PUERTO VALLARTA and Banderas Bay
January 2008
We left Chacala and made straight for Banderas Bay. It’s a huge bay with a large anchorage at La Cruz, in the northern part. D&K spent Christmas, in fact several weeks there in 2005 and talked often about how much fun they had, so we were anxious to check it out. There were about 30 boats at anchor and just after we set ours, several whales appeared leaping and playing just a few hundred feet away. We’re off to an exciting start!
We were up early the next day and off to Puerto Vallarta, specifically Marina Vallarta to see if we could find a slip for at least some of the time that Ade’s sister and brother in law, Audrey & Don, were due in town to celebrate their 25th Anniversary. We’d been trying to make reservations since September at either Marina Vallarta or Paradise Village, two well located, and popular marinas. Both had consistently told us they were pretty much sold out for the entire winter season. We’d called MV again the week before, spoke to someone, and were told that nothing was open, but to come in and check when we got to town…ah, a glimmer of hope. We had backup reservations at the new marina in La Cruz, but it is 30+ km from PV, and while it’s a cool little town, dirt streets and the “Taco Stand” are just not what a girl pictures when she is away on her 25th anniversary! We were anxious to line up at least a few days “in town” with our fun-loving, active guests.
We entered Marina Vallarta and saw how wonderfully situated she was, and also how many hundreds of boats there were, with nary an open slip in sight. OhOh. We called on Ch 16 and 22 and got no answer. Darn. I really want to be here now, I could see cool looking bars and restaurants, big beautiful yachts, and lots of activity…this is the place we have to be! Then a cruiser with a lovely accent said come on over to G dock, there was a slip just recently vacated by a Nordhavn 43 and perhaps we could fit in it. We located G22, and it looked too narrow, but all these guys on the dock were eagerly signaling us that ‘no problemo’ we could fit, and were there helping us with lines, so Ade cautiously and masterfully squeezed into this narrow slip, with literally 4″ between the hull and the dock. Phew, we’re in. Then they said, with limited English “Daniel sent you”? OhOh. I said, “Who’s Daniel”? They didn’t want to hear or understand that we didn’t know Daniel, asking only if we’d called, and we had, so we thought well, this just might work out. But then there was much discussion, and they said, (in rapid Spanish) pointing across the way, G7 is larger (mas grande), you should go in there. OO-kay. So, Ade carefully extracted himself from that slip, went around the docks, and backed into another narrow slip (it only had about 10 inches to spare, but was roomy by comparison). By now we have at least 6 guys working on the docks (in various capacities) and one official from the marina. Things are looking good.
The official guy is talking to the office on the VHF and all I understand is ….’Daniel’, (drat-it’s still about the unknown Daniel, and now someone named Darrel) and they just keep smiling, and KNOW that we are the ones they are expecting, but at this point, I’m darn sure I am NOT the one they expect…but, Ade is giving me the “just shut up look”, so I smile and wait to see how it plays out. More radio click clicks, rapid Spanish and the official Marina guy is shaking his head and tells us there is a ‘problemo’, (ohoh) but all he needs is for us to go back into in the G22 slip, and so, smile still plastered in place, Ade does another masterful job of backing out of one narrow slip and around back into the impossibly skinny slip. (Remember we weigh 56,000 lbs, a nice big girl)
There are now 8 guys working with us, and it’s become quite the party. I quickly tip all of them, grab our papers to check in before we are asked to move again and head out in search of the marina office. Adrienne, at the office, is most casual, but she too is talking Daniel and Darrel, (I really have to find these guys), and once again I am confessing that I don’t know them. But she didn’t seem to believe me, as if I was just confused… ‘No problemo’, she says taking our papers, “you know Daniel” (will no one listen to my confession? Catholic guilt is killing me!). Ade gives me the look again, hands her the money and drags me out the door before I blow it completely. We got back to the dock and low and behold, there was Daniel. He says, “You are Darrel’s friend right”? “NO” I say, I do not know a Darrel. But he’s also a pretty kick back guy and shrugs, “well, no problemo”. I’m still terrified that at any moment the real friends of Darrel will show up and we will be out on our tail!
We made a quick dash to the marine store and when we returned we couldn’t believe it, there are our pals on Chelsea Skye backed into the lone available slip. We said, “Sure hope you know Darrel”. Yep, that’s their buddy…it’s a small world. Best of all, they were perfectly happy in that slip. We are so grateful that somehow, things always work out! Proving that it is indeed a tiny world, later that day I am on a walk away from the marina and started chatting with a delightful lady about this and that and it gets down to the fact that she’s also on a boat, from California, and by the way her friends just arrived and are on G dock…. you know the rest, I started laughing and said, “your husbands name wouldn’t be Darrel would it?” Well, of course it was! I finally feel secure…cuz now I know both Daniel and Darrel!
That settled we went about discovering this great resort town. We had a nice dinner with Rich and Sandy, and new friends, Darrel and Sam, at the elegant Tikal. It’s a beautiful place and Sam filled us in on all the wonderful things to do while in PV with guests. We followed up on all her leads and plotted out a fun filled week with the Hazen’s.
This marina is surrounded by dozens of great bars, restaurants and shops, and we checked most of them out. We took the bus down to old town, walked the lovely Malecon and river area, checking on places Sam told us about. We decided to rent a car, not only to provide airport transportation, but also to insure that we’d get to see everything that Banderas Bay had to offer.
And we did do it all. While the Hazen’s were with us we did a fantastic canopy tour at Los Veranos, 14 zip lines over the rivers and through the jungle (more like a forest really) with really fun guides strapping us on and off the lines and running up and down the mountain…it was a blast. We also went ATV’ing back into the woods - started out disappointing, but after the Tequila tasting things looked up! Another day, we hired a panga and spent all day in the south part of the Bay visiting hard to get to coves like Yelapa, and beaches, waterfalls, seeing whales, dolphins, manta rays, etc. It was fantastic. We walked all over Old Town, the Malecon and the Romantic Zone and along the beaches near the marina. We found great restaurants, places to dance and listen to music, and shopped for treasures they could take home. For their 25th we decided on the superb service, food and ambiance of La Palapa, with the jazz group playing the background and a full moon overhead. Can you tell we really like PV?
We wanted them to have the full experience, so we left our coveted spot at Marina Vallarta, and went out to Tres Marietas Islands and finally the water was warm and clear enough to enjoy snorkeling. We went back into the La Cruz anchorage for a night. We cooked aboard, watched the whales at sunset, danced on the back cockpit, fed the fish (they hate tortillas by the way) and were gently rocked to sleep on this calm night.
Then, we finally showed up for our reservations at the new marina in La Cruz. We hit the ground running as it was Thursday, and if it’s Thursday, it’s Philo’s for open mike, great rock and roll. It did not disappoint. We saw old friends, chowed down on the ribs and chicken and then were thoroughly entertained by Philo and his regulars. They let Don sit in on the keyboard and he rocked! We had a blast!
We were so sorry our whirlwind week was over and we had to say goodbye to Audrey and Don, but they had Lexi at home, work, and of course more parties to attend for Super Bowl Sunday. We all have a lot to be grateful for.
Ahh, we were sad to lose them, but what did we see? More familiar, happy faces on fellow boaters that we were happy to spend time with. We had friends on a catamaran from Big Bear, a Nordy 46 who are on our same itinerary (south and thru the PC), another Wanderin’Star (beautiful sail with a pilot house) and others we’ve met here and there. We looked ahead and the seas were building, so we decided to stay put for several more days to explore the quiet side of Banderas Bay. Little La Cruz has a great music scene and restaurants, and thank goodness, lots of places to walk it all off. We especially enjoyed the Black Forest, the Taco Stand (it’s sooo good), Ana Bananas for Sunday afternoons, walking to Bucerias … it’s changing fast however, with the marina almost complete, the condo’s along the shore in the immediate future…
paved roads have to be just around the corner.
We left late late Thursday night, to round bumpy Cabo Corrientes when the winds were down. We had a date to keep this weekend with a neat couple we’ve been corresponding with for four years. They’d chosen idyllic Chamela Bay for our rendezvous…we can’t wait to see them!
