Malecon, Puerto Vallarta

i love walking around downtown. the buses go until ll pm or so (ask before you count on this!), and taxis are always around while people are, as far as i can tell. i usually do not stay downtown later than about 10 pm unless there is something special going on (i am not really a night-life person). in the evening, you can get the nice feel of a medium-size city with less noise than during the day; overall, it is a generally calmer atmosphere.

Dress Code: you can dress casually in the evenings, but short shorts, sleeveless t-shirts, and most beach wear are probably a little too casual.

Great place to hangout, and watch couples holding hands, or young lovers making out. Or watch the bars from across the street, as the bar crowds, party hard.

Dress Code: Every Sunday, young singles, walk the malecon, trying to capture each others eyes. They dress up, and walk around trying to get guys to whistle at them.

After your walk on Malecon, a few drinks at La Cantina, disappointment at El Hilo, decision is obvious - Viejo Vallarta. They have one of the best local bands playing every night, but Saturday night is a total madness. My last night was Saturday and I got totally wasted....was sick on my early morning flight.

This must be the most popular place for locals since on that Saturday place was packed and we were the only tourists. Band plays the kind of music that will not let you sit for a long time (world rock hits, latin music - Mexican band Pito Perez was quite a discovery, Manu Chao).

See more photos of this bar in my travelogues.

Dress Code: Whatever...

There are too many bars along the malecon to name - so I'll just highlight a few. We had great times at Hilo, Vieja Vallarta, and the Zoo. We went to some of the more popular places like Hard Rock, Frogs, and Carlos OBrian's but they were just a little too MTV-like for us with dozens of scantily clad 18 year girls running around...I know some of you guys might like that, but believe me, it was more like babysitting than anything!

Dress Code: As far as I could tell, anything goes...although I'd leave the wifebeater at home.

Puerto Vallarta offers many things to do during the day as well as night. Things don't really get started at night until around 11:00 and lasts until early in the morning. One of the places that I went to a couple of times was a bar called Kaluha's (excellent music -- Rap, R/B, rock, soca, latin and international). There was also 2 for 1 specials on beer all night long. In addition to this place, I highly recommend Mogombo, Carlos O'Brians, The Zoo and Christine's.

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On Sunday evening we stumbled into a wonderful folk Bazaar with lots of food and trinket vendors. Great tamales and crepes. Nice art work and public dancing.

Dress Code: Casual