The weather was very kind to us when it came time to leave for Puerto Vallarta, giving us ideal sailing conditions once we left the San Lorenzo Channel out of Bahia de La Paz. We decided to head North of Isla Cerralvo and sail stright for our destination rather than stopping at Los Muertes or Frailes. Unfortunately, our radar decided to stop working on our way across so we decided to slow Trick down so that we would arrive in Banderas Bay during daylight. It's a huge bay, but a new one to us, so we felt better not taking the risk and sailed for the last night under a reefed main. In all of our cruising, we've never felt under pressure to go faster, but have often chosen to slow Trick down, either for comfort in sloppy seas, or for safety.
We arrived off Punta de Mita in the early hours of the morning and sailed along the Northern edge of Banderas Bay to the anchorage at La Cruz. There were perhaps 50 boats anchored in La Cruz which meant an active cruisers net on the radio every morning with lots of advice about where to go and what to do in the area. We stayed in La Cruz a few days and explored a little by bus. We met several friends in the area, most of whom were staying in the Nueva Vallarta marinas.
Eventually we moved Trick down to Nuevo Vallarta and tied up between two dock pilings which were all that was left of one of the docks in Marina Nuevo Vallarta. That's Trick, with the yellow kayak along the rail. There were stores just a dinghy ride away in paradise Village and we could even get somewhat intermittent internet service on board Trick from the Nueva Vallarta Yacht Club. There were deserted beaches to explore with frigate birds roosting in the trees and herons fishing in the shallow riverbanks. The local wildlife even came to visit us, so we didn't always need to go hiking.
The hotels and timeshare developments in Paradise Village provided alternative recreation with water slides, hot tubs and pleasant gardens to wander round. Those are papayas and coconuts just growing on the trees there.
Puerto Vallarta was certainly a different world to the sparsely poulated Baja peninsula. American style grocery stores (there was even a Wal-Mart) carried pretty much everything we could desire - and at great prices too. That fresh squeezed orange juice is about $1.50 per liter and the apples in the display are $1.40 per kilo, which is a little over 2 pounds. The Puerto Vallarta Marina area has just been expanded to accommodate 3 cruise ships at a time and here are two across from our bus stop to Nueva Vallarta which is a few miles North (thank goodness).
The Nueva Vallarta and Paradise Village marinas are in a lagoon which belongs to an extensive system of waterways extending into the surrounding countryside. We explored one of the rivers in our dinghy. Much of it was overhung with trees hiding lots of wildlife, including small crocodiles which seemed very wary of us because we saw only glimpses of them as they dived out of sight as soon as they were aware of our presence. The odd mound on the tree was probably termite nest, although the alternative was a wasp's nest, so we didn't venture close enough to be sure. We encountered several lagoons with lots of wading birds such as herons, egrets and ibis. What appears to be a mass of boulders on the water's edge in the second picture from the right is a huge flock of black bellied tree ducks (no kidding!) which have salmon colored feet and beaks. We couldn't get close to them without disturbing them.
Downtown Puerto Vallarta was fascinating. Quite touristy but not unpleasantly so and mostly confined to a few isolated parts of the city. There are lots of pleasant outdoor cafes and a long Malecon along the seashore. Several artists build elaborate sand sculptures to entertain the tourists and hopefully garner donations for their efforts. There isn't much flat land to accommodate Puerto Vallarta, so much of the city is built on the hillsides which press in quite close to the beach. These can be quite steep in places, making for very steep streets which are still paved with cobblestones.
More views of the city. The one on the left isn't the first time we've encountered an artistic flair to the electrical wiring in Mexico. The picture on the right is of a spectactularly pretty walk street that we found while wandering around the back streets of Puerto Vallarta. The picture to the left of it is a bridge ofer the street which was build by the movie star, Richard Burton. It crosses the street from a house that he used to own to one that Elizabeth Taylor used to own. Many movie people have chosen to live in Puerto Vallarta at some time in their lives and it doesn't really surprise us because it is a very quaint and attractive city