Secrets Vallarta Bay

It has been a while since our last post. We returned to Stuart in late October and have done a few special things here. My plan right now is to only do posts about what we do here a few times a year.  

In November we went to Secrets Vallarta Bay on the west coast of Mexico to celebrate our birthdays. It was our first time going to a resort there.

They were well prepared for our birthday celebrations, mine on the 26th and Nanc's the 28th. We did not keep all the booze that they had laid out for us.

At dinner they lit the fireworks and sang Happy Birthday to Nanc.

There are always a lot of fun activities to do at these resorts. Here is Nanc doing aqua cycling.

Being on the west coast we had great sunsets. There are great sunrises on the Atlantic, but they are too early for us.

This was our first time in a high rise. We were in the top floor penthouse. 

That is a long iguana. It really liked eating the flowers.

Another great sunset.

At the Mexican restaurant they made fresh guacamole at your table. They used a different recipe than Nanc does. We liked it so she took a lesson. Very yummy. 

Pool yoga.

We put up the Christmas decorations while we were there and had a tree lighting party. Here we are with a couple elves.

We always do a spa day when we go to Secrets. The hydro cycle with nine different stops is very relaxing.

While there are mountains if Punta Cana you don't see them from the beach. Here they come right down to the Pacific.

Another sunset. Nanc in her Fun-gi dress.

The entertainment is always interesting.

 There are two resorts on the same site; one a Secrets, no kids; the other a Dreams, kids allowed. There was nighty entertainment in the lobbies. One evening there were bands in both lobbies at the same time and two weddings on the grounds. All were playing different music, so it was very annoying. 

That is Nanc down there doing morning yoga.

Looking up at our room, top floor third balcony from the right. 

Another Christmas tree. Most of the restaurants require that you "dress up," so we take a lot of clothes. We even won the best dressed couple award. That is an award we give to ourselves when another resort guest tells us we look nice:).

Lionel and Flo, whom we met at Betty's RV Park, spend the winter in Puerto Vallarta. They picked us up and we went out for lunch on the beach. Seeing friends is one of the great things about traveling.

A cruise ship coming into port. We stopped here on our Panama Canal cruise and decided we wanted to return.

Breakfast on the balcony overlooking the Pacific, very cool. We did see a couple of whales. They ring a bell to alert guests when a whale is passing by.

This show was a celebration of Mexican culture.

Overall, we liked Vallarta Bay. The pools were fine, the view from our room was fantastic, the staff was wonderful and the food was very good. What we did not like, it took a couple days to find the restaurants, as they were on different floors. Some were at Dreams and required taking two different elevators. It was our first time going to a resort on the west coast and the flight and lay-over made for a long travel day. On the other hand, we can be in Cancun or Punta Cana in a couple hours. We like that much better.  

Puerto Vallarta and Cabo

When we left Costa Rica we had two days at sea to enjoy the ship activities and amenities. There is always plenty to keep you busy. I will explore the at sea days in a later post.

When we docked in Puerto Vallarta we were right on the main shoreline road of the city. The crew loves this port because, as you can see, Wally World and Sam's are very close by so they can stock up on their personal needs. I thought we were going to be attacked by pirates.

Whale and Neptune sculpture celebrates Vallarta's link to the Pacific Ocean.

We took the Discover Puerto Vallarta excursion to get a quick overview of the town. Our first stop was El Malecon, the beach side promenade.We walked while our guide explained the history of the city changing from a small fishing village and mining town to a go to resort destination. 

El Malecon is lined with several contemporary sculptures. The Boy on the Seahorse was the first sculpture erected in 1976 and is now the symbol of the city.

Men in native dress dancing along the promenade.

Rain was erected in 2020. It symbolize openness, happiness, fulfillment and the welcoming of locals and strangers with open arms.

Triton and the Nereid. Triton was the son of Poseidon and Nereids were sea nymphs who helped sailors during storms in Greek mythology. 

This mural painted in 1981 in city hall shows the village as it was in 1851.

The Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe church by the town square. 

As with most churches of the period, the altar is very ornate.

A caballero keeping an eye on the street.

When in Mexico you must try the tequila.

Many options were available. I don't know about the one with the scorpion in the bottle. 

Nanc enjoying a surprisingly large margarita. She drank the whole thing!

In this little square all the structures are mosaics. The colors were fantastic.

This one was made for us, "True Love is You Love".

A street mural celebrates the people and animals of the land and sea.

The popularity of Puerto Vallarta as a go to vacation destination came after the filming of Night of the Iguana in 1963. Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr and Sue Lyon starred in the movie. Elizabeth Taylor was with Burton and they loved the place so much they bought a house (one of these pictured above).

We enjoyed our time in Vallarta and put it on our will return list. There are resorts there that are part of our vacation club.

When we awoke the next morning we were in Cabo San Lucas. This "little" pleasure craft was anchored by the Encore. Cabo is a playground for the rich and famous.

Cabo was the only port where we had to take a tender to land. A few of the boats were small enough to get into the harbor.

We have been here before but we still decided to take the Baja Highlights excursion. Our first stop was a resort with a view of our ship and Lands End.

When we were here nearly 20 years ago most of the development was in Cabo San Lucas with many resorts, bars and nightlife. Today almost the entire 20 mile stretch to San Jose del Cabo is developed with condos, stores and golf courses.

San Jose del Cabo is a more traditional Mexican village with the church on the town square. It is 250 years older than Cabo San Lucas. 

It was early Saturday morning so the town square was very quiet, with most of the visitors being from our ship. 

Of course the shops were open and some even had very nice Mexican made items rather than the Chinese junk you find in most places. 

Our last stop was The Glass Factory. They make all kinds of glass items using glass bottles they collect for local bars and restaurants. I'm sure there is an infinite supply.

Ceiling over the factory.

One of several stained glass windows.

They did a demonstration of glass blowing, making a glass animal. They make goblets, wine glasses and a variety of animals.

The finished product was a turtle wearing a sombrero and drinking tequila. It only took about ten minutes. The Glass Factory is an interesting stop if you are in Cabo.

As we were leaving we got to the arch at Lands End. This is the southern most point of the Baja.

As we rounded Lands End we saw whales. There were at least three that were breaching. We took many pictures and Nanc got this one of a humpback all the way out of the water, Very cool!!! We watched them for quite a while. Those boats got very close and chased them, something we don't like to see. 

We enjoyed our stops in Mexico and are now heading to Los Angeles and San Francisco.