As my kids have gotten older, I'm feeling more confident taking the whole family overseas at one time. This time we opted for a bit more 'traditional' vacation with a relaxing stay in Puerto Vallarta to recharge in the midst of an exhausting winter back home. We made the most of our week with lots of activities- ziplining, whale watching, swimming with dolphins, golf, etc. However I also tried to consciously take things a bit slower than I usually do on vacation with time built in for leisurely dinners and relaxing on the beach. As it turns out, this time was some of the best of the trip. I could get used to this slower pace...well, at least for a bit!
Extreme Zipline in the jungle outside Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)
Today, we traveled into the jungle clad mountains outside Puerto Vallarta for a day of adventure activities. We started with a series of ziplines high in the canopy. I've always been an adventure enthusiast, but it was surprising to me how much more stressful it is to bring my kids on activities that I wouldn't think twice about doing myself. All day long I was checking every line and connection, thinking through all of the eventualities. Fortunately, the safety procedures were top notch. I think this was the only zipline I've ever done where everything was connected twice. We were even attached to two separate zipline cables for each route. Harnesses were in excellent condition and multiple safety lines were attached for each activity.
Extreme Zipline in the jungle outside Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)Extreme Zipline in the jungle outside Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)
In the midst of the ziplines, there was a ropes course with a huge net to climb, suspended logs to jump across and a tightrope to walk. We also did a giant Tarzan swing that was essentially a free fall out of the trees.
Ropes course (Mary Curry)Ropes course in jungle of Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)
Following the ziplines, we hopped into Polaris ATVs and splashed through puddles and around the winding jungle roads. Most of my kids piled into an ATV with one of the guides. Poor Matthew was stuck riding with me and complained that I drove way too slow!
ATV in jungle outside Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)ATV in jungle outside Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)
From here, we hiked up the hill to one of the longest ziplines I've ever seen, a Superman line 3/4 of a mile long that we rode laying down with arms extended (like Superman flying). This was the highlight of the day for most of us as the line lasted long enough to really enjoy the scenery and was fast enough to thrill even the most adventurous in our group as we sped between clusters of jungle treetops.
Just when I was thinking the day was over, we put on flight jackets to try our skills at 'skydiving' in a wind tunnel. This required a LOT more skill that regular sky diving as you had to maintain a perfectly balanced position with arms and legs extended in an X shape to catch the wind. We each had two guides helping us, one inside and one outside the tunnel. Even with the help, we only managed to get a few feet above the ground, but it sure was a blast trying!
Wind Tunnel Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)Wind Tunnel Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)
After skydiving, we all headed to a giant waterslide to wind back off the mountain and to our waiting snacks!
After the zipline in jungle outside Puerto Vallarta (Mary Curry)
I spent 2 entire days trying to find my Alaska small boat trip, with no success. Then Erin from Adventure Life gave me 4 choices on the same day I contacted her. She was caring and very efficient. I'm very excited about the cruise she found for me.
Janet Houts
2 days ago
Everything about our Galapagos experience was top-notch. I highly recommend this trip if you like be active. Everyone from the planners to the guides to the crew set us up to experience and soak in everything the Galapagos has to offer. They took care of every detail so we could learn and enjoy.
Luanne
3 days ago
We had an amazing trip. The accommodations of our hotel first 3 nights and the accommodations of the ship were perfect. Our guides were amazing. They went snorkeling with us everyday and took amazing pictures and pointed out various species of fish. On the land adventures, they explained everything about the islands and animals that we were looking for and seeing. They also took amazing photos and videos that they shared with us in a whats app group with the entire ship. This gave us the ability to upload our own video and pictures along with other shipmates so we all got these great photos from everyone. It was a once in a lifetime trip that left us with many amazing memories and very possible we would consider going back.
Kevin Vance
3 days ago
Very willing to help and please!
Jan Ellmer
4 days ago
Our regular rep knows us very well and responds quickly