One week in surprising Puerto Vallarta

Highlight Photos

Highlights Map

Puerto Vallarta is just a short direct flight away so it is a bit surprising that we never made it here. It has mostly to do with the fact that we always thought it to be more of a beach resort town and nothing else. So when we find out there is a nature festival here that offers quite a selection of tours we decide to take the plunge and attend it for a few days and expand the visit a bit more to also see the city and surrounding area.

The trip is quite hectic but overall we really enjoy it. The festival allows us to see many beautiful and new birds and butterflies and even a few whales. The town itself while touristy is quite pretty and the couple days we spent at a farm in the mountains are quite special. In fact we enjoyed the trip so much that we are already planning another trip in the larger area to visit a few more of the mountain towns and more secluded beach towns.

Click on the Links below or Markers on the map above to go directly to a specific part of our trip and follow our one week visit to Puerto Vallarta and surrounding area.

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  First steps in Puerto VallartaFebruary 22, 2023
  Arriving in the afternoon in Puerto Vallarta we spend the day near the hotel exploring the beach and eating at a beachside restaurant enjoying the sunset
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  Exploring Puerto Vallarta properFebruary 23, 2023
  Full day spent exploring Puerto Vallarta’s Malecon and downtown area
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  …and then the Botanical Garden…February 24, 2023
  Our second stop at the Botanical Garden is longer than we expected but it is worth it due to the many special birds visiting the feeder
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  ….ending with a sunset cruise to YelapaFebruary 24, 2023
  We finish the day by visiting Los Arcos and Yelapa, enjoying a beautiful sunset and watching whales, macaws and other birds
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  Laguna El QueleleFebruary 25, 2023
  On the second day of the festival our tour is taking us to the Laguna El Quelele to see birds and crocodiles
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  Short stop at the butterfly sanctuaryFebruary 25, 2023
  Last part of the tour is at the Butterfly Sanctuary which is unexpectedly interesting with lots of local butterflies
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  Evening in Puerto VallartaFebruary 25, 2023
  A relaxing evening becomes quite tiring as we have to change our car on the other end of Puerto Vallarta after attending the festival lectures
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  Last festival trip to Rancho PrimaveraFebruary 26, 2023
  The highlight of all festival trips this year has to be the trip to Rancho Primavera with many rarities and endemic species
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  Walk along the beaches of VallartaFebruary 26, 2023
  In the afternoon we take our first swim at the hotel beach followed by a long walk to Playa Los Muertes and back
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  First day on our own at Rancho PrimaveraFebruary 27, 2023
  Today we relocate from the glitzy beachside of Puerto Vallarta to the bird rich mountains and Rancho Primavera to spend a couple of nights there
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  Looking for Citreoline Trogons at Rancho PrimaveraFebruary 28, 2023
  Our only full day at Rancho Primavera is spent searching for rare birds on the Ridge trail in the morning and close to our cabin in the evening
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  El Tuito Lunch VisitFebruary 28, 2023
  For lunch we drive to El Tuito and spend some time exploring the historic downtown of this scenic town
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  Returning home after one last morning at the ranchMarch 1, 2023
  Today it is time to leave beautiful Rancho Primavera relatively early and return to Puerto Vallarta and then to Phoenix