I was trying to get footage from our GoPro to add to this post but the files are so big and taking forever to try and edit so I’m just going to move on without and add it later.

The last 2 days in Mexico were probably some of our favorites! This day may have been my favorite. A couple of days prior when we were on the beach paddle boarding and kayaking we met a guy on the beach that had a boat and takes people out to fish and snorkel. We had been talking about maybe going fishing but hadn’t booked anything. He gave us a great deal and seemed like he would be a great guide so we booked a trip for Thursday.

We asked him what time of day was best for fishing and he told us early in the morning. So we decided to meet him at 8 am on the beach of our hotel.

The kids were not happy about waking up that early but survived. It was nice to meet the boat on the beach at our hotel and not have to travel to the marina. We had planned to go out for 3 hours. We were going to fish for a couple and then go snorkeling.

We all got on the boat, Greg and Jayse were in the back with the poles, I was in the middle and Jaelee laid up on the bow of the boat.

It didn’t take too long before they started to get bites. The poles had 3 hooks on each line. Sometimes they were catching 2 fish at a time. Once even all 3 hooks were filled but one fell off right at the end. They were catching a lot of a fish called bonitos, a predator fish with lots of teeth. Greg was hoping to catch an Ahi or Mahi Mahi. No such luck but they did get a needle fish – that we couldn’t keep but was cool to see.

Jaelee took a nap with her mask on her eyes. LOL love that girl.

Our guide was amazing, he spoke great English, gave us a lot of great information about fishing and the town of Puerto Vallarta. He had lived there his whole life. He told us about the river coming into the ocean and how people go up into the mountains to get coconut from the trees. There were hundreds of trees. He said they use the small coconuts for coconut oil. He pointed out really interesting birds to me and even drove so I could see a Blue-Footed Booby, a bird that travels all the way there from the Galapagos Islands. We also saw a couple of sea turtles floating in the water.

After fishing for a few hours we made our way over to a place called the Arches. Greg and the kids got out to snorkel. Again I didn’t because I only had my glasses, the snorkel didn’t fit over them and I was not about to jump into the ocean blind. I’ll never forget contacts again! Luckily I have been snorkeling before in Hawaii, I’m just glad they got experience it.

Before Greg and the kids jumped in the water our guide brought out a piece of sourdough bread and broke pieces off to feed the fish. There were so many just jumping by the boat! The kids had fun feeding the fish. When all the bread was gone it was time to jump in and go snorkeling. Greg jumped in first. Then Jayse. Jaelee was so scared she did not want to jump in but finally got up the courage and did it.

They had a really good time and saw a lot of fish. They saw a puffer fish, eel, jelly fish, colorful fish, schools of fish, needle fish, fish like Dori – all kinds! Jaelee took video the whole time from her GoPro. Gonna try and add that later.

They said under the water it sounded like someone eating pop rocks. There was a lot of crackling. The guide said it was from all the fish eating bits off the reef and the rocks. They had a really great time and so glad they got to do that.

After snorkeling it was time to head back to the hotel.

As we were getting close to the hotel he asked us how many fish we wanted to keep. They probably had a dozen. Greg told him just 3. He opened the cooler and filleted them right out on the ocean in the boat for us and put them in a zip lock bag. He had told us that the hotel or the marina would cook them up for us. We had no where else to keep them and didn’t want to bring them home so this was a great option for us.

We really enjoyed our experience on the boat. I loved being out in the water, seeing all the wildlife and my family enjoying fishing. It was definitely a highlight. I would really recommend it.

When we got back to our hotel we went straight to the restaurant to see if they would cook the fish, they said they would and asked how we would like it cooked. Greg told them we liked it baked or breaded. They told us to come back in a few hours.

We went back to our room for a bit to relax and hang out. The kids didn’t want to eat the fish so Greg and I headed down there when the time was up. The kids stayed in the room and made sandwiches – really wish they would of come to eat it was soooo good.

When we got to the restaurant we told them we were there for the fish. They seated us and took our drink order. When we got our food I was blown away. This was probably one of the best meals I have ever had. They took half the fish and baked it and the other half was breaded. We had salads, bread and rice. I’m telling you this fish was the best. It was so much fish but Greg and I ate just about all of it. The rice, salad and bread was amazing as well. I really can not say enough about how good it was, top 10 delicious. It was so nice too sitting there with Greg at this beautiful restaurant enjoying a nice quiet meal. Just beyond amazing.

After Greg and I stuffed ourselves we went back to the room, got the kids and decided to go to downtown PV. We took an Uber down there, not sure where we were going exactly but we ended up right at the beginning of the downtown board walk area. We walked along the boardwalk popping into shops here and there, picking up little keep sakes to bring home.

We walked to just about the end of the boardwalk and then Jaelee said she had to go to the bathroom. We decided to go down a little path that had a sign for a museum. The museum ended up being closed but there was a restaurant she was able to go in and use the bathroom. On our way back towards the boardwalk a nice gentlemen stopped us and wanted us to come try their tequila. I figured, we are in Mexico might as well try it. As he was guiding us to a table he told us that in Mexico it doesn’t matter the drinking age it’s how tall you are and the kids were tall enough. I thought he was joking but when he started pouring shots for tasting he offered some to the kids. At first Greg was the only one trying it but when he got to the flavored kind I started trying some and even the kids tried a few! He was not light on the pours either, ha! Neither of the kids liked it and said they don’t know how anyone can drink alcohol. I think that’s the best outcome, LOL. I’ll see if that still holds in a few years 🙂

After tasting some tequila we decided to walk back the other way and find a place to eat. We’d seen a very interesting restaurant called the Zoo. When we went back by it however, the music was blasting so loud out of there, we thought there was no way we could sit and talk so we continued on and found something else. We ended up at a great restaurant with some fabulous staff. I’m telling you the people in Mexico are the friendliest! We had a great time! The food was great, service was awesome and the view of the setting sunset over the ocean was amazing! Our waiter told us that if we walked back down the boardwalk to the bridge we could watch fireworks from the pirate ship around 9. So after we ate we headed back down that way.

On our way down there I saw an artist creating these beautiful paintings on a large ceramic tile. I stopped for a minute to watch him and he was painting only using his fingers! I was blown away the detail he was getting with his fingers was amazing. He’d dip his finger in a bunch of different colors and streak his finger across the tile making ocean waves. I knew I had to have one of his paintings. I looked at all the pieces on his table but I didn’t love any as much as the one he was currently working on. It was a painting of the arches where we had gone snorkeling just earlier that day. I asked him how long it would take for it to dry and he said 3 days. I was bummed but he said I package it in a way you can take it right now! YES! I snagged it right up! Probably one of my favorite things we brought home. I should take a picture of it and add it to my blog.

We made it to the bridge just before 9, we found a place to sit and just hung out waiting for the fireworks. We could see the pirate ship pretty close. We waited and waited and waited for the fireworks but after an hour and there still weren’t any we decided to just start heading back to the hotel. Dang! We called for an Uber and met them just on one street over. Literally as we were in the Uber we heard the fireworks! Just missed them. We got back to our hotel and tired from all the walking and days events we just went to bed. It was a GREAT day! This turned out to be super long but I want to remember it all.

This beautiful old Church, you can also see the board walk and all the palm trees in the hills that our guide said had small coconuts!

The Arches

Hundreds of Pelicans in the trees on the big rocks.

Look at all those fish!

Ready for snorkeling!

Our guide told then to wear the life jacket like this, said it was better for snorkeling.

Blue-Footed Booby

I’m telling you this was DELICIOUS! The breading on that fish was the best I’ve ever had.

We thought we ordered Jaelee a personal size pizza but it was a full size one!

I had shrimp with a cajun sauce on it….yumm so good.

There were 4 guys who would climb to the top of this and then hang from rope upside down and spin around while playing music! It was pretty cool.

Our waiter offered to take a picture so I could get in it, then another one photobombed us. They offered to take another one but I love the photo bomb.

Watching the pelicans dive bomb into the water.