First Impressions: Landing in Puerto Vallarta for the First Time ✈️🌇🚌

Let me take you back to our first trip to Puerto Vallarta, because somehow I never wrote about it here — only posted snippets to our Instagram. It was a memorable arrival, full of little surprises, some sweaty confusion, and a whole lot of charm.

We landed in late January, a great time to visit weather-wise. The immigration line? Surprisingly smooth. I’ve seen horror stories on social media, but our experience as U.S. citizens was relatively easy. There were two options:

1. Wait in line to speak with an actual immigration officer, or

2. Use the automated kiosks — self-scan your passport, smile for a quick photo, and get a receipt with a QR code you need to scan and complete your immigration paperwork before leaving Mexico. Right at the top it said: “KEEP – DO NOT THROW AWAY.” You bet I tucked that away in a safe spot.

Outside the airport, things were… chaotic. A lot of energy, heat, and noise. It was hot — much hotter than I expected for winter — and people were crowding around waiting for their guests. I spotted mine right away! She had arrived a couple of hours early just to make sure she didn’t miss me — how sweet is that?

We had several options to get from the airport to 5 de Diciembre, the neighborhood we were headed to: walk, taxi, or bus. Since I was traveling light (just a backpack and a duffle bag) and we were trying to save money, we skipped the taxis — they’re notorious for jacking up prices for tourists — and tried our luck with the local bus system.

Here’s where things got a little wild.

Even though my friend had been living in PV for a year, she still didn’t feel like a full local — and it showed. Buses came and went, each one with a confusing mix of numbers and handwritten signs on the windshield. We couldn’t tell which one was headed where, so she suggested we start walking to a stop she knew better.

We hit the pavement, backpacks on, walking through a town that felt dusty, alive, and a bit chaotic — but also familiar in a strange way. It wasn’t the picturesque cobblestone streets of Europe or the polished charm of the south of France. Honestly, it felt a bit like a spread-out version of Los Angeles — no high-rises, scattered street vendors, the occasional graffiti, and sidewalks that came and went in patches. You could tell which homes had money and which didn’t. The contrast was real.

We made pit stops at a couple of large grocery stores, and to our surprise, prices were about the same as the U.S. — and the brands? Also familiar. We’d expected more of a discount shopping vibe, but that wasn’t the case.

Eventually, we found the right bus stop, got on — and about ten minutes later, the bus made a turn my friend wasn’t expecting. Not wanting to risk getting lost, we hopped off and decided to walk the rest of the way. It was getting dark, but we were close. I pulled out Google Maps on her phone and, funny enough, ended up guiding her to her own home. She had just moved into the area and hadn’t fully explored it yet.

Finally, we arrived at her modern-looking apartment — a sleek, comfy space tucked into the urban sprawl of PV. After the long travel day, we were ready to drop our bags and settle in for the night.

That arrival might not have been perfectly smooth, but it was real. And it gave us our first taste of the everyday rhythm of Puerto Vallarta — the good, the confusing, the hot, and the heartfelt. And honestly, that’s part of what made the trip so memorable.

Stay tuned for more from our PV trip — and why that first experience led us to book a cruise back to the Mexican Riviera!

— The Trekking Pawns