This is the only port we didn’t book any excursion. We took a taxi to Malecon and walked around. Malecon was fun to walk around, but we got frustrated with the taxis. They sure try to rip off tourists.

I read on Cruise Critic board that catching cabs in Puerto Vallarta is easy and safe. Just go out of the port and catch one of the yellow cabs instead of the white port taxis within the port, since they’re cheaper, they said. Well, being a first timer in Puerto Vallarta, we first couldn’t figure out where the exit was, and once we found the exit, we couldn’t figure out where to catch a taxi, so we decided to just go back into the port (we only stepped out, but they had to check our IDs and my backpack to get back in! LOL) and take the white taxi. We had some pesos, we got them thinking we’d use them for the taxi fare, but nope, the white taxi only accepts US dollars. They REFUSED to take pesos. Anyway, at that point, we just wanted to get going, so we paid the $4 per person fare and took the cab to Malecon. (The taxi was a van and they filled it up with many others. Still $4 per person. What a rip off…) They dropped us off near Hotel Rosita/McDonald’s and told us we could catch the taxi back to the port there.

Walk along Malecon was lovely, and we enjoyed the view and many interesting sculptures.

After walking through Old Town, we walked back toward the taxi stand, but we wanted to use the pesos (since we got them), so we decided not to take the white taxi back (who still refused to take pesos) and walked about a block to find a yellow cab. It was easy enough to catch one, but this driver wanted US dollars too. We told him we only had pesos, and he finally grudgingly agreed to take us back to the port for 140 pesos. Cruise Critic said the taxi fare from port to Malecon should be about 60 to 100 pesos, so I know we overpaid, but at that point, we just wanted to get back to the ship, so we didn’t argue.

Next time, we won’t bother getting pesos and we’ll just take the overpriced port taxis to avoid the hassle. (If there is a next time, that is. We never were interested in Mexico, so I doubt we’d ever go there again, unless we do another Panama Canal cruise.)

View of the port area from the Seaview Deck. This was taken after we returned from our walk. If we’d seen this before getting off the ship, we may have been less confused.

Westerdam seen from Walmart parking lot.

Ruby Princess was with us that day.

Sailaway.

Sunrise.