Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (December 24, 2000 - January 1, 2001)
Travelers: Joe and Tanya Moran, and Mike and Sandy Noreen (Tanya's parents)
Author: Tanya Moran  

December 24, 2000: At long last, the day of our trip to Puerto Vallarta has arrived! I have been looking forward to this well-deserved break from the cold Seattle rain. My husband Joe and I flew on America West Airlines from Seattle to Phoenix, Arizona, to meet my parents, who live near Tucson. Then the four of us flew together from Phoenix to Puerto Vallarta. We landed about 7:00pm at the Puerto Vallarta International Airport. The only snafu that we encountered was not having valid passports! Mine had expired and I had sent in for a new one. Although you technically can get by with your driver's license and a birth certificate, one INS agent in San Jose, CA (on the return trip) was *extremely* rude to me and basically accused me of having a fake driver's license! Whatever! What a jerk! I wasn't detained or anything like that, but to be safe, I will definitely carry my passport on all future trips to Mexico. Additionally, we heard something about passports being mandatory for travel to Mexico after January 1, 2002. If you anticipate travel to Mexico, you may want to discuss this with your travel agent or the airline.

We traveled to our condo complex, the Plaza Dorada. It is right in the Olas Altas district in the old section of the city. The condo was nice, just your standard vacation condo. Excellent views from our wrap-around porch. We did not like the beds - they were as hard as rocks! It was like sleeping on a concrete slab. Ouch! Dinner this night was at Rosie's of Santa Barbara, across from the hotel. It is a nice open air cafe on the upstairs level. After that, we went to bed, being so tired from out trip, and tried not to let the concrete slab beds bother us.

December 25, 2000: Mike, Sandy, and Tanya took a long walk through town while Joe slept. We found a grocery store called Ley's. One thing that we found was that the cost of items near the beach and resorts was MUCH pricier than even 6 blocks off the beach. For example, we bought 8 rolls of boleo (giant bread roll hot from the oven, mmmmmm), a toothbrush (Tanya forgot hers) and two sticks of margarine for only 18 pesos - about $2 US. The rest of the day we mostly sat on the beach in the sun reading and marveling at the waves. We also lined up four spots on the Chico's boat for the next for Los Arcos to go snorkeling. I invented a special nonalcoholic cocktail with orange juice and 7up. The Spanish Translation, according to our waiter at Ibiza a few days later, is "Jugo de Nanranja con Siete Arriba." I don't know if that's actually true or not. My dad said, "Sure. Of course you invented it. Next thing, you'll be telling us that Al Gore invented the Internet." My husband said that Jugo De Naranja con Siete Arriba would be good if you put vodka in it. I ignored them. The beach vendors can get annoying, constantly approaching you and asking if you want to buy jewelry, clothes, blankets, clay animals, whatever. I usually just said no thanks, and then if they continued to bother me, I ignored them too. My parents had brought steaks with them, frozen, from Costco in Arizona, so we ate that for dinner with salad in our condo.

December 26, 2000: Today we went out to Los Arcos with Chico's Dive Shop, the same outfit that I did my OWC through, for a snorkel trip. The weather was horrible and high waves prevented us from boarding the boat from the normal location - we had to use a different beach which ate up more time. We got on the boat and there was no coffee, unfortunately, but there was pop and these weird ham and cheese sandwiches, yuck. We made two stops, with varying degrees of visibility and rough water at each stop. The Chico's trip combines snorkelers and divers, which to me seemed odd. I've done snorkel cruises on Maui and the Island of Hawaii and this trip was the worst of the three, snorkel wise. There were other snorkel cruise boats that were advertised in town and that I saw while at Los Arcos each day that I was there. Two were called Vallarta Sol and Santamaria. If I was to do a snorkel cruise again, I'd try one of them because they seemed to have more of the "party boat" atmosphere with bars and Jimmy Buffett music, so if that is your scene, I'd do one of those.

Back on land, I rented a boogie board (about $5 an hour) and played in the giant surf for awhile before getting thrashed by a GIANT WAVE. This beach is called Playa Los Muertos, or Beach of the Dead, supposedly because there was a great battle there during the time of the Spanish colonization that killed many people. But I could easily see why it is still called that today, because if you were not careful, you could get shredded by a rogue wave! So be careful, everybody! (Mike and Joe estimated that these waves were about 15 - 20 feet high, so they are not the monster waves that you will find in other places - but for someone who is used to the baby waves of Puget Sound, that is big!)

Went back upstairs and got ready for dinner - at Oscars, a beachfront restaurant just south of the Malecon on the Rio Cuale. I highly recommend it. Try to get a beachfront table if you can - you're about 50 yards from the water and the crashing surf makes an excellent backdrop. This is an excellent value as well, the four of us altogether ordered five drinks, two baskets of bread, four entrees, three coffees, and three desserts and the total bill, after tip, came to 770 pesos (about $80 US).

December 27, 2000: I was not happy when I woke up to see POURING DOWN RAIN and a solid cloud bank over the ocean. After a breakfast of boleo bread and juice, we went down to the CyberCafe to check email. The coffee was strong and hot! There are cyber cafes all over the city - try to stop in one, especially if you want to check email anyway. The price should be about $2 US per hour. The four of us walked around town a bit and then ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch. The food was really good, and again, not too expensive. My dad and husband took advantage of the two-for-one beers. Back at the condo, I amused myself in various ways in the condo's pool with one of my disposable underwater cameras while my husband read under the covered porch. I can't remember what we did for dinner that night.

December 28, 2000: The first dive day! I was so excited to start my PADI certification program at Chico's. It almost made up for the fact that it was RAINING! I and about 4 other people showed up at Chico's at around 1 p.m. to start the video session. We also had to pay. I think that the course cost about 2500 pesos ($260 US). I am not sure - my husband put it on his credit card. You get a discount if you pay cash. This included all gear rental for four dives and the pool session, the knowledge development sessions, and the boat trips. It also included the log book. We watched instructional videos until about 3:00 and then it was time to do our pool session - in the rain, of course. We headed over to the pool at the Puerto de Luna resort to dive in. Rafael, the instructor, first tested us on a few basics. This was where things started to get interesting. For example, the PADI website lists the swimming requirements as 200 meters without fins, or 300 with fins. Rafael told us to put on fins and swim 4 lengths of the pool. However, I used to swim competitively in high school and upon looking at that pool, I knew very darn well that 4 lengths of the pool was not 300 meters - it was probably only 100 meters! However, not being the kind of person who creates work for myself (or others) I did as I was told. Then, we practiced putting together equipment (attaching the regulator to the tank, etc.) Then it was time to get in the pool! I put the regulator in my mouth and ducked under the water. I am not sure why, but for some reason I just thought I wouldn't be able to breathe. But I did! What a weird feeling, the first few breaths completely underwater when for over 20 years I have been addicted to swimming and water. We practiced a few more skills, such as regulator recovery underwater and flooding and clearing our masks. It was so fun! I think I promised myself then and there that I was going to be a scuba addict for the rest of my life! After about another hour, we got out (we were getting cold in the water with the rain falling on our heads!) and left to go catch a cab. I almost got run over by a taxi cab! I shared a cab with two folks about my age from London who were in Mexico for three weeks on vacation.

Dinner this night was at Asadero, which means the grill. Here's a good place to go if you are on the Adkins or other high-protein diet. This is all-you-can-eat grilled meat, and it is good! At about $7.50 US person, it's also an excellent deal. Luckily this restaurant was covered, because it was still raining. I though the rain would never stop. I also never though that my KAVU polarfleece vest would become the MVP of my travel wardrobe on this trip, but it was at this point. Here is another restaurant tip - a far fewer percentage of restaurants and shop take plastic here than in the U.S. I would guess that 25 - 35% don't take them. So bring travelers checks that can be cashed at a bank, or your ATM card to withdraw pesos out of a cash machine. And if you plan to use a credit card at a restaurant, make sure that you check before being seated that your card is accepted there.

December 29, 2000: The first dive day in "real" water! And, the rain had stopped! Yay!! I met up with Monique, another student in the course, and her boyfriend Maurice down at the shop. They are from Holland. First we all had to take a short quiz on what we learned from the day before. The quizzes were not that hard. We got on board the launch which took us to the Chico's boat and then we all headed out for Los Arcos - the same place that I had done the snorkel tour with my family earlier in the week. As we approached the dive site, we put together our gear. Bill took the names of all of the divers, I think, for safety purposes. I sweet-talked Willy into putting my gear together for me. When it was time to go in the water, I jumped in. I think that I was still surprised at the fact that the concept of breathing underwater actually *worked* for me. I found the rope and began to proceed down. I think that I got to about 7 feet when my ears plugged up and I felt a little pain in my head. I thought, "Omigod, I can't do this," and instinctively surfaced. On top of the water, I took a few breaths. I wasn't really panicking at all, I just needed to get used to the concept of being far underwater! I began to descend again and got to the bottom (about 20 feet) without a glitch, remembering to equalize every few feet. Yay, Tanya!

We were underwater for about 30 minutes the first dive. The time goes fast! I don't think that we went deeper than about 30 feet. Visibility was just okay - about 30', in my imagination. We saw puffy fish, convict tangs, some fish that I call rainbow fish, a black fish with orange markings, and an eel. I also saw a blue and white polka dot fish. We surfaced, and while we were doing our surface interval, they moved the boat about 100 yards to another location. We went down again, and this time I saw a whole school of yellow and black striped mini fish - there must have been about 400 of them! They seemed to be the size of large bumblebees. They were very cute. Underwater, Willy showed us how to do skills such as removing a cramp and navigating with a compass. Then we all practiced. We also practiced swimming emergency ascent. For the second dive, we went down to about 35'. Visibility was the same. I got stung by a jellyfish. Ouch!

Back on the boat, Willy showed us how to use our log books and helped us fill them out. We returned to the dock around 2 p.m. Then we watched another video. I almost fell asleep during the video because of the sunny day and being tired in a good way from the two dives.

Dinner that night was at Ibiza, a Spanish-style restaurant just off Olas Altas. Their specialty is paella, and it is MUCH better than what we get at home, and much cheaper, as well - about $60 for the four of us after drinks and tip. Try doing that at Palomino in Seattle - you won't even get past appetizers for $60!

December 30, 2000: My 27th birthday and OWC day! We met down at the shop about 8:00 for our last two dives required for certification. Then we got on the boat and went out to Los Arcos. The students practiced putting together their equipment. This time, I sweet talked Rafael into putting mine together for me. When I was on top of the water, my regulator began to free-flow air, but Willy did something to it and it stopped. I took my Fuji underwater disposable camera down with me on the second dive. The camera says that it is submersible to 17 feet, and I think that I actually might have even gotten it down to about 30. I took lots of pictures of fish and of classmates, but the problem at that point was lack of light - most of the pictures turned out blurry, and these disposables don't have a flash. There was the option of renting a real underwater camera for 300 pesos ($30 US) for a dive, but I did not feel like spending that kind of money for pictures. I need to get a "real" underwater camera to do that again, but the Fuji disposable might work on a clear day full of sun in the summer when the sun is overhead (the winter sun is much weaker.) We also saw a whole school of puffy fish! There must have been about 200 of them, all swimming together underwater looking cute and happy. Rafael caught one and it puffed up like a porcupine. Everyone in my group wanted to hold the fish, but I felt sorry for the poor fish so I took it away from him and let it go. It deflated itself as it swam away.

After we were done with the dives, Willy and Rafael congratulated the students on a job well done. We got back to the shop and took the final exam. I passed with 95%! Willy then gave me my temporary card and his email address in case I had any questions.

My parents and husband took me to El Panorama that night for my birthday. I highly recommend it for a more expensive dining experience in Vallarta. It is situated at the top of the Lo Siesta hotel and there is a view of the entire city at your feet. I took a few pictures of the city, but by this time it was getting dark. Dinner for four people with appetizers, drinks and tip - about $140 US.

December 31, 2000: Rafael and Willy invited me to go back diving again. As I was walking down to the shop, a guy driving a pickup truck full of dead chickens drove past me very slowly, giving me a strange look. The dead chickens had their heads and feathers removed, but they did not look supermarket-ready yet to my eyes. I would say that those chickens, at that point, were in the middle to late stages of chicken processing. I ignored the guy and kept walking. Five minutes later, he drove by again, and this time, he stuck his head out the window and said, "Hey baby, you need a ride?" I politely declined. I wondered absently if he meant ride in the cab with him or ride in the back of the truck with the chickens.

Out on the boat I had so much fun again, Monique was not there but several people from the UK that I had met in the knowledge development sessions were, and I was sorry that it was going to be my last dive for awhile. This time we got down to about 50' and I got COLD since I was wearing only a 3mm shorty. When I go back if I plan to dive to 50' then I will bring a full suit. I am prone to get cold though, and other people seemed fine with their exposure suits. Another thing is that the bitepiece on my second stage broke off during my dive, and so I resorted to breathing off of my octopus. The rest of the dive was uneventful. We saw a cave underwater and when you go inside the bubbles displace water so it looks like you are floating just on the surface underwater. Later, Rafael helped us fill out our dive logs. The instructors told me what a good job I did and that even though I had only done 6 dives, I had more confidence in the water than some people who had done 20! That made me feel very good, and I don't think that they just said that so that they'd make more money since my husband had already paid them. They even said that if I came down there for two weeks that they could make me into a dive master!

After the boat returned, I went back to the hotel and went to dinner with my mom and Joe. My dad was not feeling well, so he did not join us at the Fajita Republic, right next door to Ibiza. Fajita Republic has a wonderful ambiance with tiki torches and rough-hewn tables and chairs. The food was delicious and a very good value for the money - dinner for 3 plus drinks after tip - about $50 US.

January 1, 2001: Our last day in Mexico, and not a very long one at that. I did not want to go back home to the cold rain of Seattle. I realized that I had forgotten to hand in my textbook so I went down to the shop for the last time. I was so sad to be leaving my new friends! I said goodbye to Bill and Rafael, who were getting ready to take the boat out. The boat was less than half full (too many people sleeping off their margaritas from New Year's Eve, I guess) and they asked me if I wanted to go again. I said that I could not because I was leaving. Rafael told me to call my work and say that I was going to be sick for the next 2 or 3 years. I must admit I didn't just dismiss that proposition out of hand! They made me promise to come back soon. I said that I would. There had been parties all over the city the night before, and Bill shared a hilarious story - when he had been sitting in a car that morning waiting for someone to show up at the store with a key, not one, not two, but *three* people had come up to his car, put their hand on the hood, and then leaned over and puked in the gutter! Gross! And all within 45 minutes. That's an average of one puking person every 15 minutes!

I went back to the condo to finish packing my stuff, and then we all took a cab to the airport for our 2:15pm flight. When we got to the airport, we realized that America West had oversold the flight to Phoenix. My parents and I offered to give up our seats and get bumped to a later flight in exchange for $250 in free America West airline credit. My husband just wanted to go home, so he kept his seat. My parents and I spent about 2 hours in the Puerto Vallarta airport just shooting the breeze until Claudia, the agent at the America West counter, told me that Alaska could put me on their 5:00 pm flight to Seattle. While we were waiting for Claudia to issue the ticket, some college kid waiting in line to check his bags in puked all over the floor! Gross! I could see that some people had had a good New Year's Eve! I took the Alaska flight, which connected in San Jose. Eventually my husband and I did connect back in Seattle and made it home just after midnight on the 2nd.

Here is a list of items that are a good idea to bring with you if you go. Some are obvious; some, not so obvious: 1. Waterproof bag - canvas or other water resistant material - the catamaran has a tendency to get water sloshed up on the floor. 2. Bug repellant - there can be mosquitoes and other icky blood-sucking insects. 3. Comb or hair pick - if you have long hair, you'll want this on the boat so that your hair doesn't dry stuck to your head after a dive. 4. Sunscreen - Duh. SPF 15 minimum if you have fair skin, less if you're medium complected or don't care about accelerating the aging process. I used Body Glove waterproof 15, I bought it at www.gear.com and I liked it a lot. You can get a pack of 2 four ounce bottles for about 8 dollars. 5. Fleece vest - good for throwing on your shoulders after a dive if you get cold...or if it RAINS on your vacation! 6. Lotion or other moisturizer - if you itch after being in salt water. 7. Bottled water - there was a water cooler on board but I'd rather bring my own. 8. Pretzels, salad dressing, crackers, whatever - I dare you to find a low-fat version of any product in Mexico. Diet Coke is called Coca Cola Light. 9. Underwater camera - don't rent one for $30 for a half day - it's a waste of money. 10. Mask de-fogger - if you use it. 11. Diving gloves - if you need them.

So, to sum up: Would I do it again? Heck yes - I *AM* doing it again! I'm using my $250 in free America West airline credit to go back to Puerto Vallarta in early March! After a week in Puerto Vallarta, I had almost completely let go of my Type A personality. In fact, when I go back, I am going to get my advanced open water certification at Chico's Dive Shop, but this time I am going to stay in a cheap hotel so that I can spend all of my money on diving. I highly recommend Chico's - they are not as well run as you might find a company to be in the U.S., but this is Mexico and things are just different. Chico's is the oldest and best-known shop in PV, and there is a good reason why. Everyone who works there is really nice, and the instructors were very patient with people who needed extra help. A few people on the boat complained about the quality of the rental equipment from Chico's, but I didn't have any problem except for the aforementioned bitepiece and free-flowing regulator. You may wish to bring your own gear if this concerns you, but the crew was very attentive about fixing any gear problems that we had. If you have any questions about diving in Puerto Vallarta, places to stay, or places to go/eat, please email me at tnmoran@yahoo.com

Happy Diving everybody!

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