I'm currently in the midst of a 9 day vacation here in PV. For the flight, I was able to use AA miles, and they were running a special of 25K miles rather than the usual 35K. Only caveat is that I had to connect through DFW, rather than direct from either SAN or LAX.

For the first 4 days, I was in the Westin in the Marina Vallarta area, which I got on Priceline for $50 a day (all in $61.50 a day including taxes and fees). The Westin is a very nice 4* resort on the beach, and in season prior to the slump, it was going for $275-300 a night.

Then I moved to a perfectly pleasant hotel in the Zona Romantica that has AC, kitchen with fridge, a living room, bedroom, bathroom, 3 blocks from the beach for which I am paying $20 a night.

I went deep sea fishing today, for $200 on a nice new 28 foot boat, for 5 hours. Normally I would expect to pay $300-400 for this sort of a fishing trip on this caliber of boat - and no, there was no timeshare presentation involved at that price. BTW, I caught a 50 pound Yellowfin tuna along with a couple of smaller Bonita. After the tuna was filletted on the boat, I kept half of it and gave half away as part of the tip to the guy who worked the boat. Half that tuna will provide enough food for 3 ample sized meals.

This vacation is probably the biggest screaming travel bargain of my life.

And nary a drug war in sight.

Sounds like you had the time of your life.

Yes, and I never even had to put Baby in the corner.

Mexico can be amazingly inexpensive if you know how to book.. We just visited the Mayan Riviera ourselves.. and compared to the summer, things haven't moved all that much at the hotel we've stayed at.. but competition is being clamped down, so all inclusive packages are starting to appear at Fairmont Mayakoba, which normally doesn't offer these type of packages..

How is the safety factor at Puerto Vallarta?

Entirely a non-issue. I never felt less safe than I do in a nice part of San Diego such as La Jolla

Wasn't too bad for us neither.. nothing out of the extraordinary..

I've heard that travel in a private vehicle into the interior is where the risk may be..

There is really almost no risk except for those involved with the drug cartels (i.e., bad guys, cops, journalists writing adverse articles), and that is primarily nearer the border anyway. I have to agree, PV itself is very mellow, some petty thefts, etc. occasionally. The worst thing that is likely to happen to you is a sunburn or a hangover.

Sorry, this was initially a bad joke that I self-censored after thinking about it

Things seem to have calmed down on the newsfront for the last while..

Maybe we may do another trip back to the Mayan Riviera next year.. The resort we stayed at was pretty calm, quiet and enjoyable..

We mainly travelled in the big tour buses and ate where the crowds ate.. good for our 1 and 5 year old this year..

Not entirely -

" Three Americans Killed in Mexico Bus Raid"

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne.../?spt=hs&or=tn

"There is really almost no risk except for those involved with the drug cartels (i.e., bad guys, cops, journalists writing adverse articles), and that is primarily nearer the border anyway."

And I don't think the mother and her two kids fit the above criteria.

Unfortunate..

Crime happens everywhere, but disheartening to see tragedy strike a mother and children.

I'll be enjoying the beaches in PV in about a month, and have no worries at all. Great food at Cafe de Olla, great coffee at Una Pagina en el Sol, great music at Cuates y Cuetes, great fishing out in the Bahia de Banderas, great friends all over.

Can't wait.

No dice on Mexico. Too many people dying of lead poisoning down there.

This coming from someone who lives in the LA/San B'do area? LOL
http://www.lacountymurders.com/


You are far safer in PV than in many parts of SoCal.

Hey hey hey......one of the meth houses here in the Inland Empire burned down last night so we're down to 3,682.