Puerto Vallarta 2023
Canon T6i + Canon 18-55 mm lens. Adobe Lightroom Classic.
We were in Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, Mexico from January 8th to 14th, 2023 for about a week; 5 full days, 6 nights, and 6 mornings. We stayed at a very cute little rented apartment called Lofts on Basilio in Zona Romántica, or the Romantic Zone. The following photos are mostly landscape photos I took while I was there. More fun and personal photos are on my personal Instagram so feel free to go take a look!
1/8: We landed in PV and checked into our hotel/apartment. We decided to get dinner at Mariscos Cisneros to get a taste of the Mexican seafood around here. Very tasty. We headed out to see the beach—Playa Los Muertos as the sun set and then decided to go to bed early as we were tired from our travels.
1/9: We tried an açaí smoothie bowl and a breakfast toast from Ono Smoothies Bowl. They were so good and quickly became our favorite breakfast and brunch spot that we came back to often. We walked along the pier at Playa Los Muertos again until we got lunch at La Langosta Loca with a nice beachside view. More delicious Mexican seafood. More walking ensued as we went around town and ended up getting dinner at Los Molcajetes, which consisted of a very filling hamburger for me. At night, we ended up at the Corner Bar, which is one of the many LGBTQ+ bars here in PV. The atmosphere was very chill and the music videos that they played on the TV were super entertaining. The bartenders were of course, shirtless. I got two drinks and was very satisfied. We ended up on the rooftop of our loft to stargaze and look at the city at night.
1/10: We went to Memo’s Pancake House and got a hefty pancake and egg brunch. Today was decidedly a beach day so we got our gear and went out to the beach. We set up somewhere between Playa Los Muertos and Playa Las Amapas—not sure which one it was but it seemed like we were closer to the former. Lots of tanning and not as much swimming because the water was freezing cold and the waves were dangerously turbulent. We still had a great time though! After washing up, we went for dinner at Tony’s Please for some enchiladas. A walk along El Malecón, PV’s famous boardwalk concluded our night.
1/11: We started the day with another breakfast at Ono. Definitely just trying different bowls at this point but they were so delicious. We mustered up the courage to go hiking today and first stopped by the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadelupe—a beautiful church in PV. We then exhaustedly made our way uphill on the steep slopes of PV to get to the idyllic Mirador el Cerro de la Cruz—a panoramic observation deck at the top with incredible views. We climbed back down after taking in the sights and of course, taking photos, to get lunch at Casa Tradicional Cocina Mexicana. Albeit, we do not recommend this restaurant as we ended up getting food poisoning from the ceviche here and they were also weird about the tip. After taking a much-needed break and dip in our apartment rooftop pool, we got Asian food for dinner at Bonito Kitchen and Bar. The food was not bad but not that impressive to me personally, but the outdoor seating was beautiful. We then got drinks at Elixir Mixology Bar, which is a women-owned bar across the street from our loft. We loved this bar so much and it felt like such a safe space for everyone.
1/12: We succumbed to food poisoning and got small meals throughout the day at Memo’s again and then Johnny’s Diner for dinner. It was mostly a chill day at the loft.
1/13: Still recovering from food poisoning, we managed to get to Ono’s for another smoothie bowl and walked around the city for sightseeing and souvenirs. And of course, to see the ocean one last time before we went back to Minnesota. We chilled in our loft for a bit and eventually got smoothies and breakfast food for dinner at A Page in the Sun, which was just as much as we can stomach. We also walked by and saw a cute flamenco show at night. Definitely wish we can explore more but food poisoning is just a pain in the butt (literally).
1/14: Our flight was in the early afternoon but we had to leave the loft around 10 am so we packed up and went to Ono’s for one last smoothie bowl and breakfast toast. We felt a lot better and it was bittersweet to leave PV after our gut issues but we had a lot of fun still. ¡Adiós, Puerto Vallarta, hasta luego!
