Puerto Vallarta Captured the Hearts of Naples Couple Marlene Graham - News-Press Coastal Life
go to original January 25, 2013

Louis and MaryJo Boven

While visiting the Puerto Vallarta Zoo last month, Louis Boven was "slimed" by a camel.

Though the incident at the zoologica (zoo) may have been unexpected, it didn't go unappreciated by wife MaryJo or the extended family members who accompanied the Boven couple on their most recent trip to this colonial city on Mexico's Pacific Coast. "Most recent" meaning they have been to Puerto Vallarta in the vicinity of 21 times prior.

"That's almost embarrassing to admit," MaryJo says with a laugh, especially since they have no plans to mark "suficiente" (enough) beside it on their "places to go" list just yet.

The Boven connection to "Vallarta" - as locals tend to shorten it - began some 25 years ago after Louis' brother got a job as a tennis pro in Monterrey, Mexico. On one of their visits to see him, curiosity drew them to the western side of the country.

The romantic version of the story would be the quaintness of the cobblestoned streets and the rope bridges got to them; and the friendliness of the people; and the beauty of the landscape. But the truth is they were fast-talked into buying a time share that proved the strongest magnet for their return the first few times. But to Puerto Vallarta's credit, once the time share was gone, the return visits continued.

With a population of approximately 260,000, situated on a plain at the foot of the Sierra Madre mountains with three rivers flowing its region, and rimmed by the sparkling waters of Banderas Bay, the town hit a heyday in the 1960s as the movie location for "Night of the Iguana" with Ava Gardner and Richard Burton. But even so, it isn't a celebrity centered community; more west coast American/Canadian-retiree focused, which accounts for the condominium boom over the past few years.



Puerto Vallarta sunsets can remind visitors that Florida is not that far away.

"Even so," says MaryJo, who along with Louis reside near the beach in Naples and are former Cedar Hammock residents, they've stayed very customer-oriented.”

As an example, she tells the story of ordering breakfast at a restaurant one morning, and asking the waiter if they had orange juice. "Fresh?" he asked. "Yes," they replied. Knowing it wasn't on the menu, he rushed out into the street to a vendor to have him squeeze fresh oranges into glassfuls of juice that the waiter then brought in to the Boven table.

"I don't know of many places where you get service like that," MaryJo says with a laugh. "They are so in tune with what you want as a visitor. It's just not like that at other tourist areas in Mexico."

Puerto Vallarta is broken up into several areas — the Hotel Zone along the shore to the north; the Zona Romantica (Romantic Zone), the "old town area" of cobbled streets, restaurants and galleries; the Centro (downtown area) with its waterfront walkway and the Marina area. Beyond that are various residential areas.

Although this region does have an agricultural bent - with the most important crops being flour, corn, sweet corn, dry beans, fresh chile, watermelon and tobacco - it's tourism that makes PV tick with nearly 50 percent of the workforce involved.

That's not to say they have tourism down to a science. In some cases the charm of the area is the imperfectness of the experience.

"The bus is a must," MaryJo says, "... cheap and thrilling. We feel very safe in the area and take buses into the mountains to see the quaint villages where no one speaks English and we can practice our Spanish."

They also love the local zoo – and ride there by bus as well.

"The zoo is a 30-minute ride out of the city," MaryJo says, "but it is so worth it. The location is close to where the movie 'Predator' was filmed and is nestled in the mountain area south of town. You climb winding paths up and through the zoo, and hang on when you head down the paths. They have lots of big cats and most of the animals that large zoos have."

The best part for them is that you can feed many of the animals as you walk through if you buy a bag of food especially made for feeding. Of course getting up close and personal with such animals can have its slimy side as Louis obviously discovered with his camel friend – an incident incidentally caught on video, so it will no doubt live on for some time in Boven family lore.

Other interesting ideas per the Bovens include taking a boat trip to Los Arcos, rock arch formations that jut out of the waters of an underwater national marine park, a favorite venue for fishing, whale watching, snorkeling above coral, and just "plain old partying," and getaways to various small unpopulated beaches for body surfing.

Another favorite destination is Punta de Mita, a 1,500-acre beachfront village, 10 miles north of Vallarta, known for the fish "caught and cooked on location" beachside. When they first started going there, the peninsula was a fairly quiet area; but through the years plenty of hotels and condos have built up, and no wonder with three sides of beaches totaling nine miles of sand.

Nights, by the way, are for strolling and shopping along the Malecon, a wide mile-long walkway leading from the pier in the Romantic Zone to downtown (Centro) along the bay. "It's exciting," she says, "with all the nightly entertainment and the vendors everywhere."

"The weather is tough to beat in the winter," MaryJo adds. "The days are warm and it's cool enough in the evenings to open the windows and the sliders to hear the crashing waves." On this trip they stayed at the Casa Magna Marriott, where they especially enjoyed the breakfast buffets and poolside lunches.

The downside to PV, MaryJo says, is there are still time share hits; a few people asking for money; and she says tongue in cheek - worst of worst - no refills on ice tea. "Drinks with ice are at a premium," she says with a laugh.

But free refills notwithstanding, we're guessing Trip 23 is already in the works.

Marlene Graham is a longtime travel writer and author of the book “Headfirst Into America.” You may contact her at marlenegraham@earthlink.net.

  Learn about Zoologico de Vallarta (Vallarta Zoo)