This is our last free day before the nature festival so we plan to first buy some provisions and then visit downtown Puerto Vallarta and explore the touristy town. But before all that we have to eat breakfast on our terrace with views of resting herons and courageous grackles.
Our breakfast consists of the free bread we received the previous day at the restaurant, yes it really is that frugal as we didn’t yet buy any provisions. Still while eating we observe our first ever blue-footed booby, so we are quite happy when we finish our breakfast and are ready for our first goal of the day, finding some provisions for the next days.
We are eyeing a nearby Oxxo, a small neighborhood grocery store, and we hope we are able to reach it by walking on the side of the road. But first we have to climb out from our hotel and as we do that we try to undestand how best we can exit with the car later in the day.
There is no sidewalk but you can walk on the side relatively safely at least to the Exxo. There are some interesting architectural details on the condos on the way, it looks like quite a mix of different styles.
After buying as many provisions as we can carry it is time to return to the hotel on a slightly different way using a side road that goes to the beach. It is more quiet here with fewer cars and a few more interesting condos with huge walls on the way.
It is interesting to see our hotel from this side as we pass the beach and watch for pelicans on the rocks. Today the beach is more underwater as it is high tide which is just fine as we didn’t plan for a beach day.
Now it is time to go downtown, we have planned for a specific parking lot right on the Malecon (Promenade) and luckily there is a spot at a higher level which even has a nice view. From the parking lot we exit directly on the Malecon and we have to decide on a direction, and towards the downtown it is.
To our surprise there is no beach to speak of on this stretch of the Malecon but at least there are quite a few gulls, pelicans and frigatebirds flying above us. What there are a lot about here are souvenir shops and tourists, lots of tourists.
We enter quite a few stores and buy some souvenirs but in general are quite annoyed as there are no prices in many stores which makes it quite difficult to understand if something is worth to even look at. What we enjoy more are the many sculptures along the way, some of them are quite beautiful and well done.
Near the central square there is a Puerto Vallarta sign that is very popular for photos. We stay for a while to try to take a photo with no one there and we barely make it. But it makes sense I guess as it is quite an instagrammable location.
We continue on a little more after the central square to explore a few more shops and sculptures but then it is time to turn our exploration inland.
Going inland means going up in this area but first the incline is quite mild. There are fewer tourists here and it is quieter but the houses are as colorful as ever and we enjoy the beautiful street art all around us.
But soon the climb becomes more serious with lots of stairs through an admitedly quite scenic neighborhood. We are happy when we reach our destination, a lighthouse, that is also a geocache location that we find easily.
There are some great views from the lighthouse of the downtown area and after enjoying the views for some time it is time to start descending towards the downtown area once again while looking for a restaurant for lunch.
We find an interesting restaurant soon enough, as we still descend the stairs, and are even allowed to choose our seating area in a secluded place on the patio.
We order some drinks and enjoy watching the busy nearby street until our food arrives. It is served on fire, at least one of the dishes, while the second one is a delicious mole and both are quite good, probably the best we had in Puerto Vallarta.
The central area of the town is close by and we walk towards it passing near the major downtown church and we decide to enter it as it seems free to do. First we have to find the right entrance though as there are a few open and some are marked exit only for some reason.
Even though it looks to be old it is actually quite a new church by Mexico standards, build between 1930 and 1940. The interior is interesting enough and there are quite few people inside vs outside so it is enjoyable to cool down a bit and explore the church before exiting through the marked exit.
Next stop is the Mexican Navy Museum. Why? A good question and the answer is that it is the only museum in Puerto Vallarta and we usually try to visit at least one museum in an area that we visit to get an idea of the local culture. Usually it would be the history museum or similar but in this case it is the Mexican Navy Museum. We are the only people that have this urge though, we are the only visitors in the two floor museum.
The bottom floor is dedicated to the period up to around 1900 with a large focus on the pre-Spanish period and the conquest. Here we learn (or remember) that during the conquista there was a huge naval battle for Tenochtitlan where actually the Spanish were soundly beaten. Also there are trade items on display that in a way seem to be taken straight from a history museum, so this visit doubles also as a history museum visit…
There is a fun moving diorama about a water monster attacking a ship and how the people finally got rid of the monster. Not something you expect in an official Navy museum but fun.
The top floor is dedicated to more recent times. It talks about the different civil wars and US invasions with a room being dedicated to the US invasion and conquest of Veracruz and the heroic defense of the cadets stationed there. In another room you can take charge of a cargo ship and try to guide it into port. We succeed but then that is boring so before we leave we make sure we crash it, oops.
From the central Plaza de Armas where the museum is located we now make our way towards the Isla Cuale, a small island located between the downtown and Zona Romantica quarters. As we return via the Malecon we do our best to notice all the small or big decorations on the streets, everything is so colorful and exciting!
On the Cuale island we wanted to check the History Museum first. We are not sure if it is open or not as different sources specify different things. And it is closed which is what we expected and was the reason we visited the Navy Museum. There is no information regarding why it was closed or when (if ever) it will open again.
From the island we know pass to the other side, the Zona Romantica. This area is more touristy and gay/lesbian friendly and we plan to use it to find a currency exchange house as we want to get some pesos for the next days. Surprisingly we weren’t able to find one in the downtown area and the hotel couldn’t exchange enough money so Zona Romantica is our only hope.
The area is quite artsy and we enjoy the different art (or just fun) exhibits on the streets.
We enter a bank that has a good exchange rate showing but the bank teller disappoints us, the system is offline and he cannot help us. He directs us to a different bank and when we find it we are really happy that everything works here and we are able to exchange the money.
Returning we stop and explore the street stalls and stores in the area. We even buy a few souvenirs, we really like the colorful objects that are found in this area.
Slowly returning towards the parking garage we spy also a bakery. We have to stop here, Mexican baked good are very cheap and quite good and they will be a great addition to our breakfasts.
We are returning on a different way so we can take in more of Zona Romantica and Cuale Island and as we get further away from the tourist areas the mix of people changes and we start to feel more that we are in Mexico and not somewhere in the US. The street art however is ubiquitous here also and quite fun to explore and look at.
We cross onto Cuale Island on a rickety looking suspended bridge and then walk the length of the island through souvenirs shops back to the Malecon. There are not a lot of tourists on Cuale and we are not sure why, is it the time (too early/too late?) or simply this part of the island is not visited often.
At the parking garage, in fact where the parking garage touches the Malecon is a coffee/ice cream shop that we eyed from the beginning. Now before returning to the car we celebrate our full day out with a well deserved ice cream and coffee. Both are very good and welcome after a hot day in the sun.
There is no issue exiting the parking garage and returning back to the hotel where we are now pros in parking our car. We spend the sunset in the whirlpool watching the ocean and the birds pass by…it is paradise and quite relaxing which is good as tomorrow is a long and hectic day.
