PV tropical beaches for 2nd half of day?

My wife and I will be in PV during part of our honeymoon cruise next week. We are really looking forward to the sea lion excursion, but it only lasts a couple hours in the morning so we are left with the rest of the day to fill. My wife would LOVE to lounge, snorkel, or kayak on a tropical beach for a bit but all the carnival and third party excursions I find online start in the morning. So I have 2 questions...1.) Does anyone know if there are easy-access, reputable, third-party vendors near the dock that will drop off/pick up people at the pretty tropical beaches like Las Caletas (or similar) in the afternoon? And 2.) Being that it is September with a good chance of rain, are the beaches and water even pretty right now? Would it be worth it? Thanks.

Las Caletas can only be done for a full day as it is on the other site of the bay. Besides it is owned by Vallarta Adventures, no others allowed to go/dock there. So that will not work.

Forget snorkeling, it is by far not as nice as in the caribean.

Not too far from the cruise terminal is Hotel Krystal, they allow cruise passengers on their beach and pool if you buy drinks and food. The beach is nice like many other beaches.

Much nicer is to get a cab to old town/playa los muertes. Many nice restaurants right on the beach with a mexican feeling.

Yes you still find some operators in the afternoon that offer tours/transportation but not as many as in the morning.

I wonder how much time you have in the afternoon, much depend what time your ship will sail.

In general if it rains in Septemebr most of the times it will be in the late afternoon or evening. Depending how much it rained before the water might not be very clear as rivers end in the bay bringing sand from the mountains.

Las Caletas can only be done for a full day as it is on the other site of the bay. Besides it is owned by Vallarta Adventures, no others allowed to go/dock there. So that will not work.

Forget snorkeling, it is by far not as nice as in the caribean.

Not too far from the cruise terminal is Hotel Krystal, they allow cruise passengers on their beach and pool if you buy drinks and food. The beach is nice like many other beaches.

Much nicer is to get a cab to old town/playa los muertes. Many nice restaurants right on the beach with a mexican feeling.

Yes you still find some operators in the afternoon that offer tours/transportation but not as many as in the morning.

I wonder how much time you have in the afternoon, much depend what time your ship will sail.

In general if it rains in Septemebr most of the times it will be in the late afternoon or evening. Depending how much it rained before the water might not be very clear as rivers end in the bay bringing sand from the mountains.

You are so knowledgeable on PV! You have answered several questions for me; and for that, I am so grateful! I think we are going to spend some our time in old town. How long should we allow? Can you recommend a few restaurants? Also, any specific place we should hunt out to visit while we are in old town?

Thanks again!

You are so knowledgeable on PV! You have answered several questions for me; and for that, I am so grateful! I think we are going to spend some our time in old town. How long should we allow? Can you recommend a few restaurants? Also, any specific place we should hunt out to visit while we are in old town?

Thanks again!

You can easily spend a whole day in old town. Coming from the cruise terminal either take a cab and get off at the beginning of Malecon (or a bit more down). Walk along the ocean, you will see various statues, shops and restaurants/bars there. Past the church and in front of the Vistasol condo's you will see Sea Monkey, great place for drinks ($ 1.- margaritas), not realy that great for food. Walking more down you will get to Playa los Muertos with various good restaurants. Blue Shrimp, La Palapa and Si senor beach a bit more expensived then the others. Still very affordable.

Next to the pier is Cuates y Cuetes, all of them right on the beach. All of them great food.

This website by JR is great with maps etc.http://vallartainfo.com/puerto_vallarta_maps.html

Cruise terminal is on Hotelzone, Malecon on downtown, Los Muertos on southside.

You will see a fleamarket next to Rio Cuale, but also street Olas Altas has some nice shops.

Enjoy!

Hm, I thought since the May DOS Travel Advisory that PV/Jalisco was being skipped by the cruise lines.

http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2015/05/14/mexico-travel-advisory-avoid-puerto-vallarta/27335029/

Eh, make sure you have pesos in case of mordida. :(

Hm, I thought since the May DOS Travel Advisory that PV/Jalisco was being skipped by the cruise lines.

 

http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2015/05/14/mexico-travel-advisory-avoid-puerto-vallarta/27335029/

 

Eh, make sure you have pesos in case of mordida. :(

This is this OLD news, ships are back in Puerto Vallarta for more then a year after a stop for just a few weeks! Yes there have been problems last year, but that jusgt that time and it was only during the morning of May 1 2014.! Very soon after that it was back to normal, ships docked and safe as before.

NO tourists were involved that day, most of them didnot even heard about it later on TV.

I am sure it has been less safe since then in plenty of other ports in the world.......

This is this OLD news, ships are back in Puerto Vallarta for more then a year after a stop for just a few weeks! Yes there have been problems last year, but that jusgt that time and it was only during the morning of May 1 2014.!

Date of article is May 14, 2015

http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2015/05/14/mexico-travel-advisory-avoid-puerto-vallarta/27335029/

Official

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/mexico-travel-warning.html

Jalisco: Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and Lake Chapala are major cities/travel destinations in Jalisco – Exercise caution throughout the state, particularly in rural areas and when using secondary highways. Violent clashes between criminal organizations and government authorities, and related disturbances including barricades of burning vehicles blocking major roads and highways, are ongoing concerns that typically occur without notice. Defer non-essential travel to areas of the state that border the states of Michoacán and Zacatecas. The security situation along the Michoacán and Zacatecas borders continues to be unstable. U.S. government personnel are authorized to use Federal toll road 15D for travel to Mexico City; however, they may not stop in the town of La Barca for any reason. U.S. government personnel are prohibited from personal travel to areas of Jalisco that border Zacatecas, and are prohibited from intercity travel at night.

I live 6 months of the year in Lakeside (Chapala), one wrong turn and you are on a secondary road and potentially in trouble. How many off-boat PV cruisers might do the same? All it takes is one.

Again those unrests were more then 1 year ago in Vallarta. Chapala is far more inland then Puerto Vallarta, and closer to the borders of the other states you mention. Mexico is such a large country, cruisers hardly ever leave Vallarta since they are here for just one day and if they travel to e.g. San Sebastian most of the times it will be on organised tours.

We live in Vallarta for 5 months every winter since many years, travel(ed) a lot through all of Mexico without any problems.

We are about to make a tour by car in the USA and wrong turns there are also possible.