Mexico Multi Generational Adventure

Today we enjoyed all the beaches of Puerto Vallarta have to offer. The water temperatures and waves are perfect for boogie boarding and I spent much of the day riding the waves again and again. As a mom of 4, I seldom get out of my head and bouncing in the waves was a perfect way to shut down my worries. 

Puerto Vallarta is home to a replica of the Columbus ship Santa Maria. The ship has traveled across the Atlantic and has settled into the port of Puerto Vallarta where they host evening pirate shows, traveling out into Banderas Bay for a dinner cruise. Every family is assigned a personal pirate and ours, Alligator, was exquisite. 

My mom tends to walk much slower than my 6 ft tall kids and quickly gets left behind. Alligator immediately noticed her in the back of the group approaching the ship and said 'this will never do'. For the rest of the evening, she was 'Mi Esposa' (his wife) and he personally escorted her everywhere. She was beaming! 

Onboard the pirates were fantastic musicians including a violinist who could give Lindsey Stirling a run for her money. Dinner was less exciting, but the ambiance traveling in the hull of a pirate ship with lively musicians was unbeatable. 

All around, the staff were incredible and they even let my son drive the ship!

Admittedly I was a bit nervous coming in to today. We would be ATVing as a family with 2 brand new drivers- my 74 year old mom and my 18 year old daughter. I wasn't sure of the safety standards in Mexico and worried that my mom might have trouble operating the ATV or negotiating the city streets as I knew we would be departing from the center of town.

I needn't have been worried. Mom decided that ATVs are the best (and wants one for home!). We traveled out through the city and the guides stopped traffic (thankfully.. since Puerto Vallarta traffic rules seem to be that the car that can get their first gets to go) as we worked out way to the smaller suburbs along cobblestone streets. We passed by several beautiful neighborhoods with bright colored homes, stray dogs, and kids playing in the alleys. My daughter loved experiencing this less touristy side of Puerto Vallarta where locals were hanging out their laundry or gathering at a small cafe. 

Past the local neighborhoods the guides led us to the highway out of town and we got a (thankfully brief) opportunity to try out the speed of our ATVs on the freeway. We made our way along to the Sierra Madre Mountains just out of town and a dirt track that lead up to a hacienda. 

Once at the hacienda we took a break from the dusty trail to enjoy some drinks and a free tortilla making class.

My daughter and I both tried our hands at making the tortillas and then got to enjoy them with some incredibly fresh salsa. I was amazed that the young woman assisting in the cooking class remembered exactly which tortilla we each made and specifically handed us our own creations. 

Travel should always include discovery.. discovering other cultures, new foods, new activities or even self discovery. For my two girls and me, this was our favorite day of the trip because we discovered a new activity that we all adored... jet skiing! I tried to impress upon my 12 year old how lucky she was to get to try this exciting sport as a preteen when I had waited 47 years for the opportunity!

I opted for a tour rather than renting on our own as I didn't want to get stranded on rented equipment in the middle of the ocean and not know how to get back. As it turned out, operating with the jet ski was even easier than the ATV so I needn't have worried, but it was still a nice luxury to have the guide tow us out of the marina so we didn't have to risk hitting the fancy yachts in the harbor or figure out how to park!

We jet skied across bouncing ocean waves at speeds faster than I drive my car. The guide told me that the speedometer read in miles, but when I hit 84 trying to catch up with the guide and my two girls, I really hoped he was mistaken and it was actually kilometers!

We took a break on the other side of the bay next to some rocks and the guide brought out snorkeling gear to ask if we wanted to give it a try. Never ones to say no, we hopped in the cool water and, within 3 minutes, saw a giant sea turtle, my eldest daughter's favorite animal. If the jet skiing weren't enough by itself, this was the icing on the cake and she spent the rest of the day (and entire trip) raving about how this had been the best activity ever. I have to agree that there isn't much better than cruising the waves on a jet ski with water lapping your legs across the open ocean.

Before getting to Puerto Vallarta, my mom said she really wanted to go whale watching while some of the kids wanted to try snorkeling. We found an affordable tour that offered both so set out as a family of 7 with 50 or so of our newest friends on a day trip in the Bay of Banderas. 

The snorkeling was admittedly terrible. Perhaps we have unfair comparisons having snorkeled in the Galapagos, Belize and Hawaii (and for me, the Great Barrier Reef for my first snorkeling adventure), but the water was cold and murky and there were far too many people. 

We tried to make the best of a chance to get out and explore, but ultimately this was our least favorite activity of the day. There just wasn't enough to see to justify freezing and trying to shelter our heads from the flailing fins of inexperienced snorkelers ahead of us.  I think we were all relieved to get back to the warm ship and set off across the bay to our next adventure.

From this point onward, the day markedly improved. We stopped at a beautiful beach where they had kayaks, paddle boards, and my kids' personal favorite, banana boat rides. 

Unlike my previous banana boat experience, this one was more of a raft with a banana on each side, adding to the stability and reducing the chance for hitting heads if everyone were to tumble off at the same time. 

My oldest son Matthew can be hard to impress as he's not as excited about multisport activities as the girls, but this was his favorite day! During our time at the beach, I think he rode the banana boat nonstop for a solid hour and it was so rewarding to see his huge smile. 

My youngest, Gabriel, enjoyed the exquisite sand and sheltered waters of the beach. 

On the boat ride back to the marina, the staff hosted a rock show onboard, complete with costumes, dancing, and some fancy lip syncing. The beat of the music seemed to attract a humpback whale who swam up to our boat and 'danced' in front of us, giving my mom the show she had been most excited about!

 

As any parent who has traveled with their kids will tell you, it's essential to build some down time into your schedule. Kids need unplanned time to run off extra energy or just splash around in the water and Mexico offers a lot of great locations for doing just that. 

Our hotel had a wonderful set of pools and a lazy river. 

There was also great beach access with volleyball and plenty of places to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather. 

When the sun went down, they even put up a beach front movie screen. We all pulled up lounge chairs to watch Spider Man on the beach. 

As an unexpected bonus, halfway thru the movie we heard some beach walkers talking about turtles. We followed their voices and discovered a turtle hatchery right next to the hotel where baby turtles were hatching at that very moment. The hatchery staff let us watch as he helped dig the little turtles out of the sand.

One of the joys of travel is trying all the great local food and Mexico does not disappoint! There are so many fantastic and affordable places to eat in Puerto Vallarta! Fresh seafood and Mexican specialties obviously abound, but there are also some lovely international restaurants to try. 

We got a hotel with a small kitchen so that we could 'pretend' to cook, but we ended up eating out nearly every meal so that we could indulge in all the wonderful choices.

Even the kids got a chance to indulge in some fancy drinks. Below is a maple bacon milkshake... sounded terrible to me, but I guess enough candy will make anything appeal to the 12 year olds (and my husband whose food tastes are similar!).