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 Travel & Outdoors | March 2007 
Puerto Vallarta: 'It's Safe and Friendly'
 Bette McClay - Canada.com
My husband and I just returned from a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. We had a fabulous time.
Prior to our departure, there was a lot of media coverage of tragic mishaps involving Canadian citizens in Mexico - at least, I was sensitively aware of the rather negative stories involving Canadians and Mexico.
It was our first holiday to Mexico and while we had been anticipating it for over 20 years and had read reports of the city's low crime rate, we were a little anxious to see how we would fare.
After the initial warding off of the time-share Mafia, getting used to dodging the wild and constant traffic and learning you didn't have to speak Spanish to use ATM machines, we relaxed and had a blast!
In a city of 300,000 people, it would be unnatural not to have its allotment of crime and I'm as sure as it snows in Saskatchewan that it was there. However, in the two weeks we were in Puerto Vallarta, we did not have one experience where we felt threatened by the Mexican people, either personally or indirectly. In fact, it was beautifully shocking how, for instance, two large tour buses could face each other on a narrow downtown street barely wide enough for a Toyota Matrix and negotiate, with the help of many good-natured passersby, a way around one another without a hint of road rage.
All around us, the people were delightful. From the scores of amazing art galleries to the sand sculptures by the Malacon to towels folded in the shapes of elegant swans by the hotel maids, we were constantly buoyed by the creativity and pleasantness the people exhibited.
Music abounded and we were serenaded everywhere, even on the rather rickety old bus on our way home after a busy day! Adults and, especially, children were eager to speak English and would always try to communicate even if it was with just a smile.
In contrast to the Mexican people we met, our fellow Canadians sometimes left us a bit dismayed. New arrivals to our hotel, at least, would commonly overindulge on food and drink, making themselves sick. They'd became obnoxious and sometimes get into trouble.
To the credit of an awesome hotel staff, whose members watched out for many crazed Canucks, many could-be tragedies were averted.
My husband and I laughed off the people who came to party. And while they might have interfered with our sleep from time to time, we excused them. But the general lack of respect for the beautiful beaches they came to visit really annoyed us. While staff worked tirelessly to keep the grounds clean, littering and a general attitude of "pick up after me" prevailed.
Tourism is Puerto Vallarta's main industry and the people who visit it are a precious renewable resource, so it should not be surprising that we were treated well.
We have come to realize that we didn't need to be nervous about going to Mexico. Bad things, just by the law of averages, will happen anywhere. What was really eye-opening, though, was that with the rather dubious behavior of a lot of my fellow citizens, Mexican people so carefully watched out for us.
Flying back to Canada, Marvin and I were euphoric from the wonderful adventure we had just experienced and were eagerly planning our next trip to this intensely colourful country called Mexico.
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Good Day Puerto Vallarta! We miss you!
I, too, have just returned from my first trip to Mexico and found Puerto Vallarta and its people, to be wonderful. I took along with me my two daughters, 35 and 37 and my granddaughter, 18. We never once felt threatened and we fell in love with everything about the people and the climate.
None of us wanted to come back home and my granddaughter is making plans to return to Puerto Vallarta to live for at least a year - either finishing her studies there or going to work.
We will all most definitely be back with the rest of our family members. I have never felt more at home anywhere - including where I live now. Thanks so much for the great hospitality!
- Wanda |
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