Puerto Vallarta NOW – January 2020

Happy new year! The phrase ‘winter wonderland’ takes on an entirely new meaning in Puerto Vallarta this time of year with thousands of visitors arriving to escape the northern cold temperatures. For many, this is the best time of year in Puerto Vallarta, weather-wise. Not too cold, not too warm and definitely not humid. Of course, it’s all relative. For northerners, swimming in the ocean or splashing around in a swimming pool this time of year seems heavenly. For us locals, the water does feel a tad nippy, even when many resort pools are temperature controlled.

I’ve had the opportunity to welcome friends at the airport a couple of times over the past few weeks and it has been quite crowded with visitors. You’ll be pleased to know that the General Customs Administration has acquired new equipment for baggage inspection and 14 new officers have been added to the customs ara, bringing the total to 25 agents during the holiday season. This means your arrival to PV will hopefully not be too chaotic and once your plane lands and you’ve cleared customs, you’ll be at your resort or condo in no time.

What is there to do this time of year? There is something for just about everybody! Local gay hotels continue with their regularly scheduled weekly parties. If you enjoy shows, many of the entertainers scheduled in Provincetown during the summer months are down here escaping the summer months as well. And of course, Emiliano Zapata, our tourist area where most of the LGBT-related activity is also located, is full of restaurants and art galleries, not to mention 25+ bars and nightclubs.

The Olas Altas Farmers Market takes over Lázaro Cárdenas park—right in the middle of the neighborhood—every Saturday morning until early afternoon. If you are staying at a condo, this is a great place to stock up on freshly-made treats. Given its popularity among foreigners, it is also a great place to get an overall sense of what it’s like to live in Puerto Vallarta seasonally or permanently. The park itself is a work of art in progress, as local mosaic artist Natasha Moraga has been painstakingly transforming it into a tiled wonderland over the past couple of years. The project is almost completed, so one can now truly take in the uniqueness of the project.

As always, there are excellent local-based resources available on Facebook and through local publications such as Gay Guide Vallarta and GayPV for you to get a specific idea of how to make the best of your holiday in Puerto Vallarta. And if you are hanging out at the gay beach (the blue or green chairs on Los Muertos Beach) asking those around you what’s going in town is an excellent way to start a conversation and make new friends!

Happy travels!

Paco Ojeda is a Puerto Vallarta-based journalist, photographer and musician. His website, www.paco-ojeda.com, is dedicated to providing useful content for the local English-speaking community, and a few adventurous travelers!