I slept like a rock last night. Apparently the equivalent of a bottle of champagne at dinner followed by a couple sleepy aids (and only about 3 hours sleep the night before) will do that to you. I woke up around 7ish and thought I had only been back to sleep about 10 minutes when Brandon woke me. Apparently it had been more like three hours and was closer to 945am already. Oops! I lazily rolled around and stretched and then reached for my email to see if we had heard back yet about the extra beach excursion that we could do with our dolphin swim. Nothing. So I called them, with sleep still in my voice, and learned that, yes, they could get us on the private beach boat but we’d have to be in Nuevo Vallarta by 11:30am. That’s 45 minutes away! It was after 10 by now so we had to move quick to get dressed, pack up our day bag, have breakfast, and catch a cab!
By the time we got ourselves together we only had about 15 minutes to grab some fruit and protein from the buffet and head out. Our taxi whisked away to Nuevo Vallarta and I was surprised to learn that our fare would only be 335 pesos; cheaper than the fare was from the airport to the hotel and much further. I was also surprised when all of a sudden someone yelled “f*%@ off” through his walkie talkie. He quickly turned it down as we stifled laughs in the back seat.
The excursion we were doing was the Vallarta Adventures Dolphin Signature Swim. Upon our arrival at the Vallarta Adventures dolphin center we were outfitted with wrist bands and shortly thereafter boarded a panga that would whisk us across the bay to Majahuitas Beach. There were two boats headed that way and we made sure to board the one that would be stopping for snorkeling in the cove. The boat pulled out of the little marina and we were both giddy as it started us out to sea. I love being on the ocean waves; the rougher the better, though this was a very smooth ride. We sprayed on our sunscreen and watched judgmentally as the couple in front us slathered both themselves, and their children, with tanning oil instead of sunscreen. They were pretty damn dark by the end of our beach time.
Upon our arrival at Majahuitas Cove we were fitted with masks, snorkels, and fins. My anxiety rose as the guide handed out the equipment and gave instructions. You see, I’m not much of a snorkeler. I am super claustrophobic and putting a mask of any kind on my face, let alone covering my nose, is really hard for me. But Brandon loves the fishes and I wanted to share this experience with him. He knew it was out of my comfort zone and made me feel better. We put our life jackets around our waists and hopped off the side of the boat into the warm ocean. I tried really hard to truly snorkel. I sucked a ton of water trying to breathe through the snorkel and gave up on that part but multiple times at least put the mask on and held my breath to see the fish beneath us. I really enjoyed being in the water and “swimming” alongside Brandon as he took off his snorkel floatie and dove deep beneath me. We bobbed along in the water before climbing back onto the boat to actually get to the gorgeous private beach that was awaiting us.
The beach was awesome; we had no idea what a great outing this would be. There were lounge areas all around, kayaks, paddle boards, cerveza, beach games, lunch, and a sparkling sea. We soaked in every moment there; starting by grabbing cervezas and wading into the ocean to enjoy our beverage while bouncing in the waves.
I have only tried paddle boarding in the ocean, and have never successfully stood up all the way for more than a second but I was excited to grab paddle boards and make our way around the cove. Of course Brandon had no problem standing on his but I was happy to keep to my knees. When I did finally stand it lasted about 3/8 of a second before I lost my balance and plunged off, the saltwater stinging my eyes to mock me.
Lunch was a delicious sandwich buffet with freshly grilled chicken and beef; it far exceeded our expectations and the ocean view only made it even better. We didn’t have much time left at the beach but I really wanted to kayak; I love kayaking. I was disappointed when we walked down and the attendant said they had already put them away. As we stood there lamenting that we missed our chance the gentlemen dragged a kayak back down to the water and told us to stay close since we didn’t have much time. Earlier in the day he had been a bit of a dick when we were getting in from paddle boarding so this gesture was much appreciated and made up for it.
We took our cervezas on the kayak and enjoyed the serenity of the bay. Everyone else was pretty much still at lunch so the bay and beach before us were sparsely populated and serene. Sad to leave the little oasis, we finally paddled back to shore. As we waited to board the little transport boat back to our panga, a dog ran down the beach to bark at and chase the waves. This made me miss my Lizzy puppy as that is exactly what she does; she firmly believes her job in life is to save the world from waves and she takes it very seriously. We need to get her to the ocean when we get home; she’s all about diving right into the largest wave she can.
But I digress. We rode the waves back across the bay to the dolphin center scanning the water for signs of life. I did a double-take turning around when the moron behind us asked the captain if they had hippos in Mexico. Yes, hippos. This man swore he just saw a giant hippo face staring at him from underwater. When the captain told him no he tried to convince him he had seen a hippo. I think dude had a little too much sun and too much cerveza.
Arriving back at the dolphin center it was time for our swim. They gathered the group for a “safety” briefing and we were quite surprised when the guide told us she had to get help because she can’t speak Spanish well and there were Spanish-only speaking people in the group. Really? You work in Mexico, with the public, and you don’t speak Spanish. And yet when she couldn’t get help and had to do it herself she rattled everything off in Spanish just fine. Such a millennial, trying to get someone else to do the work because she didn’t want to.
When it was time to get in the pool with the dolphins most people jumped in while I gently slid in from the deck. It’s salt water people! Sure enough, everyone, including Brandon, came up with stinging eyes. Being in the pool with the four dolphins is such an incredible experience. They are such solid, gorgeous, sleek, friendly, social creatures. We spent 40 minutes in the water interacting with them including petting their back, rubbing their bellies, hugging them, kissing them, dancing with them, riding across the pool by their fins, and riding on the bellies. To be able to interact with such powerful and large mammals was fun and exciting; such a great way to put our place in nature into perspective. As much as we loved the dolphins we were glad that the day had also included the trip to Majahuitas Beach to really make the outing special.
Uber is new to Puerto Vallarta since I was last here and we decided to use it to get back. Plus Nuevo Vallarta is further out and it can be harder to hail a taxi. Uber found us a driver nearby and stated a price of 285 pesos for the trip; a decent amount cheaper than the taxi had been. Awesome. Except not at all awesome was when we got back and the receipt for the trip came through. Uber clearly showed the price at 285 pesos and yet in the end the total for the trip was 406 pesos! What the hell?! There were five different fees on the receipt including a base fare, time, distance, distance surcharge, and booking fee. A booking fee?! We would have taken the taxi that was there if we had known in the end it would cost MORE. Yes, I know that in USD it was only about $6 more but I am pissed at the principal of the matter that Uber down here would lie so blatantly about the cost of a trip. I intend to pitch a fit when I get home for their false fares.
We were pleasantly surprised when we were greeted in our hotel room by a bottle of champagne on ice and a card thanking me for my Hyatt status. It pays to be loyal. We popped the bottle and used some mango juice from our mini bar to make mango mimosas! I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoyed a shower cocktail and sipped on my mimosa while I showered up for dinner. It was damn good.
Cleaned up, we walked down to Pureza, the pan-Asian restaurant for a sunset dinner. There had been a wedding on the beach earlier in the day and a beautiful floral altar still stood. From our ocean-front table we watched as everyone stopped to take pictures under it and the sun began to set into the sea. We should have gotten a picture under it! Dinner was delicious; salads with a ginger sesame dressing, sushi rolls, and curries. And a few glasses of champagne. And fried ice cream and flan for dessert. Our waiter was wonderful and we got to enjoy the entire sun set as we dined.
Tomorrow is our laze around the resort day. We rented a cabana for tomorrow (hopefully they have it for the right day!) and are thinking to go into town for a little bit too since there’s no way I could spend all day just sitting around!
Taking On the World 
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