Driving and Finding Your Way around Puerto Vallarta

It was about 8 PM when I arrived at the northern part of Puerto Vallarta, so I drove to the south edge of Puerto Vallarta and back until I found a Motel that happened to be full and was directed to one back up the highway to Busarias. On the way a cow crossed the boulevard and I barely missed it. Shaken by this I saw some flashing lights ahead and saw a black cow that had been hit by a SUV and the police were there.

Quick Tutorial on Driving in Mexico

• Do not drive at night.
• When a cuota(toll road) is available, use it.(Toll charges throughout Mexico)
• Refrain if at all possible from using libre(free road).
• Each state will have an agricultural inspection checkpoint and a military inspection checkpoint.
• When approaching an agricultural inspection stay in the left lane. Right lane is for trucks. No frutus seems to work.
• At military inspections don't try to enter a dialogue with the soldier. Point to the Turista sticker and say turista.
• At all inspections they will look into your trunk
• Pay attention when entering towns or villages they will have speed bumps which will damage your vehicle if speed is not reduced.
• When in congestion, take it slow and deliberate. Work your way over very slowly. The Mexican's are very proud of their vehicles and don't want the fenders damaged by a tourist.
• Many rural villages have only one policeman and he will probably be standing along side the road when you speed through.
• Some toll booths will exchange money but be prepared to pay in Pesos if it's not available.
• Your credit card may or may not be accepted for gasoline.
• Most major motels are in the 400 to 600 Pesos a night.
• Generally anything purchased to eat or drink at the Pemex or cuota rest stops will not hurt you.
  

Some of you have been to the resort cities of Mexico, flying in and out, but my friends you haven't seen anything except the ceiling of your hotel room or sipping the Pina Coladas under some shade at the beach. When you can drive yourself and experience the unknown and meet the most marvelous people do you really appreciate your status as a member of the world.

When you have transportation, you are the captain of your own ship, You can be truly free.

If money is no object you can stay at the finest resorts and still have the freedom to explore on your own. Personally, I am on a frugal pension so I have to pick and chose wisely. I did the fly in thing here at Puerto Vallarta in 1985, staying at the Krystal Vallarta doing the fishing, downtown, Fiesta tours. It wasn't until last year that I decided to do a driving tour to Puerto Vallarta myself.

In deciding on a place to stay, it had to be reasonably priced, all-inclusive with safe parking. During the off-season I found the Meza del Mar which is located on the Los Muertos beach to be a diamond in the rough. The standard suite rooms had telephone service at no additional charge. I travel with a computer so connecting to a local ISP, Pvnet was a snap. The bottle of rum, whiskey and vodka and unlimited softdrinks and beer in the fridge wasn't anything to sneeze at either. The average cost for one occupant during the off season is about $75 US per night. The food was great as well as the on premises bars. I stayed at the Meza del Mar for 10 days for the price of 5. The 800 telephone number is American so they are easy to talk to and work with and their desk clerks and public employees at the hotel are multi-lingual and helpful.

If you just want a bed to sleep, eat and drink at the bar, during the low season, the Meza del Mar also has all-inclusive budget rooms for $32 US for one person or $36 US for two in the same room.

Puerto Vallarta City Maps Here by Vallarta Online

Driving from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta you come out of the state of Jalisco and enter Nayarit before crossing the river back into Jalisco. The reason I mention this is because suburban towns like Bucerias and Nuevo Vallarta are actually in the state north of Puerto Vallarta. When you enter a state you generally have an agricultural inspection but entering Jalisco from Guadalajara after you have passed through Nayarit you don't. When you go back north from Puerto Vallarta you go past the checkpoint but cars are not required to stop.

Frequent visitors to Puerto Vallarta prefer to stay in the suburbs because condo rental is cheaper.

After my stay at Meza del Mar I found a motel in the rural area just south of the Nayarit line that was clean and reasonable with air conditioning for only 250 Pesos a night. The Paridiso del Sol was the name of the motel. It was close to the Alamo Hotel which is a bordello, brothel or house of fun where I spent many a day and evening doing research about them.

Don't confuse it with this motel on the left that I stopped at looking for a place to sleep waiting on my Meza del Mar reservations the next day.The Marina del Sol is a place where the girls and the guys don't sleep. The rental is by the hour indicated on the front of the building. The first street North of the Marina del Sol Motel where you can turn right is the bumpy road for a block where you can turn left to the Alamo Hotel.

Making a left turn on a boulevard or divided highway is insane unless indicated. When you see signs giving the name of the town you just past, and add the word returno, that means either a U turn is permitted at the intersection or there is an off ramp close. Controlled intersections will have a light for the turn lane. In Puerto Vallarta, the main thoroughfare into town north of the airport has one way access roads on either side of the boulevard and if you want to cross the boulevard at intersections that don't have turn bays, pull off on the access road and continue in that lane until you reach the stop light. Don't get confused because there will be identical lights side by side. The one on the right governs the access road and don't turn until you see your arrow. Which intersections don't have turn bays in the left lane of the boulevard just has to be learned by trial and error. Each controlled intersection has a traffic policeman and him and his whistle is the boss.

Since we have the basics down I will give you a guided tour.

Avenue Las Palmas is the name of the boulevard between the airport and just past the Sheraton Buganvilas Hotel. This is several miles so pay attention.

On the right after you pass the airport, you will see the Plaza Marina Mall that includes banks, ATMs, shops and McDonald's. Puerto Vallarta has three McDonald's, several Burger Kings, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut and so on. Across the boulevard is a Pemex station. If you haven't been to Puerto Vallarta in a while you will be amazed that there is more than Mexican food served now days. Further on you will see the Plaza Marina with the huge Dolphin sculpture. You turn right there to get to the Marina hotels. You can't miss it because there is a huge dolphin sculpture in the plaza.

Continuing on south on the boulevard, you then will pass the stern of one of the cruise ships that call on Puerto Vallarta almost daily. There is a huge mall there and if you turn right you can park and take in the touristy shops that many cruise passengers call Puerto Vallarta.

Just south of the Mall is a new disco on the same property as the famous Krystal Vallarta. Across the road is a 'Gentleman's Club'. Two hundred dollars US will buy your wildest fantasy.

Further south on the boulevard you will see more and more shops, stores and malls on both sides. On my Hurrican Kenna page I relate and show pictures how that was affected by the hurricane. It is like new now. The Plaza Genovese on your right is a huge mall full of shops and businesses with bargains galore. Even though it was hit hard by the hurricane in 2002 they are back up to full speed. On your left are American fast food places.

Keep an eye on the right for the Sheraton Buganvilas Hotel because it is an important part of navigating around town. Across the boulevard from the Sheraton Buganvilas is the location of Pvnet and their cyber cafe. If you subscribe for a temporary period and you find you need faster speed, you can come to their cyber cafe and connect to their network at no extra cost.

The Sheraton Buganvilas is important because you are entering the part of Puerto Vallarta where you have to make a decision whether to go straight to or thru Downtown (El Centro) or evade it with the loop to reach the Los Muertos Pier area of town..

Downtown (El Centro) is congested most of the time, bumper to bumper, fender to fender from 8am to 8pm. If you want to go that way stay in the right lane of the boulevard south of the Sheraton Buganvilas. The street becomes Avenue Mexico. The Downtown (El Centro) is known for its rustic shopping and exotic restaurants. Of course McDonald's and Carlos O'Brien's customers rub elbows because they are close. The older hotels in Downtown (El Centro) can be reasonable in price for the location and price conscious. You will know when you reach the south edge of Downtown (El Centro) because the Avenue Mexico makes a left turn and jogs over the Cuale River. North to South going through Downtown (El Centro), you pass the Malecon or the seawall in front of city hall. The traffic turns left at the light before the Malecon and the Pemex station there is the only one you will find downtown. Southbound traffic turns right on Avenue Morelos at the other end of the Pemex station. If you want to spend the day in Downtown (El Centro) start before 7 am and parallel parking will be easier to find. Generally early, curbside parking is available on the one way side streets. If you arrive 9ish in the morning, probably the pickings for parking will be slim but turn up the side of the hills and try the back streets. It is a very easy walk downhill.

The street on the south end of city hall leads up to Puerto Vallarta's famous picturesque Guadalupe cathedral.

Bypassing Downtown (El Centro) Going South