Day 13(Puerto Vallarta): March 7, 2019
We could not have had better weather for today. Just glorious. I woke up several times in the night worried about missing our early excursion time and finally got out of bed at about 730. I woke up the girls, but they said they'd rather have another 30 minutes of sleep than breakfast so I told them to meet me at the Walt Disney theater at 815 and headed off to Cabana's. When I got up there was still a rosy cast to the sky and it was so lovely. I had a departure from my usual breakfast and ate french toast and a chicken burrito. This was a mistake as there ended up being SO much food put in front of me today and I couldn't seem to say no to trying any of it. I should have just had coffee. Dede said some people from Vibe did the pirate ship I took a photo of. When I got to the theater I ran into Conner aka Alabama. He was such a hoot.
The girls and I signed into our excursion to Los Caletas and it wasn't a long wait for the hundred or so others to arrive. We stepped right off the Wonder and into PV and it was a short walk to the boat that would take us to the magnificent beach. Our French friends were on the tour with us and I met a homeschool family that I had the best conversation with about homeschooling in an rv. The boat ride out included a continental breakfast of pound cake, juice, water, coffee, and fruit. Well of course I had to try the cake and coffee! A man sang a Mexican song and then the least fun part of the day a presentation of all the add ons you could purchase. It was short and not in your face as they kept it at the front of the boat. There were things like a scuba diving, seal swim, and others that I can't remember. They also went over the many things that were included. Unfortunately, this was all very loud and my French babies were upset by the noise. I loaned them my muffle phones but alas I only had the one pair. The photographers also took a photo of each family for the photo recognition software.
After about forty minutes we were there at the stunning beach. It truly look like Fantasy Island! The minute we arrived I never wanted to leave.
The first thing the girls and I did was head over to the welcome taco. A woman was making fresh corn tortillas. At first I was a little disappointed because I don't normally like corn tortillas, but when in Mexico! And these were amazing! The best taco I've ever had with hot beans, guacamole, grilled onions and salsa. Served with a glass of hibiscus nectar. Just incredible.
Next we made our way to the family beach. One of the men from the tour company stopped to apologize about the noise on the boat over and to please let our French friends know once again how sorry they were and that if there was anything at all they could do to let him know. Apparently, they'd been very unhappy and there had been quite a misunderstanding when they'd disembarked but in the end everything got settled and they told us at dinner they had a wonderful day. I thought it was very nice of the tour operator to of noticed that we were friends with them even though we hadn't been seated together and to have taken the time to re-apologize.
The family beach held even more loveliness. With chairs both in the shade and in the sun there was somewhere to sit for everyone. We put our things in the shade and dove into the clear water. Dede and I swam out to one of the small floating platforms. It had a deck chair and a hammock. At that point I really wished I'd bought a waterproof camera because everything was just so beautiful. The fish were everywhere! I laid back in the hammock and just rocked with the ocean. After a few minutes Deniz got up courage and swam out to us. We stayed out there until another family came along and wanted a try. I was a little nervous to dive off but the boy of the family who was about seven showed me several times how easy it was and eventually I got up my nerves.
We swam around for a bit and then walked up to get snorkeling gear. I have always been terrified of putting my face in the water but I wanted to try snorkeling and I thought with a mask on I'd be ok. One of the attendants showed us how to walk backwards which helped a lot with the flippers on and the three of made it into the water. I eased my face in and slowly breathed but within about 20 seconds I was hyper-ventilating. I pulled up and calmed down, rationalized with myself and tried again. That time my body just wasn't having it at all. There was no way I was snorkeling that day. Dede got stung by a jellyfish pretty badly on her leg and arm so she wanted to take a break in the shade. Thankfully the tour guide on for the snorkeling excursion didn't ask or didn't care about Deniz's age so she was able to go without us. She loved it. It was a 20-30 minute tour. I was really proud of her and now she won't stop talking about it. I can't wait until I can take her again. I'm going to buy a snorkeling set and really work on overcoming my fear this summer in the pool. I'll also sign her up for the teen excursion on
Castaway Cay once she's 14 as that includes snorkeling.
When the snorkelers were returning the resident sea lion, Rex, appeared. Deniz got to swim with him a little bit. I jumped right in and took some photos of our French friends and petted him too. He was funny. Dede took a photo of me petting him. I petted the donkey and returned the snorkeling equipment. Just a slight warning here. There are a lot of steep stair cases on this excursion and it can get very tiring. Deniz and I did some sculpting with local clay and left it to dry in the sun. I also went on a kayak ride. Dede wouldn't come with me and I found out later it was because she was sure I would flip. I didn't. Dede found some snails she had been studying in her marine science class.
Next we went to the cooking class. There weren't many of us there. Four adults other than me and just my two kids. I could kick myself for not taking the camera! The chef made paella that smelled astounding. I was so excited when I got to try some later but I was almost too full! Dede and I were at the guacamole station but she cut her finger. Deniz was at the salsa station or the pico de gallo. There was also salsa verde and shrimp ceviche. Plus they brought in fresh pitchers of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic margaritas. Now, I'd never had ceviche but I was determined to try. OMG!!!! It was out of this world. This was how I was too full to eat much paella. With a little of the guacamole on a crispy fried tortilla with some spicy salsa. :swoon: I'll never order it in a restaurant because I don't think I could ever trust it to be fresh like this but I hope I can work up the nerve to make it at home eventually.
We walked back down to the beach and the girls swam and I chatted with my French friends as the boys played with the sand toys provided. It was just so nice to relax. The time in PV is just far too short! I don't know why it has to be. If it is because of tides or taxes or getting to Cabo but I wish we could overnight there so we could have stayed at Los Caletas far far longer.
Far too soon it was lunch time. We packed up our things and headed over to the buffet lunch where some of the things we'd helped make plus the paella an many other dishes were on display. We were offered drinks. I can't remembered what I ordered but it honestly wasn't good. It was the one disappointment to the day. All of the food however was fantastic.
Immediately after lunch the bell rang and it was time to head back to the boat to go back to the Wonder. This was the first and only time I was said to be heading back "home." The girls felt the time had been enough but I could have stayed there a week. On the way back the guides did an hilarious music show while passengers looked at photos and videos that had been taken. They were also handing out water, juice, beer, and margaritas so I may have gotten a little bit rowdy with some of the songs. LOL The price for a thumb drive with everything was only $50 but we only had 7 pictures and all them were really bad so it was an easy no for me. I was a little sad neither of the girls wanted to do the zip line or any of the teen activities but they had a fantastic time nonetheless.