A Week in Paradise: Our Trip to Puerto Vallarta

Let me introduce you to the sun-soaked paradise of Puerto Vallarta! Nestled along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, this charming destination is not just a place on the map; it’s a canvas painted with adventure, relaxation, and cultural richness.

Join me as I recount seven unforgettable days spent exploring the cobblestone streets of Zona Romantica, basking under the golden sun in Yelapa, and discovering the hidden gems of Puerto Vallarta.

Before the Trip: Booking Process

My fiancé Kevin and I visited Puerto Vallarta at the end of November 2023. We booked through selloffvacations.com and found a great deal with WestJet Vacations that included an All-Inclusive hotel for 7 days and direct flights. It was our first time booking through them but it was a smooth experience. This was my first-ever trip to Mexico!

Where We Stayed:

We stayed at an all-inclusive hotel, Canto del Sol, located a short distance away from downtown Puerto Vallarta.

Saturday - Travel Day!

Kevin and I left Winnipeg, Manitoba on Saturday morning. We checked in with West Jet the day before so getting to the Winnipeg airport and checking baggage was a smooth and quick process. We hopped on our flight and enjoyed the 4-and-a-half-hour direct flight to Puerto Vallarta!

Once we arrived we went through customs and headed out the airport towards our transportation provided by West Jet through Nexus Tours. A big bus came to pick us up along with many other people from our flight and dropped everyone off at their respective hotels. Once we got to our hotel, Canto Del Sol we were offered a welcome drink and had a smooth check-in. We stayed in the mountain villa section of the hotel and the bellhop helped us bring our bags up to our room and gave us a tour of the hotel and our section of the hotel.

We were pretty tired from traveling so we got food at the buffet, explored the resort, sat on the beach, and then went to bed.

Sunday - Exploring the Malecon & Zona Romantica

On Sunday we woke up early, got breakfast at the buffet, watched the waves on the beach for a bit, and then visited the Malecon.

The Malecon is an iconic boardwalk offering a wide variety of bars, restaurants, shops, amazing views of the ocean, sculptures, and street performers. We took an Uber to the start of the Malecon and started walking, enjoying the weather and ocean views.

At the time of our visit, they had the world’s tallest Catrina still set up from their Day of the Dead festival. We were super excited that it was still up. It’s 75 feet tall and was an amazing site to see. They also had lots of other displays set up for the Day of the Dead and we had a great time seeing all of them!

It was pretty hot this day so we stopped to get water at a shop and then took an Uber back to the resort for lunch.

Then in the evening, we went to Sky Bar located inside Pinnacle Resorts 220 for drinks and dinner during sunset. Sky Bar offers amazing views and is right in Zona Romantica!

Afterwards, we walked through Zona Romantica back to the Malecon and a night market was going on with performances at Los Arcos, lots of vendors.

We visited the Los Muertos Pier and went to Isla Cuale and saw the cats that live there! We tried some food at the night market and then went back to our hotel.

They had a fire show going on at our hotel so we watched that and then went to bed.

Monday - Sea Turtle Release

On Monday we weren’t feeling the best so we stayed at the resort most of the day until the evening.

In the evening we had an exciting opportunity to release baby sea turtles with Campamento Tortuguero Boca de Tomates.

This was such a huge highlight of the trip and was something I was hoping we’d be able to do so I’m so glad we got the opportunity.

It was a great experience and I plan on making a post all about our sea turtle-releasing adventure soon!

Tuesday - Mirador de La Cruz & Rythms of the Night

Tuesday we got an early start to the day and went to Mirador de La Cruz. We went early in the morning to avoid the heat and hiked up the 250 stairs to the top for some amazing views. The hike thankfully wasn’t nearly as hard as we expected it to be.

The cafe at the top was open so we enjoyed frappes and talked with our fellow travelers. The cafe sells coffee, baked goods, bottled drinks, and beers!

After we walked back to the Malecon, went to the McDonalds to see how different it was from US and Canadian McDonalds, and watched the waves while we walked along the beach from the Malecon back to our hotel.

In the evening we went to Rhythm of The Night! We started with a sunset boat ride to a candlelit jungle, with a candlelit dinner right on the ocean, and then enjoyed an amazing Cirque du Soliei-style show right in the jungle! I’ll be making a full post on a Rhythms of the Night experience in the future, but if you’re visiting Puerto Vallarta I highly recommend going to Rhythms of the Night!

Wednesday - Sunset Dinner at Noroc

On Wednesday we explored more of the Malecon and Romantic Zone. We spent a lot of time at Cuale River Island, a great place for shopping, and the Los Muertos pier.

At sunset, we enjoyed dinner at Noroc, a beautiful restaurant where the booths are surrounded by pools of water!

This restaurant was super unique and had great food and beautiful views. We were some of the only people in the restaurant and they even had a live harpist playing! Upon arrival, we were offered some delicious welcome drinks!

If you visit Noroc, definitely book for sunset, the views were amazing!

Thursday - Day Trip to Yelapa

On Thursday we woke up super early and took an Uber down to Boca de Tomatlan. From there we took a water taxi to Yelapa and hiked up to the waterfall.

After we spent the rest of the day on the beach and visited Cafe Eclipse for lunch, then caught the water taxi back to Boca and took the bus back to the Malcon.

I’m going to make a full post on Yelapa in the future including a full guide on how to get there from Puerto Vallarta!