April 1, 2018, Sunday: 

We got up early in the morning around 6 am, got ready and drove to the SFP airport. We parked at the Hilton parking near the San Francisco airport and planned to take the shuttle to the airport. But we were running late and we missed the shuttle by few minutes and also the shuttle takes longer time than car, we called Uber at the parking place and reached the airport at 8:40 am. We quickly got in the line for Alaska Airlines but took 30 minutes to get the check on done. The security line was small so we got through that quickly. We had omelettes and juice near the A12 gates for breakfast. After, we got on the plane for the 10:15 am direct flight to Puerto Vallarta. Mexico is two hours ahead of the west coast so even though we landed at 2 pm. It was 4 pm in Mexico. We had a transfer service to the hotel from our vacation package. We got hold of the grey line services person who got us the taxi to hotel. We were staying at Casamagna Marriott Resort and Spa, Puerto Vallarta. After getting settled, we changed and went to the pool. The pool was beautiful overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We had some fun in the pool outside. After some play, we were hungry and ordered some good Mexican food from Las Casitas at the pool. It was great food. We all ate the food and ordered some more while sitting and watching the sunset. Puerto Vallarta has one of the best sunsets to see on the Pacific Ocean. Our waiter, Raul was talking in Spanish and I got to translate for my parents, who can’t speak Spanish, while I am learning the language. We ordered vegetable linguini, enchiladas, tacos and mai tai drinks. Very fresh and good tasting food.

April 2, 2018, Monday: 

When I got up in the morning, everyone had already gone for a walk. I got ready and met them for breakfast at La Estancia, which was delicious. Mom and Pia got buffet food while Dad and I ordered Ala carte. Pia got some omelettes and bread along with hash browns. Mommy got some fruits, cereals, and toasts. I ordered some vegetable omelettes with pancakes which I shared with papa. Pia got a balloon monkey from the balloon making clown at the restaurant that I did not like. Mom and I kayaked together for a little in the bay. The ocean was gorgeous. After that, we played in the pool for an hour or so with a floaty toy. We got ready to go to the downtown after that. But we met Ernesto at the concierge services who gave us the tour of the wellness center and spa. He also told us about some good traditional Mexican restaurants near downtown. We decided to take the bus to downtown Puerto Vallarta. The bus itself was really bumpy half an hour ride. But it was a good experience to see local people. We got down at Malecon.  This area is mainly for pedestrians and there is not much traffic here. We walked around looking at some sculptures and arts, and bought souvenirs. The walkway includes a number of sculptures by famous artists, including Bustamante, Colunga and Barquet. The most iconic sculpture is also the oldest one in this part of town, the statue titled “The Boy on the Seahorse“, commonly known as “The Seahorse Statue”.  We went to the local church, Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was quite nice and serene. We had dinner an early dinner at 6 PM at Casa Tradicional, very close to the church. We ordered vegetarian enchiladas, guacamole and chips. They made fresh guacamole in front of us near the table, which was cool. The owner came and met us and then told us that he will get something special for us. He got a really spicy salsa for us. My mouth just died as it was really spicy. After that we continue our walk along the bay and saw many more beautiful spots. Then we walked to the Los Muertos beach and got our hair braided. I translated again, and could feel my Spanish skills improving. Then around 9 pm, we took the taxi back from Malecon to the hotel.

April 3, 2018, Tuesday: 

We got up in the morning around 7:30 am and got ready. Also it was Mom’s birthday today. We wished her happy birthday and sang for her. We had already ordered in room breakfast which arrived at 7:45 am. We got omelettes and toasts, croissants, orange juice, green tea etc. It was quite decent. We got ready and got a taxi to reach the Nuevo Vallarta office of Vallarta adventures for our dolphin signature swim experience. We were at the 10 am tour. This taxi ride was smoother than last night because the driver was older and more relaxed and not in a rush. Once at Vallarta Adventures we entered and checked in, before getting two wrist bands. Outside the check in area, a woman’s was letting people take pictures with her co-workers, who were monkeys. She was an animal trainer. I took a picture with the monkey, and it’s paws were surprisingly soft. After, the adventure started. First a nice woman and her assistant Carlos talked to us about dolphins. We learned that killer whale sharks were the biggest dolphins in the world, and Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins, the second biggest, were the ones we would ride. We also learned that dolphins are closely related to the hippopotamus, and that their relatives the Vaquitas porpoises set to go extinct. Once the talk was over we went to the pool, where 14 dolphins live. 8 more live at another Vallarta Base a boat ride from the current one. Everyone put their belongings into the lockers and donned life jackets. We we were introduced to Erik and Hector, the photographer and videographer. Then, we all jumped into the water. To my surprise, it was salty to mimic a dolphins actual habitat. The dolphins, Yashui and Duae, swam around us so we could pet them. They both weighed around 700 pounds, and we’re very soft to touch. Duae, the male, was especially big compared to Yashui, the female. After, we held onto the wall and I volunteered to be the first to swim. The two Pacific Bottlenose dolphins swam near me and I grabbed onto their dorsal fine, me legs and arms straight. It was so much fun as they pulled me through the water, and I was really sad it ended. The rest of the family went, and then the other Indian family sharing dolphins with us. After, we got to personally hug and kiss the dolphins, and it was great. We finished around 11:30 am and then had our lunch there which was included in the price. We returned back to the hotel by 1 pm. We went straight to the pool and played there for an hour or so. Then we showered and changed and went down to the common lobby area. We had ice cream there and played bananagram and sleeping queens. Then mommy went for massage at the Ohtli Spa and we went for a small walk on the beach. We was playing on the beach and my phone dropped in water. I found it but it had some sand and water in it, and we couldn’t charge it on cable anymore. Then we went to dinner at La Estancia. We had guacamole made on table, enchiladas and tacos. Pia had mini burgers with fries. We sat down for dinner around 7:30 and around 8:30 mommy joined us after finishing her massage. After dinner, we came back and slept as we have to wake up early next morning.

April 4, 2018, Wednesday: 

We woke up early at 6:30 am, got ready and left at 7:20. We got the taxi to Marina terminal to take the catamaran to Marieta Islands. Protected as part of Marieta State Park, these natural wonders are home to a number of native wildlife species, as well as some of the most breathtaking landscapes in all of Mexico. We took the Islas Marietas Eco Discovery tour by Vallarta adventures. It was a long ride on the catamaran from 8 to 9:30 am. Dad and I both got sea sick due to the turbulence. We could not go on the island as it is a natural preserve now. We reached close to it and went for snorkeling, paddle boarding and kayaking. There are 2 islands here. Long island and the round island. Good site for snorkeling. We spent an hour or so here. The tour guide named sexy Alan, Sergie, Christopher and others were quite good. They also gave us a history of the islands and how it was initially used in 1960’s by the Mexican military as a bombing practice area. Then through efforts of Jacques Cousteau to help save this island and now it is part of Unesco preserve. We also saw lots of Blue footed booby birds here on the islands. Then we went to the exclusive Majahuitas Beach resort which, is one of the most secluded and beautiful beaches on the Pacific coast. I took a nap here, Pia played in the water and my parents went kayaking. We spent an hour and half here and then took the catamaran back to the Marina. The crew of the catamaran put up quite a good s in show with karaoke and dance and skits. Very talented team. We came back to the hotel and went to the pool again. In the evening, we went to Las Casitas for dinner. We had fajitas, enchiladas, linguini, orange juice. Dad had margarita also.

April 5, 2018, Thursday: 

Today again we woke up early and had breakfast in the room and left around 7:30 am. We reached the Nueva Vallarta office of Vallarta adventure. We are taking the Outdoor Zip Line Adventure organized by Vallarta adventures. We met a family from Los Angeles there on the same tour. First we took a speed boat ride for 20 minutes to Boca De Tomatlan, which in few miles south of Puerto Vallarta. Then we took a 16 seater unimog bus up the hills to the outdoor adventures village which is in the heart of Sierra Madre Occidental mountains, deep in the forest. This ride was another 30 minutes. There we met our zip lining and rappelling guides. We were fitted with harness and guided on how to operate these. Then we took a 15 minute mule ride up the mountains to the starting point. We did a series of zip lining above the trees, zip lined into the waters, rappelled down 30 m rock, did a long water slide. This was real fun and adventurous. Papa and I did one of the zip line hanging upside down also. Our guides were Yolo, Roben, Chino, Jona, Sara and Crawford. We finished around noon. After changing, we ate some lunch. It was very relaxing. We also did some archery there. Then we did the reverse journey on unimog bus and speed boat back to Nuevo Vallarta marina reaching around 3 pm. While on the speed boat we stopped around the Los Archos National Park which is a series of very small island north of Mismaloya town. These islands are also famous for snorkeling and has lots of birds.

We came back to the hotel and went to sleep for an hour as we were very tired. Then we went to the pool again and then dinner at Champions sports bar around 8:30 pm. After dinner Pia and I came back to the room while papa and mommy played some pool in the bar.

April 6, 2018, Friday: 

Today there was no rush to get up. I woke up around 9:30 am or so. Rest had woken up earlier. Dad and Pia went for breakfast to La Estencia at 9:15. Mom and I joined them later. We had a heavy breakfast till 11 am. Then we came back to the room, packed and checked out around noon. We played bananagram and pool table games in the foyer till 2 pm. We also had a light lunch at the same time. Then we took the Greyline taxi back to the Airport and took the 4:45 pm flight to Los Angeles Airport (LAX). We reached LAX around 6 pm local time. We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Kitchen of Veggie pizza, Mediterranean sandwiches and Butternut squash soup. Soup was really great. We had 9:35 pm flight from LAX to SFO. But around 8:15 pm we found that that due to heavy rains in San Francisco, the flights to SFO were cancelled. Mom and Dad tried to get the next flight but no chances. All flights were full as many flights were cancelled. Eventually Mom got hold of a nice lady who booked us for the night at Hilton Los Angeles Airport hotel and also the flight to San Jose next morning at 7 am. The good thing: We got upgraded to first class. We took the shuttle to Hilton and just slept quickly as we had to get up early before 5 am.

April 7, 2018, Saturday: We got up early and took the shuttle back to LAX and took the 7 am flight. Since we were is first class (first time for us), we really liked it. Great service, lots of space. Now since we came back to San Jose Airport (SJC), our car was in SFO and it had the garage remote. Fortunately we had the home keys and we could open the side garage door and enter the house. Then, mom and dad let us home and went off to get the car.

Overall, I loved the Puerto Vallarta Trip and would recommend it to all who consider a vacation in Mexico.