Day Trip to Yelapa and Majahuitas

Nighttime at the pool
Majestic Princess sailing into the sunset on Wednesday 11/3

I didn’t post yesterday as we had had a very long day and I was too tired. So, it’s now Friday morning and I’m sitting by the pool waiting for Peter to finish his laps before heading to breakfast.

Yesterday we took a day trip to Yelapa & Majahuitas with the Vallarta Adventure tour group. It’s the group recommended by the resort and it was very well done. We took a cab to the Maritime Harbor which was very crowded with people leaving for day trips. At about 8:30 we finally boarded our catamaran for our all-day excursion.

Waiting for our catamaran. No I haven’t grown a beard….it’s my mask.
It was another beautiful day.

On our way to the village of Yelapa we passed the Los Arcos de Mismaloya National Marine Park which is a group of beautiful granite islands and islets just south of PV. In 1975 they were declared a Refuge Area for the Protection of Marine Flora and Fauna.

At the Arch in the National Park.

Our first stop of the day was a short distance from the National Park and a popular snorkel spot. Luckily our group was the only one there so it wasn’t too crowded. We spent about 30 minutes snorkeling but weren’t terribly impressed. The water was very refreshing but the snorkeling itself wasn’t much. The water was a little murky and there weren’t many fish. I guess we’re getting a bit jaded as we’ve had several beautiful snorkeling experiences (Maui on our honeymoon and Key West in particular) but it was still fun.

The tour had several professional photographers and one followed us into the water.

Our next stop was the tiny fishing village of Yelapa. There are no roads in/out of the village so it was developed with materials brought in by sea. One option here was to hike up to the waterfall and the other was to hang out on the beach for 2 hours. Guess which one we chose??

Village of Yalapa
Yalapa
Hanging on the beach in Yalapa waiting for the waterfall group to get back.
Some people paid $5.00 for the privilege of putting this giant iguana on their shoulder and getting their picture taken. It should come as no surprise that we took a pass.

After lunch (and an open bar) on the boat, we headed to our third stop, the village of Majahuitas. This is where we could paddle board, kayak or take a ride on a banana boat. Since it hurts my knees watching people kneel on a paddle board went for a short ride in a kayak. They only had 4 kayaks available and there were quite a few people waiting so we only went out for about 10-15 minutes. We spent about 20 minutes hanging out in the big beach chairs until I went out on the banana boat. I had never done that before and began to question the wisdom of doing it when I realized I was going out with 11 drunk 30 somethings. The good news was that when I fell into the boat during the ride (which I guess is better than falling out of the boat), the guy behind me was strong enough to lift me back on to the seat. It was fun and something I can now check off my list of things to do.

On our way back to Puerto Vallarta, some of the crew put on a rock concert for us. It was quite the hoot. Pablo (aka Jagger) was the cruise director. He was very enthusiastic and a lot of fun.

We chatted with some very nice people on our excursion including one guy who is the spitting image of former Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta. He told me that he gets that a lot.

Tell me that’s not Jake Arrieta.

Once back at the resort cleaned up and rested before our evening Mexican Dinner Show. It was at the adjacent Dreams resort and was very nice. The show highlighted dances from 4 different Mexican states. This one is a dance from Jalisco, which is were Puerto Vallarta is located. The dancers were very good. https://youtu.be/kGj44NTljp4.

It was a very full, fun day. Today we plan to just hang out at the pool and maybe take a walk along the beach so I may not report back in until tomorrow. Have a great day everyone. Love from us.

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