Safe PV jungle experience

My sister and I will be on the Carnival Miracle in April of this year. We are celebrating a special birthday for her (she won't let me say which one). We arrive in PV on April 19 around noon and have the Rhythms of the Night excursion booked from 3:30 - 8:30. The ship is scheduled to be in PV overnight and depart at 3:00 the next day. I would love to experience more of PV but my sister is not into adventures like zip lines or ATVs. She does not like to snorkel either. With that in mind, what can we do where we can see more of the beauty/jungle that is PV?

I'm a bit reluctant to comment on this, as although we have been to PV quite a few times, we have never done a "jungle tour". I'm surprised that others have not jumped in. With the short time that you will have on your second day, I might suggest that you grab a cab and go to El Rio Barbeque. A short ride (should be less than $10US) but it is up the Cuale River, has a beautiful "jungle" setting where you can swim in the river if you wish, and they have excellent food, and a great atmosphere. We go up there twice a year and truly enjoy it.

I will tread lightly, but the OP's post really perks my interest. The OP says, "I would love to experience more of PV" but nowhere in the post do they even talk about coming to PV! Instead they talk of tours to a private beach enclave (Rhythms of the Night) which is a very good excursion....but not even that close to Puerto Vallarta. It then talks about zip lines, ATVs, etc....none of which have anything to do with the city of PV (except many vendors sell these tours in town). Puerto Vallarta is actually a city...there are no zip lines, ATV tours, snorkeling. etc. in the city. We happen to love PV (have lived here for the past 10 winters) and have never done a zip line here (we have done it in the real jungles of Costa Rica) or taken an ATV tour outside the city (which does sound like fun). But we do really love our city, its restaurants, bars, Malecon (essentially a Mexican version of the boardwalk), music, margaritas, etc. Just my 2 cents. As to the suggesting of going to El Rio BBQ, although we respect the owner it is not what we recommend for a port day. The reason is it is not in Puerto Vallarta. So if the OP truly wants to experience Puerto Vallarta, come on into town (only 7.5 pesos on the local bus) and walk from one end to the other, browse the flea market, check out the Huichol Art, enjoy our fabulous food, have a good Margarita or even a dollar beer (Sea Monkey, Cheeky Monkey and a few others charge that price), get your feet wet on Los Muertos Beach, listen to some of the music, etc. That is the real PV :)

So if you want to come to Mexico to experience the tourist stuff (like Zip Lines, ATV tours) then we hope you have a wonderful time and return again and again. But if you want to experience PV, then actually come into PV!

Hank

I will tread lightly, but the OP's post really perks my interest. The OP says, "I would love to experience more of PV" but nowhere in the post do they even talk about coming to PV! Instead they talk of tours to a private beach enclave (Rhythms of the Night) which is a very good excursion....but not even that close to Puerto Vallarta. It then talks about zip lines, ATVs, etc....none of which have anything to do with the city of PV (except many vendors sell these tours in town). Puerto Vallarta is actually a city...there are no zip lines, ATV tours, snorkeling. etc. in the city. We happen to love PV (have lived here for the past 10 winters) and have never done a zip line here (we have done it in the real jungles of Costa Rica) or taken an ATV tour outside the city (which does sound like fun). But we do really love our city, its restaurants, bars, Malecon (essentially a Mexican version of the boardwalk), music, margaritas, etc. Just my 2 cents. As to the suggesting of going to El Rio BBQ, although we respect the owner it is not what we recommend for a port day. The reason is it is not in Puerto Vallarta. So if the OP truly wants to experience Puerto Vallarta, come on into town (only 7.5 pesos on the local bus) and walk from one end to the other, browse the flea market, check out the Huichol Art, enjoy our fabulous food, have a good Margarita or even a dollar beer (Sea Monkey, Cheeky Monkey and a few others charge that price), get your feet wet on Los Muertos Beach, listen to some of the music, etc. That is the real PV :)

 

So if you want to come to Mexico to experience the tourist stuff (like Zip Lines, ATV tours) then we hope you have a wonderful time and return again and again. But if you want to experience PV, then actually come into PV!

 

Hank

I can't argue with Hank, as he has spent a lot more time in PV than I (we only spend one month a year in PV), and my Bride and I both love wandering the Malecon. My contention is that although there are lots of great places to see and visit along the Malecon, PV (IMO) really does no longer represent "real Mexico", as I often now think of it more representative of an urban Canadian city....not that I would admit that that is wrong. If the OP is strongly in favor of seeing "jungle" without the "experience" of a guided (read that to be "tightly controlled) tour, I think that my advice would still stand. Grab a cab to El Rio, enjoy the river, the jungle, the iguanas, and the great food. When done, grab a cab back, and then hit the Malecon. El Rio can take a couple of hours, or the whole afternoon....your choice.

Just my $0.02P worth.

Several years ago we took an excursion now called Offroad Adventure. From the ship they loaded us up in a zodiac and went across the marina to their (Vallarta Adventures) storefront. We loaded into several unimogs then drove north of town a ways, stopping at a small town (see the plaza, church, tortilla factory, etc) then up into the jungle (guide in Costa Rica said these are actually forests, not jungles....whatever). There we took about a 1 hour walk through the jungle with a nature type guide. Loaded up again and stopped at "Maria's" house in some small mountain village; watched her make tortillas and ate bean tacos. Next stop was a private beach area with an excellent bbq buffet lunch with open bar.

Our jungle guide was a young gal from Michigan or Iowa who graduated with a degree in botany. She took a week vacation in PV and was still there two years later - good plan.

We love the Malecon and the south side as much as anybody, but this excursion was a great way to see the "less touristy" side of the PV area. Go to Vallarta Adventures website and look for Offroad Adventure. As it is quite a ways out of town I highly recommend you book this thru Carnival if offered.

Your ROTN excursion will also give you an opportunity to explore some jungle. When we did this it was dark when we arrived so we didn't get to explore much. Your 4:30 arrival will be early enough to see some trees.