A Taste of PV

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Puerto Vallarta is located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, on the Pacific coast. It has a population of about 225,000, with a metro area of around 480,000. Puerto Vallarta is a popular resort town, perhaps due in part to the 1963 film, Night of the Iguana, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, which was filmed in Puerto Vallarta.

Our plan was to do a 4-hour self-guided foodie itinerary prepared by AI. We were not that hungry so we cut out a few of the stops. At the cruise terminal, there was a kiosk that seemed to be a good way to get a taxi to the “Zona Romantica.” We told them where we wanted to go and they pointed to the flat rate of US $8 per person for a shared van.  The price for a taxi was around US $35. We said ok to a van and they led us to a van that departed soon after. The driver took us to a busy street corner and pulled over and everyone got out. I assumed this was it, so we got out, too.

Once I was able to locate us on Google maps, it became apparent that we still had a mile to go. I had my doubts that the driver would have taken the two of us any farther. We probably should have tried to speak to the driver about whether he was taking us to the Zona Romantica, but we didn’t. It was a chaotic place. We got out and walked the rest of the way. I now think that the person from the kiosk at the pier did not tell the driver where we wanted to go, but just brought us to the van to fill it up.

We were near the beginning of the Malecón so we just walked along the Malecón toward our destination, Playa de los Muertos. We were going to try “beachside snacks” (fresh mango with chili and lime, roasted corn (elote), tuba drink, and agua fresca) from beachside vendors. The beachside vendors looked really sketchy, so we didn’t try anything. We wanted to visit an interesting pier in the area that we didn’t think we had ever seen before. (On a previous visit to PV we walked along the Malecón to see all of the sculptures located there. You can read about that and see the photos Here.

The pier turned out to be a little bit interesting, but part of it was closed off. It was actually the pier people use to get a boat to Yelapa, across the bay. It was curvy and had a sail-like structure in the middle.

View of the beach from the pier

We proceeded inland about a block to a park to do some geocaching. There were a lot of fun mosaic benches in the park. I really liked it.

I’m going to have to ask Libby and Eric who Holly and Bob are.

 

 

We stopped for paletas (popsicles) at Paleteria y Neveria La Michoacana. There is a place in Anchorage that sells paletas. It’s called La Michoacana the Last Frontier. I think La Michoacana has become a generic name for this type of shop, though it may have started out as the name of one particular shop or a small chain.

There were about 30 flavors of popsicles, and also a lot of ice cream flavors. I chose the guava. It turned out to be a bad choice because it had hundreds of guava seeds in it, and I found them unpleasant. I was not expecting seeds at all. Other than that it was good.

Next we went to a place called Mariscos El Güero for shrimp and fish tacos. The style of taco here is a small soft tortilla with a seafood filling. You can add salsa and lettuce, The tacos were US $2 each. While we were there, two food tour groups came by for a taste of the seafood tacos, and maybe some ceviche.

“El Güero” means the blond or the white man. Apparently it does not carry a negative connotation.

Mural on outside of Mariscos El Güero

We were near the river and we decided to cross back over the river and walk back to the Malecón as far as the Arches (Los Arcos) before returning to the ship. We walked across a very rickety suspension bridge that swayed every time you or anyone else took a step. We came to a small island in the river, where there was a nice craft market.

It’s fun to look at the handmade goods, but I can rarely find anything I actually want to buy. I am at a place in my life where I have too much “stuff” as it is, and I don’t need tacky souvenirs from every place I go. I always try to find little things for gifts, but that is hard to do. Most of it is pretty junky. I sometimes think I should buy something just to help these people out, but I struggle with the idea of buying something I don’t like and have no use for. If I get another chance before we leave Mexico, I will try to buy something if I think it will help someone out. I need to stop obsessing about whether the recipient will like it.

We reached the Malecón arches. These four stone arches dominate the site of a small amphitheater where concerts sometimes take place.

At Los Arcos. In the background you can see the tower of PV’s iconic
Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

At this point, we took a taxi back to the ship. It was less than US $8. We gave the driver $10 and he was very happy. So the $8 per person van at the port was a real rip-off. C’est la vie.

We had dinner on the ship. One of the desserts was a pastry called Paris Brest. This pastry was created to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris Bicycle Race. It is shaped like a bicycle wheel. (Use your imagination.) I had to choose that dessert, because I don’t see it often and it always makes me think of Pete, a former colleague of mine (now deceased), who participated in the Paris-Brest-Paris race at least twice, and probably three times. He was an incredible athlete, and I feel honored to have known him. 

Today’s fabric is “Summer Ice Pop Paletas” from byhandathome for Spoonflower. It’s easy to spot the guava paletas with those awful seeds.