Listeners Joined in an Open Microphone Meet and Greet at La Traviatta Restaurant

Americans are vacationing in Puerto Vallarta During the pandemic. Listeners tell us their Puerto Vallarta travel tips and favorite restaurants

Covid Testing Sites for Returning to the US are Easy To Find in Puerto Vallarta

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Hello fellow travelers, welcome this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show. I am your host Barry Kessler and I am just so happy to be introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.

That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. Those are La Palapa, Puerto Vallarta’s Oldest Restaurant on the famous Los Muertos Beach, and The El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club right next door so you can enjoy that fantastic view of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors, or during the day in its grand splendor for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with your toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.

This week we go back a few months to the Meet and Greet we had on The Rooftop of the Hotel Las Paloma’s at La Traviatta in the Cinco de Diciembre neighborhood in Puerto

Vallarta. It was the Digital Nomad Meet and Greet that ended up being a two parter. The first part was three listeners Karole and Michael and Michael’s wife Becky. Then as we were wrapping things up, two digital nomads actually did show up, so I interviewed Sergio and Myles so you have a two parter to the meet and greet coming up but before we get to all those fine folks, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta, because I just got back…today the 25th of May, 2021.

I just got back a week ago from a 10 day visit to paradise. This is now my 4^th trip since Mexico reopened to tourism in June of 2020. My first trip back was in August of 2020, the flight was 1/3 full, then again in November of 2020, the flight was half full, then again in January of 2021, full flight with center seat open and now May of 2021. My flight from Los Angeles was full. No more center row open. The flight was full. The Delta Boeing 737 800 had 150 passengers.

The check in on line was similar to all the times before. They asked if you felt sick, if you had been around people who were sick and if you would promise to wear a mask during the flight.

Remember flying out of the United States to Mexico only requires you have a current passport. They don’t require you take any covid test and test negative to enter. You do however need to take a test to return to the US or Canada for that matter. If you return to the US you should be taking the antigen test and if you are returning to Canadia you are required to take the PCR test and shelter in place and take another test…you Canadians are so screwed…sorry. I have an article for you coming up Canadians….

I’ll tell you how the test went for me on the return in a few, but this time arriving in Puerto Vallarta, as we got off the plane and exited the jet bridge, that’s where the line started to get through immigration. For an hour we wound our way to the immigration booth. We were asked to scan a QR code and fill out an online questioner, I remember them shooting us with a temperature gun and we went past a thermal imaging camera too.

Another ½ hour to get the luggage and get through customs. Green light all the way so I didn’t have to unpack the toilet seat.

I opted for an airport taxi and called the gal that was supposed to meet me at the Airbnb in Cinco de Diciembre and she had just sat down for dinner with her family. She had waited for my call but I had been tied up in the airport for an hour and a half. I knew the key was on the gate in a keybox so I told her I would be glad to let myself in if she wanted to give me the key box code which she did. And that’s cool because I had been there at this condo on many occasions now. It’s just across the street from Meno’s Place and a half block up the street from La Traviatta, where we will be going for the interviews really soon.

Now really sad news is that Meno passed away just a couple of days before I got into town, and it was just one of those fu-k cancer moments.

He was such a nice man but his namesake lives on. The place was hopping the entire stay. Of course I was there for Mexican and American Mother’s Days so it was great to see all the restaurants open and busy. But another problem is Menos will be losing it’s sunset view because they are building a seven level building right in front of it.

Now that doesn’t mean they can’t build even higher and get their view back…I’ll be talking with Nena soon about her plans. Don’t forget to eat at Menos. I have pictures of the great dinner I had up there. In the shownotes.

I like staying in that neighborhood except…they are doing so much building it’s almost like all the noise going on in the Romantic Zone. Oh well, that’s progress.

I like the area anyway. The vibe, the restaurants the taco carts and the fact that I can catch a bus really easy.

When I arrived in Vallarta it was hot and humid. The mountains and hillsides are dry and there’s lots of brush ready to catch fire, and there were a few fires in the mountains around Vallarta including up near Canopy River. And news reports said they were suspected to have been set by firebugs. The first few days I was there it was a bit smoky in the mornings.

Masking was being followed by about 50% of all people I observed, both tourists and locals. Protocols were still being followed checking in to restaurants and stores. Temperature taking, hand soap, masking while entering the shop or restaurant.

Everything is open in Puerto Vallarta with very few restrictions. Except for streets. A bunch of digging up streets and burying big pipes is going on all around town.

Lots of business owners I spoke with were sounding very hopeful and are saying hey, right now is our high season. So before the world took a u turn, lots of these businesses usually are thinking about taking some time off before the high season begins… they are saying now is the time they are expecting a big influx of Americans to come over and finally get some well-deserved rest and relaxation. Albeit during the hot, humid rainy season but Mexico is one of the very few places where currently it’s easy to visit from the US. And many of you are in Vallarta now.

It was really surprising to see a bunch of listeners, friends there all at once in May! Marty and wife Janine, Sharon Reynolds was there with Mr. Bill, The PV Kid, Jeff Musto was there, Cheri and Ray from Kenosha, I even got a call from my electrician Jesus shows up and calls me to tell me he’s on the pier and where should he take his girlfriend to dinner. It was great to see so many people coming and getting out among the living. Good for all of ya.

Anyway, like I said, they are tearing up entire blocks downtown and in the Zona Romantica…burying all sorts of pipe and fingers crossed they will get all that done before the rain starts to fall the middle of June.

Speaking of all the listeners in town all of those I just mentioned got together at Nacho Daddy for JR’s new Meet & Greet Location. Great time and great food! Remember JR will be there every Tuesday at 6:30 till 7:30 or 8. Sometimes till 8:30 if you buy him a drink. Anyway a great meet and greet and you will be hearing that in just a couple of weeks.

For me, this trip turned out really interesting with so many opportunities and relationship building. I had a bunch of real estate related opportunities floated my way, communication local news opportunities. I got together with my buddy Polly. You will love her and soon you will meet her. Polly and I will be collaborating and putting together a series of profiles of females, the single strong ladies of Puerto Vallarta. The ones that made it. The ones who have made the move to paradise. We will be hearing their stories in the coming months and Polly’s in a couple of weeks, I promise. This will be so cool.

Now before we get to the meet and greet let me talk about the testing before returning to the US.

As you know, or don’t know, if you are flying into Mexico from the US, you are not required to have a covid test. You are not required to have been vaccinated either. Now this is confusing to some because my electricians girlfriend and my electrician had no idea that they had to test before flying. They figured they just had to flash the vaccine card and they were good to go but no…vaccinated or not they needed proof of a negative antigen test or PCR. Flying back to the US, if you are a US citizen you must have a negative Antigen or PCR test result from an approved lab.

You need to take a test no longer than 72 hours before your flight departure time. I’ve been saying the best place, and the cheapest place to have a test done is at the airport. And it is. It costs 450 pesos or about $22 US for the rapid antigen test. If you are Canadian, you need the more expensive PCR test that by the way, takes longer for the results. but the PCR takes a day I believe. Anyway, I have a link to all the test sites in the shownotes.

As the end of the trip was coming up quickly I decided to get the covid test done at the airport. I tried at the CMQ hospital, but they told me I needed to make an appointment days in advance. I figured I’d go to the airport late in the evening the day before departure. So, I called an Uber to pick me up from my condo at 8 at night and this guy comes to pick me up. We get to talking and he asks me what I’m going to the airport for and I tell him its for a covid test and he starts to laugh. He says there was a lab three blocks down the street from my place where he picked me up. Told me it was cheap and quick, so he gave me the address, and there are two locations of the Laboratorio San Pablo Sucursal Emiliano Zapata. And the other on Calle Bolivia and San Salvador at San Salvador #350, 5 de Diciembre. Both $30 US, and in the end, cheaper than the airport because you save 350 pesos in cab fees.

So the driver dropped me off at the airport, and I walked to the tents they have set up across from the terminal on the other side of the parking lot. There was no line, just one other person ahead of me.

The person helping at the check in counter was very helpful. They made sure I had a good connection and had the right website scanned via qr code.

They accepted credit cards as payment which was handy. Took my information from my passport and I filled out their form including my email.

I got in line…if you can call it a line  of one..me.. The lady in a space suit waved me over, unwrapped the probe and stuck it up my right nostril with a twist. Thanked me very much and said the results would come via email in an hour or so. And there…right there at the Puerto Vallarta Airport I lost my virginity. It was my first covid test ever, so I was pleasantly surprised it was fairly painless and easy. Had to have a smoke if you know what I mean…In the end the antigen test took about 45 minutes for me to get the result back for me via email. I took a screen shot of the document just in case the internet connection is bad when you get back to the airport. You will need to show it to the person who checks you in at the ticket counter. I found through this whole process I was scanning lots of QR codes to take me to electronic documents to fill and sign.

I have a list of all the places compiled by the Vallarta Board of Tourism in these shownotes.

What I want to emphasize to you all is, that travel is back! The planes are full. The testing process, although it’s a pain, another step and can be confusing is not bad. You can do it. Just make time for it and don’t wait last minute, especially if you are traveling in a large group or with kids…make time the day before and keep it local if you can. There are plenty of places testing. If you are staying at a resort it’s most likely you can take the test there for a small fee or for free. So Mexico is open for business. And most of all, come to Puerto Vallarta. I’ve been your Guinee pig. I’ve been here 4 times in a year and I plan to come again in August. I’ve flown in full planes, taken crowded busses, done everything imaginable and I’m here to tell you it’s safe and it’s time to live life again.

Okay…let’s get to the interviews, shall we?

List of Covid Testing Places in Puerto Vallarta

https://visitpuertovallarta.com/covid-19

Cinco de Diciembre

https://goo.gl/maps/u9FZxfRqwf5Xe1Ku7

Airport Testing

https://visitpuertovallarta.com/uploads/static/presentacion-laboratorio-ingles.pdf

 

Back in January, 4 months ago I advertised a digital nomad meet and greet up on the rooftop of the Hotel Las Palomas at their restaurant called La Traviatta. La Traviatta as you might imagine serves Italian food as well as lovely Mexican American breakfasts and lunch as well. I like their 2 for 1 happy hour pizza and the open air rooftop thing with a killer view of the city and the bay.

The cool thing was that there were two shifts of interviewees. The first shift was listeners of the podcast, Karol from Canada and Michael and Becky from Colorado. Then just as we were wrapping up two digital nomads showed up. Myles and Sergio.

So I’m going to run these interviews one after the other starting with the listeners, then moving to the digital nomads.

So let’s go right now to the rooftop restaurant La Traviatta on the Hotel Las Palomas on Calle Honduras in the cinco de diciembre neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta and let’s meet listeners Karol, Michael and Bucky, and nomads Sergio and Myles in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico…

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Okay, thank you all of you!

I have pictures of all our guests in the shownotes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com

Michael and Becky sent me some cool pictures of Punta Perula, so check those out. It’s beautiful…but one restaurant? I don’t know…

And I really should have pushed harder to find out what this Reverse Coyote deal Sergio was talking about. I’ll see if I can’t link up that page in the shownotes as well.

In a week or so I’ll have the meet and greet we just had at JR’s new location at Nacho Daddy. Lots of our old friends joined in on that one so I look forward to bring you the latest meet and greet.

Okay, that should do it for this week,

Next week, stay tuned for more on the ground reports from Puerto Vallarta Mexico, with travel tips, great restaurant and excursion ideas and more.  Until then, remember, this is an interactive show where I depend on your questions and suggestions about all things Puerto Vallarta. If you think of something I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending us your message.

And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR’s website and reserve your tour through him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience and on the ground knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you’re just doing it through him as a way of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you can come on-board and share with others what you liked or didn’t like about the tour. Again, contact me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending off a message. Don’t forget his maps, his DIY tours and his revitalized Happy Hour Board. I have links to all of those in the show notes.

And once again, if you like this podcast, please take the time and subscribe and give me a good review on iTunes if you would. That way we can get the word out to more and more people about the magic of this place. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Remember I made it easy for you to do just that with each episode I create. But if you haven’t been to my website, you really need to have a look there.  I have the links to the places we talk about, interesting pictures and the more all right there in my blog-posts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.

Thank you so much to. Karol, Michael, Becky, Myles and Sergio. Thanks for joining us for hot pizza and cold beer. I really enjoyed meeting you all. It means so much to me that you came.

And thanks to all of you for listening all the way through this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show. This is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Nos Vemos amigos!

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