Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is well known for its spectacular beaches, water activities and resorts. It’s one of the most famous vacation destinations for parents who want to relax at the beach with their kids or be pampered in luxurious resorts. But when we went there this past April. we discovered that Puerto Vallarta is more than just the beach. In fact, some of our most favorite activities were not related to the beach at all.
*Note: most of these activities require some kind of transportation. Our tours were organized through our worldschooling event and transportation was included, but for those traveling independently, I encourage you to rent a car. Taxis and Ubers are also affordable and easy to come by in Puerto Vallarta.
1. VALLARTA BOTANICAL GARDEN
The botanical garden in Puerto Vallarta is stunning, with lush vegetation, birds, butterflies, lizards, a koi pond and even a beautiful chapel. There is also a river in which our kids splashed and slid down the rocks into the natural swimming pools. We spent about 4 hours at the gardens and there were still trails that we didn’t explore. There is a restaurant on site and although we didn’t eat lunch there, I read great reviews about it. The restaurant also serves free, cold drinks to all the guests. We got some lemonade and hibiscus drinks and they were both refreshing and delicious.
The botanical garden is about 35-40 minutes car ride outside Puerto Vallarta. The drive there is very scenic and there are plenty of transportation options if you don’t have a rental car. Taxis or Ubers are about 350 pesos from downtown Puerto Vallarta. The botanical garden also offers the options to purchase entrance and private transportation for 680 pesos/person. You can choose a morning tour (9 am-1 pm) or an afternoon one (11:30 am-3:30 pm). More info here.
2. MAGICAL TOWNS
Magical towns (”pueblos magicos”) are towns recognized by the Mexican government for their extraordinary qualities, whether that be their natural beauty, historical importance or unusual legends.
There are several magical towns close to Puerto Vallarta. Sayulita is, perhaps, the most famous one. The cobblestone streets, colonial architecture and colorful flags have put Sayulita on the radar for a lot of travelers. However, I was underwhelmed by it. It was too busy and too touristy for our family. It felt like a shoppers’ paradise, with lots of boutique and souvenir stores, but not a great place to be with little ones. Also, there are two water treatment plants in Sayulita that occasionally dump sewage into the river that runs into the oceans, making swimming in the ocean not safe.
However, just up the road from Sayulita, about a 10 minute drive, there is the cute, little San Pancho. We actually really liked this quaint little town. It felt a lot more private, with just a handful of bars and restaurants and some boutique shops. The drinks we had were delicious and the food smelled divine! We didn’t eat in town, as we had already had lunch in Sayulita. Instead, we wondered on the streets for a bit and we spent time at the beach, where our kids ”fought” the waves for hours.
We visited both towns in one day, but for families with young kids who don’t appreciate shopping yet, I advise you to skip Sayulita and spend the whole day in San Pancho.
You can get to these magical towns by rental car, bus or taxi. A taxi ride is about 40 minutes long and it costs around 2000 pesos. More into about transportation options here.
3. SWIMMING WITH WILD DOLPHINS
Swimming with wild dolphins is not really, actually swimming with dolphins. You will not get close enough to pet them and take Instagram worthy pictures. Swimming with wild dolphins (or the ”dolphin dash”, as we called it) is more like following the dolphins around in a boat and quickly jumping in the water when you get close enough, in hopes that you could be by them for a few seconds.
Swimming with wild dolphins is understanding that you might spend hours in a boat looking for wild dolphins, but that you might never have the chance to actually be in the water with them. It’s an animal led activity (as it should be!) – if the dolphins are playful that day, they might hang around, if not they will swim away.
The company we went with, ”Wildlife connections” were very transparent from the very beginning and made sure to let us know that we might not be able to actually swim with the dolphins. The only thing they guaranteed was that we were going to find a pod in the ocean and observe them.
We were able to find a couple of pods and witness something intimate and heartbreaking – a momma dolphin that was pushing her dead newborn baby along. We were told by our guide that dolphins carry their dead babies around for a few days, while they grieve. It was sad to witness it and many tears were shed, but it was a good lesson about the cycle of life for the kids.
The dolphins were also shy that day – they would appear and disappear around the boat, but they didn’t hang around. Some people from our group were lucky to jump in at the right time and they got close to the dolphins and some even got to hear them sing in the water. I am not a very confident swimmer, so I couldn’t get close enough to them. Still, it was such an amazing activity and we loved that our company was respectful of animal boundaries and privacy. The kids also did amazing and nobody complained of being bored in the hours we were in the boat, ”chasing” the dolphins. It was a fantastic experience that I highly recommend!
4. RELEASING BABY TURTLES INTO THE OCEAN
Who doesn’t want to get to release baby turtles into the ocean at least once in their life? We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to do it with Campamento Tortuguero Boca de Tomates back in April.
We learned that artificial light from cars and cities have endangered turtles a whole lot. Baby turtles need the light from the moon to guide them into the ocean. The artificial light tricks them sometimes and instead of heading into the ocean, they head towards rods and cities, thus getting killed. Without volunteer help, about 1 in 100 turtles makes it to the ocean. With help, the number multiplies ten folds -1 in 10 turtles survives to get to the ocean. How amazing is that?
Each person in our group was given a coconut to hold our babies before releasing them. We were not allowed to touch them with our hands. Instead, we slightly tipped our coconuts towards the sand and let the little guys get out and race towards the ocean. We asked the volunteers why they didn’t just put them straight into the ocean. We were told that the babies have to memorize the beach, to remember where to return when it’s time for laying eggs. They always return to the spot where they hatched.
Unfortunately, this is not an activity that you can book way in advance, as it depends on when the babies hatch and are ready to be released. We were told on a Saturday afternoon that we could go and release the babies that same night. The best thing to do is to follow Campamento Tortuguero on Facebook and be in communication with them.
5. CHOCOLATE MUSEUM
We visited two chocolate museums during our 5 week trip through Mexico – one in Puerto Vallarta and one in Uxmal. The Choco Museum in Puerto Vallarta was definitely the more commercial of the two. It was more like a cooking class, where they teach you how to make chocolate, than a museum where you learn the history of chocolate. For us, the two places complimented each other: in Uxmal, we learned about the discovery of the cocoa beans and how it’s been processed in time by different cultures and in Puerto Vallarta, we got the chance to mix some ingredients and pour our chocolate into molds to shape it. It was a mini chocolate workshop, designed with little ones in mind. The Choco Museum also offers workshops for older kids or grown ups, where you can learn the whole process of turning beans into chocolate. More info here.
6. ADVENTURE PARK ”LAS ANIMAS”
The adventure park in Las Animas should be combined with a visit to the beach. We did a combo of snorkeling + beach + adventure park, but if there was an option of doing only the adventure park and beach, I would choose that. Snorkeling around Puerto Vallarta was not impressive at all!
The adventure park is not big, but it has a lot packed into the small space, from climbing walls to zip lines and hanging bridges. We did the whole course in about 1 1/2 hrs. All the kids loved it and our little one, Roby, kept saying how impressed he was with his body for all the amazing things it can do. Funny and heartwarming- I hope loving and appreciating his body and mind is an attitude that stays with him forever!
Puerto Vallarta is an amazing vacation destination and for families like us, who like to explore just as much as we like the beach, it provides some fantastic opportunities for adventure. Puerto Vallarta is certainly more than just the beach and I hope that everyone who goes there, takes the opportunity to discover all the hidden gems that this coastal town has to offer.
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