Relaxing vacation on the beach of Banderas Bay

  Puerto Vallarta, Pacific Coast, Mexico
Monday, May 19, 2008

I (Tony) originally planned this trip to Mexico as a surprise to my wife for her 28th birthday. However, she needed a passport and once that was mentioned the surprise was ruined. Her birthday fell on a weekend in April... the same time those crazy Spring breakers are out of school. We decided to wait until May in between Spring break and the end of school. Our non-stop flight was with Ted airlines (United) and we arrived in Puerto Vallarta about 1pm, giving us the rest of the day to become accustomed to this new city.

Our first hour or so was spent in the Customs line at the airport. They briefly looked at my passport, gave us our visitation papers, and off we went. To my knowledge, our bags weren't even checked! The airport after customs is packed with guys in sloppy suits trying to provide transportation to our hotel. The only catch is, that they are trying to catch us, in some time-share presentation. These sharks would not stop telling us they were from the hotel and were there to pick us up. I knew this was bogus, because I never gave the hotel my itinerary, as we planned on taking a local taxi. Speaking of taxis... The drivers inside the airport were trying to charge us $20 for a 10 minute ride, the drivers outside on the other side of the higway, were charging $8. Their driving habits are rediculous too. I've never seen more chaos with no specific lanes, or rules. If you need to turn left get in the right lane... weirdest thing!

Once we arrived at the hotel the staff was very friendly and offered us cool towels to refresh our sweaty faces. Carol's make-up was melting off her face because of the humidity. It wasn't too hot, only about 85 degrees, but it was humid. The hotel is all-inclusive, so everything was free. Some guests, upon arrival, were greeted with drinks. I was told later that it was only fruit punch, so it was funny to watch people come in and get so excited about the alcohol, when there was none. Our room was on the top floor with a great ocean view. In fact, all the rooms have an ocean view, with the beach only a few steps away.