Learn to Scuba dive in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Leslie
Leslie also runs sailboat tours as well as teaches English to Mexican children in the little town of El Nogalito south of 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 our toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
This week on The Puerto Vallarta Travel Show we are doing a deep dive into the bay. You are going to meet a very special lady, Leslie Hyland, who teaches scuba diving, takes lucky vacationers out for a 6 hour sailing adventure and funds time to run a little school, teaching English and music to children in the little village of El Nogalito, located just south of Vallarta, but before we get to Leslie, let’s see what’s happening this week, the 19th day of October 2021..
Today in Vallarta and around the world it’s breast cancer awareness day. A day that reminds us of the importance of self-care, as the best tool for early detection of breast cancer to save lives. Stop staring guys…
By the way speaking of keeping healthy, we are into fall and soon enough winter…make sure to keep your vitamin D3 levels up to defend against the rona. Heir Fauci takes 6,000 international units of the stuff every day. It’s part of my daily regimen. I also have my bags packed, along with my vitamins and supplements and I’m ready for my 7th trip to Puerto Vallarta during the pandemic.
Flying to Puerto Vallarta Via CBX in Tijuana
I’m going to fly out of Tijuana and I’m crossing the border at the CBX or Cross Border Express in Otay Mesa, directly adjacent to the Tijuana Airport. If you haven’t been following the story, I was alerted to the existence of this place by listener Fred, who said he uses it all the time when he flies put of Tijuana. It’s a facility on the US side of the border where you can park your car, for a daily fee, take care of your immigration forms and then walk on a 100 yard long bridge that takes you into the Tijuana Airport. It costs $16 US to walk each way and I’m pretty stoked to see how this all works.
Now I live about 3 hours from the Mexican Border in Los Angeles, so my original plan was to drive to the border and leave the car, but my wife had something to say about me leaving the nice car, sitting in a parking lot for a week and wanting to use it. So went online and found that CBX has shuttle service from downtown Los Angeles to their facility there in Otay Mesa, and for $33 each way, I can take their van or bus or whatever it is. So tomorrow morning…at 4:45 my wife is going to drop me off on some street corner to wait for my ride. This will be an adventure. At least I may get a chance to get 3 hours sleep on the bus…van…whatever.
And the benefit of doing all this instead of flying out of LAX? $100 round trip US for the flight on Viva Aeriobus, no testing for rona so no stick up the nose, and hey, it’s an adventure. Let’s see if I can get home from Tijuana. Film at 11.
With border crossing in mind, and rona testing…god what a gigantic waste of money. These PCR tests are such a scam… and hold on for the next one they have planned for us…it’s the Marburg virus. It’ll come complete with its very own fake PCR test too. Look for it soon. While the mad scientists at the CDC and the WHO are hard at work cooking up more BS for the gullible public, here’s some good news from Mexico where their leaders seem to have their heads screwed on right…
From Vallarta Daily News…
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And I have a link to that article in the shownotes…
More reasons to move to Mexico….
Listener Email Regarding Airport Check-in in Puerto Vallarta
And speaking of airports and procedures, and testing, and moving to Mexico….
I got a great email from listener Marianne who writes….
Hi Barry,
My hubby and I found your show not long after you started it, and got lots of great info leading up to our move to Puerto Vallarta this past March!
We recently listened to your description of what travelers can expect when coming through the PV airport, but you forgot one detail – the health form required by the Mexican government. We’re veterans of the process now, but every time we go to the airport, it’s clear some folks are hearing about it for the first time.
Here’s what we’re telling friends and family who are coming to visit us in the next few months. Feel free to share!
The easiest way to get through the process seems to be:
- Create a free profile online at vuelaseguro.com
- Enter your flight info and COVID status 12 hours before your flight (no test needed to enter Mexico)
- Take a screenshot of the QR code generated after answering all the questions
- Show that screenshot just before immigration on the way to baggage claim when entering Mexico;…and just before the security checkpoint when leaving Mexico. (Most people will be stopping at those spots to go online and fill it out, or maybe a paper version if available. You can walk right around them and show that QR code screenshot.)
That’s about it! Easy, and so… Puerto Vallarta! Keep up the great work!
Marianne & Scott
So, I have that app on my phone, but didn’t know that I could fill it out before I get in line at the Puerto Vallarta Airport. Usually, I use the QR code scanner to scan the QR codes that are posted everywhere in the line as you get off the plane, but this eliminates you having to stand there in line and fill out the info. I’ll be filling mine out in the vehicle on the way down to Tijuana tomorrow, so I’ll be ready. Hummm, I wonder how the immigration thingy will go when I land in Vallarta cuz I should be already checked in…That will be interesting too. We’ll see…and thank you so much Marianne, maybe we can
get you and Scott to come to our Meet and Greet this coming Tuesday. I decided to piggyback off JR’s Meet and Greet at Nacho Daddy, Tuesday, October 26 from 5:30 till 7:30. Nacho Daddy is on Basillio Badillo 287. Come join us for food and drinks and let’s talk about what you are doing in Puerto Vallarta. And if you have a business, or a favorite charity you want to tell us about, for goodness sake stop by and make your pitch.
So, try to make it if you can. If you are a listener and you are in town, you need to stop in and say hello. Again Tuesday October 26th, 5:30 to 7:30 at Nacho Daddy…See you there.
I got a question from a listener who sent me a note on The Puerto Vallarta travel show’s Instagram page…he asks…
Headed to Vallarta next week. Is marijuana now legal for recreational use?
So here’s the scoop. Oh, and if you aren’t interested in the hippie lettuce you can feel free to fast forward your podcast app. Marijuana was legalized, kind of. You need to apply to the health department to get your marijuana use card, but if you aren’t a citizen, Im pretty sure you are out of luck. You will have to but it off the street as always. Of course I always suggest if you have a Puerto Vallarta friend on the ground, have them get it for you. Now there is a lot of talent around the bay. People with lots of time on their hands have learned how to take cheap weed, and convert it to CBD oil, THC gummies, Whole flower extract cannabis oil with added Terpenes. Brownies, Honey. Rosin extract and even DMT. All sorts of miscreants from all over the world have converged on Vallarta and are making a veritable witches brew of mind blowing goodness. And soon, in the not too distant future, Vallarta is going to have their first dispensary….I’ll keep you posted and be the first customer if I can….What a resume booster.
Of course, till then, look for real mellow, high expats and ask them, you’ll find what you are looking for.
Next week, I have a very special episode coming up, it’s kind of a bonus for you. You are going to meet my buddy Mapa Jeff. Jeff makes amazing maps of Vallarta and the
surrounding areas along the bay, and these maps are works of art. You will love Mapa Jeff, and he will be next week’s special guest. I can’t wait…and I can’t wait to introduce you to our very special guest for toady’s podcast, lets get to her right now, shall we?
I’m always looking for new fun things for us to do in Vallarta, and this guest checked a lot of boxes for me. I scuba dive, I sail, love to sail, and I’m a sucker for someone with a big heart for the Mexican children. So in our next guest, it was a trifecta. Leslie Hyland has been in Puerto Vallarta for years, 26 to be precise, since 1995, and she was introduced to me by my good friend and friend of the show Polly. Remember I told you a few months back that Polly and I have a plan to introduce you all to some incredible women, expats who made the move to Mexico, and are doing incredible things.
That’s Leslie.
Polly gave me a lift down to El Nogalito where Leslie was waiting for me at her little school house. She gave me a tour of the one room facility. A tiny classroom with a drum set right in the middle. Chalk boards, arts and crafts, easels, coloring books and guitars and even an electric keyboard, in an otherwise empty lot with some play equipment like swings and a slide out front.
We talked out front, in front of the little schoolhouse while the children played around us. After the interview was over she took off for a few minutes to pick a young man, who had just gotten done giving an group of older students in El Nogalito, a guitar lesson. His name is Elvis Adrian Jesus Gonzalez, and now it was the younger kids turn to learn guitar…so I’ll mix in Elvis during the interview, and now, you will know who the guitar teacher is when you hear him. Remember to go to the shownotes to see all this in person so you can understand what I’m trying to explain.
I’m going to let Leslie tell her story to you, and when she’s done, I have some suggestions as to how to help the kids at her school, and also hook you up with Leslie for scuba
lessons or even a sailing day….so let’s go right now, to the little village of El Nogalito, about 15 minutes south of Puerto Vallarta and let’s meet Leslie Hyland, scuba instructor, English teacher and sailing buddy in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico…
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Thank you so much Leslie. She has a heart of gold for these kids. When I first sat down with her, I kind of briefly talk about the questions I’ll be asking so it won’t be a total surprise when we get into the interview. Well, as she was talking about these beautiful children she teaches, she became very emotional, almost to the point where I was
worried we may not be able to go on with the interview, but happily she pulled it together, and gave me a terrific interview. She loves these kids with all her heart, so I want you to remember them when you come to Vallarta. If you can, bring a toy, arts and crafts supplies, musical instruments…I mean, if you have a guitar sitting around the house, bring it for them. And if you live in Vallarta and can donate some of your time to teach these kids to play an instrument, you are giving them tools to learn a possible vocation, and even English through song. So wonderful.
Email me with your donations and we will get them to these kids in El Nogalito.
And if you want to learn how to scuba dive, I have links to get you in the water. If you are interested in sailing then I can hook you up as well.
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.
Thanks to Leslie Hyland, your scuba instructor in paradise. I have all the contact information in the shownotes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com. Don’t forget her kids learning English through song in El Nogalito. You can help them for sure. Email me for details…at pvtravelshow@gmail.com…
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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