Posts filed under 'Puerto Vallarta'
The photo is from this USAToday article on Mexico’s newest Pacific coast get-destination. Maybe it’s not the newest, but the Riviera Nayarit is really coming of age at its own pace.
It appears as though you could glance around that outcropping of rock and see old Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta just beyond and down the coast. Of course the coast is a bit bigger than that.
The character of the 20 or so Riviera Nayarit locales varies from bustling to sleepy. The coast begins at Nuevo Vallarta, chockablock with big, all-inclusive resorts 15 minutes north of the Puerto Vallarta airport, and ends at San Blas, whose largest hotel has only 50 rooms. In between lies everything from new ultra-exclusive gated enclaves such as Punta Mita; the ’70s-vintage mass-market resort town of Rincón de Guayabitos; pristine beaches that draw campers, such as Chacala; and fishing villages with growing ex-pat populations, such as Sayulita and San Francisco.
We’re not sure when we’ll offer Riviera Nayarit as a destination in its own right though it’s probably sooner than you might think. Right now our staff in Puerto Vallarta is working on more than a few homes there, in the city itself, and to points both north and south. But our Puerto Vallarta “On-the-Ground” is showing an increasing number of homes, starting in Bucerias and up to the beautiful homes and condos of Nuevo Vallarta to more and more places.
Meanwhile, in various places along the coast, villages whose commerce once revolved around taco stands and auto repair shops have sprouted organic cafes, yoga studios — and hotels for well-heeled travelers who demand such amenities. Nineteen lodgings with more than 4,000 rooms are slated to open by 2011.
Click here to tell us about Your Ideal Home
March 7th, 2008
Punta Mita is just about the most northern point on the Bahia de Banderas, the beginnings of the new Nayarit Riviera. It’s not exactly Puerto Vallarta, but I thought these couple of photos from one of the places we’ll be going there nicely capture what Punta Mita is.
Hacienda Grand, the resort and condo hotel is planned for that yellow rough rectangle outlined in both photos. But you can see perhaps also that this is not the sort of place with condominium towers leaning out over the beach.
Puerto Vallarta proper is visible as the white developed areas in the photo below, and Vallarta does get criticized for being “over-developed.” But I think you can see from the photos also, that much of this world famous coastline is still rather pristine.
Click here to tell us about Your Ideal Home
February 29th, 2008
Looking to learn a little something more about:
- Financial security
- Attitudes towards retirement
- Being directive - seeing what you want and going after it
- Health perspectives
- Current and projected life satisfaction
- Adapting
- Family-relationship issues
- Replacement of work functions
Those are the topics being covered as part of the January 9th Wise Women of Vallarta meeting. The 2 hour presentation, Some Things to Help in the Process of “The New Retirement,” starts at 10 AM at the International Friendship Club House, Parian del Puente, Downtown Puerto Vallarta. The photo above comes from the new HealthCare Resources PV website, where you can check on their whole calendar of events related to Medical and Health Care, Insurance, Diet and Medical Tourism in and around Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Click here to return to Livtopia.com
January 3rd, 2008
Keith from Puerto Vallarta Whale Watching let us know that the Official Whale Watching Season has started in Puerto Vallarta. A bit later than last year, the season started December 8 and runs through March 23, 2008. The whales are fully rested after their long trip south and ready to greet people who book tours with responsible touring groups. According to this article at Virtual Vallarta (from which comes the photo above), the approved tour boats have been alloted purple flags by SEMARNAT (Secretaría de medio ambiente y recursos naturales)to show that they have the proper permits. Happy whale watching!
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December 13th, 2007
Via Vallarta Lifestyles Magazine, now available digitally, there’s a nice list of all the upcoming festivals in the Puerto Vallarta region. (Pages 70-71). Worthy of note, of course, is the co-incidental feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Anniversary of Puerto Vallarta - both coming up on December 12.
In 1851, don Guadalupe Sánchez Torres founded Puerto Vallarta, when he brought his family and a few friends to settle in an area alongside the Cuale River.
The feast of the Virgin is a huge day just about everywhere in Mexico, but celebrating Puerto Vallarta can’t be a bad thing either. See the rest of the list for the Puerto Vallarta area festivals that stretch clean past next summer.
December 6th, 2007
Part of the reason it’s been so quiet here is because we’ve been working extra hard on the 2008 calendar of free weekends, which was no small feat.
It means we’ve put together enough hotel rooms and enough speakers to make sure we can cover all the locations, and there are already some surprises!! You’ll have to check the page to see the one big surprise!!
But beyond that it is worth saying, maybe it is even obvious, that the calendar is not yet complete. We’ve got a few locations yet to add and certainly a lot of dates, because every location will have a few possible dates.
But that said, right now we are talking about 14 locations and expecting that number to jump to 15 before very long. I can’t give secret 15 away yet, but it is inland in Mexico, possibly with the very best climate anywhere in the world (?)
- Los Cabos/La Paz
- Puerto Vallarta
- Mazatlán
- Mérida
- Campeche
- Cancún/Isla Mujeres/Playa del Carmen
- San Miguel de Allende
- Juan Dolio DR
- Northern DR
- Guanacaste CR
- Central Valley CR
- Panamá City
- Boquette Panama
- Surprise Location
We’ve also set up a basic schedule that covers all of the events in ever city and we are sending that out to anyone who registers. I’ll be making it available on line in a few days too. It gives you a good idea what to expect, when to arrive, how the speakers and experts will be arranged and I think generally allows people to make the most of the weekend.
Return to Livtopia.com
November 15th, 2007
I took a lot of grief for not including this Ocean Facing shot of the latest condominium in Puerto Vallarta within the latest newsletter that we sent out this past Thursday. This photo shows clearly why just about every square inch of living space has an ocean view. Apparently, only the bathrooms do not face the ocean. The October 24 newsletter featured a bunch of interior renderings, but due to space I couldn’t include every single one.
Click here to return to Livtopia.com
October 27th, 2007
This one hasn’t made it into the listings at Livtopia yet. We’ve heard from a number of people about the various problems with our search system and we’ve had people working double-time for more than a week to get it working perfectly. As such, now we’ve got quite a few great places backed up waiting for the upload. Pictured above is one of them. And I’ll be writing about another a bit later on. The best way to hear about this centrally located Vallarta condo is to sign-up for our newsletter, from the front page of Livtopia.com.
I’ll be sending out quite a few new details, probably later today in the newsletter. But the other way to find out a little more is always to inquire with the client services people who are talking all the time about these and a few other great places coming up.
Click here to return to Livtopia.com
October 24th, 2007
From Hotel Newswire, another airline gets in to the market for the flood of people coming into Puerto Vallarta and other points along Mexico’s Pacific coast.
The AOC gives Republic Airlines the authority to operate EMB 170/175s on several routes to Mexico, including: Denver to Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Mazatlán and Zihuatanejo; Sacramento and San Jose, California to Los Cabos; and Albuquerque, New Mexico to Puerto Vallarta.
Those Departure Cities will join the already hefty list that the Puerto Vallarta airport lists:
- Atlanta - Aeromexico airlines, Continental Airlines,Delta Airlines
- Chicago - Mexicana Airlines, Continental Airlines
- Cleveland -Aeromexico airlines,Continental Airlines,American Airlines
- Dallas -Aeromexico airlines, Continental Airlines, American Airlines
- Denver -Mexicana Airlines, America West
- Detroit - Northwest airlines
- Houston -Aeromexico airlines, Continental Airlines
- Los Angeles - Aeromexico, Continental, Alaska,Mexicana
- Miami -Aeromexico airlines,Mexicana Airlines
- Minneapolis / Saint Paul - Northwest airlines
- Newark - Continental Airlines, American Airlines
- New York -Aeromexico airlines
- Phoenix - Aeromexico, Continental, Alaska, America West
- Portland -Alaska Airlines
- San Antonio -Mexicana Airlines
- San Jose - Alaska Airlines
- Seattle -Alaska Airlines, Continental Airlines
- St. Louis - Continental Airlines, TWA
- San Diego - Alaska Airlines
- San Francisco -Alaska Airlines, Mexicana Airlines
October 5th, 2007
More on the healthcare front, this time from Puerto Vallarta, it’s Wellness Week!! Just the sort of American-Style awareness event you might expect from a growing health care concious ex-pat community.
With tons of free events for the healthy-minded and presented by Health Travel Guides. September 24, 2007 through September 28, 2007, at Villa del Palmar Flamingos Beach Resort and Spa Paseo Cocoteros #750 - Nuevo Vallarta. And guess what? It’s totally free.
Here’s what to expect, (I edited out the Monday schedule for space reasons and with apologies for posting this a bit late):
|
Tues 9-25 |
Weds 9-26 |
Thurs 9-27 |
Fri 9-28 |
| 9-10am |
Yoga or Pilates |
Yoga or Pilates |
Yoga or Pilates |
Yoga or Pilates |
| 10-11am |
My Abdominal Journey by Pamela Thompson, Bariatric Patient |
Stress Management by Lic. Grizelda Lozano |
Anti-Aging Skin Care Procedures by Dra. Marcela Ruiz, Dermatologist |
Infection Rates in US & Mexican Hospitals by Dr. Xochitl Torres & Dr. Roberto Garcia |
11-12
|
Bariatric Surgery Techniques by Dr. Armando Joya |
Nutrition Lecture |
Nutrition Lectura |
Nutrition Lectura |
| 12-12:30pm |
|
Cooking Demo |
Cooking Demo |
Cooking Demo |
| 1-2pm |
Your Healthy Heart by Dr. Jorge Chavez Cardiologist and Internal Medicine |
Flower of Health by Dr. Jose Romo on homeopathic remedies and holistic healing |
Your Healthy Heart by Dr. Jorge Chavez Cardiologist and Internal Medicine |
The Latest in Lasik by Dr. Roberto Dali |
| 2-3pm |
Managing Chronic Diseases such as diabetes, obesity, thyroid by Dr. Lily Davalos |
Advances in Cosmetic Dentistry |
How to Look Years Younger by Lydia Safarti, New York spa owner and skin care specialist |
Men’s Health – What to focus on for the over 40 male by Dr. Pedro Lopez-Cueto |
| 3-4pm |
Meditation, How and Why by Edwin Tritler |
Women’s Health Issues |
Meditation, How and Why by Edwin Tritler |
Plastic Surgery Techniques by Dr. Miguel SaldanaClosing of Wellness Week Cocktail Reception |
Note: The Schedule above is Subject to Change
For further information, please contact Pamela Thompson:
pmt15@hotmail.com
September 24th, 2007
There’s something terrific to be said about strolling around any tourist town in the off season. Somehow living year round where so many people visit and then disappear can make you feel like you’ve disappeared yourself.
But there’s no reason to feel disappeared. Slow season in Puerto Vallarta means the art galleries are open and cutting prices back. And it’s a terrific time to get introspective and check out what’s really happening in the city. Puerto Vallarta’s art scene goes back pretty much to the beginning of the city’s reputation as a tourist destination, and it’s always been happening.
In fact, the city’s reputation as a tourist destination pretty much coincides with its reputation as a steamy tropical hot-spot, alive with intrigue, mystery and something more than a little off the wall. Shannon’s despair in Night of the Iguana has never quite been rectified.
Perhaps toward that end, artists have been working in and around Puerto Vallarta ever since.
The illustrations here are courtesy of GALERIA VALLARTA, in Puerto Vallarta. According to their website:
Galería Vallarta is not only one of the most popular art galleries in Puerto Vallarta, but it is also a favorite shopping spot for locals and tourists alike. Posters, collectibles, contemporary masks from Durango, a wide selection of indigenous handicrafts from all over Mexico, and one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces of gold and silver jewelry are also available.
The gallery informed me that they’re offering special savings on original art work through the month of September. With a good room full of original paintings by their best artists at savings of 20% to 50% The artists they keep in house are:
- Claudia Nery
- Steven Fischer
- Dimitar and Helen Krustev
- Manuel Valles Gomez
- Steven King
- Marcos
- Cristobal
- Sergio Narvaez and more.
Vallarta Artists are preparing for the continuation of the Old Town Art Walks that will start up again on October 24th and continue every Wednesday night, 6-10PM through May 28, 2008.
Open Monday through Friday from 10AM to 6PM, Saturdays 10 to 3 PM and by appointment, Galeria Vallarta is at Juarez 265, Centro, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. You can contact the gallery at webart@galeriavallarta.com or by phone: 322-222-0290.
September 11th, 2007
That’s it so far. There are more photos of this new Mexican project at the Costalegre Community Forum, for which you’ll need to register in order to read. The forum is part of the always lively website, Sparks Mexico.
For some background though, this news came from the really interesting and obsessively comprehensive blog at materialicious. Readers really must take a look there to see what these recycled container homes end up looking like. There are projects documented, from concept to completion in every corner of the world.
August 12th, 2007
We’re polishing up the details in preparation to announce the Free 3-day “On-the-Ground” events in Campeche and Panama City, and we’re learning a lot about what people want from the same 3-Day totally free event we’re holding in Puerto Vallarta in October. That one is filling up fast… and you can click here for more details. It all really comes down to where you want to go.
We’re working on a similar event to be held, for free in Costa Rica, probably in November, and another for Mazatlan and probably in Ixtapa, soon after.
A lot of people have written, mostly in reply to the most recent newsletter, to ask how these can possibly be totally free events. The simple answer is, plenty of people are interested in having you take a look at Puerto Vallarta and at the other locations we’re featuring. Most of these will be 3 day events, some will be 4. We’re talking right now to people who are interested enough to get you 3 nights for free in a nice hotel in Puerto Vallarta so you can relax, get to know the area and then make an intelligent decision that you can’t make just by staring at pictures on the internet.
August 10th, 2007
I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, that pretty much the whole Livtopia crew is working 12 hour days to soft-launch our new site in the next week. A big part of that work is in announcing and preparing our new totally FREE on the ground events. The events page is coming alive. We’ve got reservations coming in for Puerto Vallarta, which includes a boat tour of the bay and more PV than you could think of in just three days. And and we’re planning to announce events, again, totally free, in Campeche and Panama City in just the next few days.
We’re planning on hosting the FREE events in all four countries by the end of this year and in at least a dozen of our current crop of 28 featured locations in Mexico by early next year. And you can expect that list of 28 Featured Locations to grow too:
- Acapulco
- Manzanillo
- Reynosa ! ? ! and some other out of the way places.
- Not even to mention the -yet to be determined - new Featured Locations in Costa Rica!
We’ll almost certainly be hosting a free 3-day vacation weekends for people interested in Costa Rica and Dominican Republic and probably soon in Acapulco, too. Mazatlan is not far down the road and neither is San Miguel. Everything in time, but the good part is we’ve worked out a way to make them totally free, meals included, 3 days with tours and learning and mouch much more!!
Of course, i keep saying we are also re-launching Livtopia’s MexRetire.com, Livtopia’s Concierge, and a new site just for Mexico City to coincide with Livtopia’s NEW corporate re-location site, MexLiving.com. You think you got stuff to do?
August 3rd, 2007
That last post really was inspired not only by people that Livtopia reps have been picking up in Puerto Vallarta and in Mazatlan, but also by a few personal friends of mine. People with loads of money but who can not only not afford to buy a house, but worse, when they buy a house they can’t afford to live in it. I have a few friends who have been renting for 3 years with almost no hope of moving into the house they bought. Then again, I have other friends who visited Mazatlan and never planned to move there permanently, but who figure that years from now (or sooner), well, they just might. At least they have something.
I’m not a real estate person really, but reading more and more of the discussion going on out there, it does become pretty frightening. What follows is both an analyisis and an observation proffered in response to that at analysis.
First, from Mike Cook at BloodHoundBlog, really one of the most continually insightful real estate blogs out there:
On the positive side, the economy seems to be holding strong. This is reflected in the strong office market that has persisted despite a tighter financing situation. A bit more neutrally, interest rates are low historically, but are significantly higher than two or three years ago. This affects adjustable rate mortgage borrowers and borrowers who decide not to move because of the higher rates. Finally, the subprime lending situation, the tighter lending standards, and the supply of homes on the market make up the bulk of negative real estate factors.
That inspired this basketball-related response from the Real Estate Zebra.
You need to know the perspective of the person doing the analysis. Is this person a builder? an investor? a REALTOR? Where is the person located geographically? All of these questions help establish a person’s perspective. Once you can do that, you can look at their opinion through the prism of your own perspective.
Fair enough, and a good piece of advice for readers here. Livtopia’s perspective is from that of the Buyer’s Agent. You can read more about that here.
July 18th, 2007
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