expecting Puerto Vallarta to show a similar face. But, I was wrong: Vallarta, as the locals call it, brings tourists something different \u00a0\u2014 authentic Mexico with a friendly flair.<\/span><\/p>\n

My first surprise came after landing, something that got my notice. The airport handlers greeted each passenger with a sincere, \u201cWelcome to Puerto Vallarta.\u201d Later, I learned that the city promotes this attitude through a Sensitivity to Tourism campaign. Since the economy depends on tourists, one local explained, \u201cFriendliness is ingrained in our culture. We understand the value of being a welcoming place.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t help but marvel at the Sierra Madre Mountains rolling down to the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Their scenic beauty creates a dramatic landscape around the natural harbor, Banderas Bay: gorgeous palms and green hills juxtaposed against crystal clear water. <\/span><\/p>\n

Puerto Vallarta attracts many cruise ships and a mammoth new cruise terminal is now under construction. Opening in 2018, it will include working artist galleries, interactive experiences and small museums. <\/span><\/p>\n

You can easily spend a day cruising around the harbor on a water taxi, fishing boat, ferry or chartered vessel. Splurge for a luxury catamaran tour that stops at the iconic rock formation, Los Arcos, for diving and snorkeling. The boat will likely sail on to hidden coves and stop at a beachside caf\u00e9 for fresh-caught seafood. If you visit from December through April, you may catch sight of the humpback whales and June to November visitors may see a turtle release. <\/span><\/p>\n

A walk into the historic 100-year-old city brings cobblestone streets and stucco houses. They line the narrow streets and their windows are covered by bougainvillea. Don\u2019t miss the landmark cathedral, topped by a regal crown. If you\u2019re there on a Sunday, take a late afternoon stroll around the church and watch the multi-generational family exchanges between residents. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Malecon (boardwalk) showcases Puerto Vallarta\u2019s vibrant art scene. Shoppers find handcrafted folk art, jewelry, art galleries and boutiques and a fabulous selection of tequila, the national drink. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lodging choices range from posh five-star resorts to basic apartment rentals. Choose from high-rise hotels directly on the beach, villas scattered in the mountains or condos bordering golf courses. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many restaurants and bars serve affordable Mexican specialties like fresh ceviche and tacos. Stand at a roadside taqueria and fill your stomach with a frosty cold beer and crab enchiladas. You\u2019ll likely have enough money left for a shot of agave Mescal to wash it down. Late night dining and music continues on the Malecon, in nightclubs, casinos and on a pirate ship. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, why choose Puerto Vallarta for a vacation? Easy: Mexico is inexpensive compared to other Caribbean islands and airline flights are numerous. A slew of fun activities await like fishing, ziplining and water sports, in addition to the famous wide beaches. Best of all, you can mingle with Mexicans and expats who live and work downtown, shop in the Mom and Pop groceries, eat in non-chain restaurants and participate in local events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit <\/span><\/i>www.bylandersea.com<\/span><\/i><\/a> to read more of local travel writer Debi Lander\u2019s stories and travel tips.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Debi Lander<\/em><\/p>\n

Mountains meet the ocean in Puerto Vallarta.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Debi Lander mail@floridanewsline.com Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was expecting Puerto Vallarta to show a similar face. But, I was wrong: Vallarta, as the locals call it, brings tourists something different \u00a0\u2014 authentic Mexico with a friendly flair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,4],"tags":[9],"class_list":{"0":"post-3265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-creekline-st-johns","8":"category-mandarin","9":"category-ponte-vedra","10":"tag-travel"},"yoast_head":"\nTravel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLine, Ponte Vedra NewsLineBy Debi Lander mail@floridanewsline.com Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta - Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLine, Ponte Vedra NewsLineBy Debi Lander mail@floridanewsline.com Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida NewsLine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-21T19:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-28T17:25:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@floridanewsline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/\",\"name\":\"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta - Florida NewsLine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T19:00:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-28T17:25:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\"},\"description\":\"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLine, Ponte Vedra NewsLineBy Debi Lander mail@floridanewsline.com Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/\",\"name\":\"Florida NewsLine\",\"description\":\"The Newspapers Everybody Gets\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc\",\"name\":\"editor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta - Florida NewsLine","description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLine, Ponte Vedra NewsLineBy Debi Lander mail@floridanewsline.com Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta - Florida NewsLine","og_description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLine, Ponte Vedra NewsLineBy Debi Lander mail@floridanewsline.com Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was","og_url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/","og_site_name":"Florida NewsLine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFloridaNewsLine\/","article_published_time":"2017-03-21T19:00:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-04-28T17:25:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":960,"url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@floridanewsline","twitter_site":"@floridanewsline","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/","name":"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta - Florida NewsLine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg","datePublished":"2017-03-21T19:00:20+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-28T17:25:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc"},"description":"CreekLine, Mandarin NewsLine, Ponte Vedra NewsLineBy Debi Lander mail@floridanewsline.com Puerto Vallarta puts Mexico in a different headspace. I\u2019d visited the resorts of Cancun and Riviera Maya and was","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/FNL-Travel-Puerto-Vallarta-1704A.jpg","width":1440,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/travel-vacation-puerto-vallarta\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Travel: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/","name":"Florida NewsLine","description":"The Newspapers Everybody Gets","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/#\/schema\/person\/f112e5505697e0e24f438c3562ad0fcc","name":"editor","url":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3265"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3269,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3265\/revisions\/3269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}