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Mexico 2023

January 25 - 28

Guayabitos

Guayabitos is the poor man's Mexican resort town.

We’re Back!


Convalescing at our age is such a waste of time. Wanda had her gum surgery way back on January 18. She lost 9 days to a span of doctor-prescribed rest and relaxation. That sounds nice, but as her healing progressed, she was climbing the walls to do something. Being the wonderful loving husband that I am, I stayed back to dote on her. I was also climbing the walls. 


I did break away from my duties on Wednesday, January 25, to play at a star-studded concert at the Sunshine Bar. OK, that’s an exaggeration, but Jeff did set up an interesting little gig on Wednesday afternoon. Jeff’s old musician-buddy, Paul, flew down from Phoenix for a visit. Jeff and Paul played in a band on a cruise ship for a year back in the day. In fact, it was this cruise ship, that sailed back and forth from LA to Puerto Vallarta, that Jeff learned about PV. After Jeff left the ship to play in Las Vegas, Paul worked another 9 years on various cruise ships before settling down in Phoenix.


Paul is a good singer and guitar player. Jeff wanted Paul to play at the Sunshine Bar with him while Paul was visiting. Jeff got the bright idea to have Will, Jeff’s new guitar discovery down here, and me to also sit in. We would all take turns playing in different configurations. At times it got a bit messy, but for the most part it was just plain good fun.

Jeff is good at organizing these mini-concerts. We played in a variety of configurations for five hours nearly nonstop. The tiny venue was jam-packed the entire time. From left to right: Me, Jeff, Paul, and Will.

At Wanda’s check up on Thursday, January 26, her periodontist gave her the green light to re-enter the world of light exploration in a couple of days. Bottom line, that was it for Wanda. Her dental plan is now completed and she has a clean bill of mouth health.


My dental path still has a few twists and turns. I got my permanent crown screwed into my implant. I still have one more permanent crown and a gum surgery left. I look forward to completing my last crown. The gum surgery sucks.

Our home away from home.

By Saturday, January 28, Wanda and I stepped out. We took a bus to Guayabitos, a low-end resort town 60 miles north of Bucerias. The bus cost 110 pesos ($5.80 US). By low-end, I mean the resorts are plentiful, decent, and economical. Practically every other building advertised itself as a ‘hotel and bungalows’. We saw many bungalows renting for $40 US a night, with hotel rooms going for $30-$35 US. 


This was our third trip to Guayabitos, so we knew what to expect. This time, however, we were on a mission. When Carlos took us deep-sea fishing I asked him if he had a favorite taqueria. His face quickly widened into a big grin. “In Los Ayala”, he proclaimed. I knew that Los Ayala is connected to Guayabitos. We have been there, and we knew that its small downtown is only a couple of blocks long. I informed him I knew where the arcade in downtown Los Ayala was. He lit up again and said it was right next door to the arcade. So, our mission was to check out Carlos’ favorite taqueria. This was a perfect ‘get Wanda outta the house’ mission.


Today was monumental for another reason. Between the Yucatan Peninsula and the Bay of Banderas, we have wintered in Mexico for five years. Not once have we seen or felt a drop of rain. As we walked out our front door and saw heavy overcast, Wanda consulted a weather app. It predicted a 50% chance of .01 inches of rain. By the time we reached Los Ayala, I felt my first Mexican rain drop. By the time the sprinkle quit, I probably felt two or three more. On the return bus ride enough drops accumulated on the windshield to force the driver to turn on his wipers for a couple of swipes. That was it. I doubt if we ever reached anything like .01 inches. 


We walked the two miles from the bus stop through downtown Guayabitos to Los Ayala. Except for a 1/4 mile of countryside, the entire way is built up. As stated earlier, it is mostly hotels and bungalows. There are also a fair number of restaurants, street food carts, and tons of trinket shops. I loved the shops specializing in blowup beach toys.

We were let out at the Oxxo store just outside of downtown Guayabitos.


All Compostela buses used to only run from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita. Last year, the route expanded from Sayulita to Lo de Marcos. This year, it has expanded further north to Guayabitos. Not all Compostela buses go that far. Most still only go to Sayulita, however, about 1/4 do go all the way to Guayabitos.

Above and below: The central plaza in downtown Guayabitos.

Guayabitos has hundreds of these hotel and bungalows.

These hotels and bungalows are in the two to three-star range. Those that advertise their rates were surprisingly inexpensive.

Street vendors, as in every Mexican town, are ubiquitous.

I am amazed at the sheer volume of all the trinkets and trinket shops that are in Mexico.

There are tons of shops selling blow-up beach toys. Yet, I never see kids playing with them at the beach.

Coconut macaroons.

I have no idea what these are.

The El Dorado, a cool name for a villa, features 'all oceanfront villas'. The odd-looking but beautifully colored El Dorado is also called Mahi Mahi, and it is the same fish that Jeff caught when we went deep-sea fishing.

Overlooking the bay in front of Guayabitos. The boats are all waiting for tourists to take them out to Coral Island.

Even though downtown Los Ayala is only two blocks long, the arcade wasn’t easy to find. I had remembered it to be much bigger than the actual tiny room with five machines and two foosball tables. It took two passes through town to find it. Downtown Los Ayala has at least a dozen taquerias so it was important to find the arcade to narrow down Carlos’ favorite. Unfortunately, all the taco shops, including Carlos’ fave, were just closing as we arrived. I tried to ask the cook if he could squeeze out one more taco. All his ingredients were stashed away and the hot plate for heating tortillas was already cold. We were out of luck.

The arcade in downtown Los Ayala that marks the spot where Carlos' favorite taqueria is.

We hit paydirt - Carlos' taqueria. Notice that the cook is making his final cleanup. We missed our taco by 15 minutes.

We found a cute little curbside restaurant to lick our wounds. Our consolation cheese quesadillas and one honkin’ beef burrito were excellent. Along with a giant glass of freshly squeezed OJ, the bill came to 155 pesos ($7.80 US). This is considerably cheaper than PV or Bucerias.

Our curbside restaurant.

Our cheese quesadilla. It was a lot thicker with good quality cheese than it looks in this photo. We failed to take a photo of the burrito - too hungry to stop and shoot.

After lunch we strolled around the beach. Greater Guayabitos is made up of a string of three oceanside towns. From north to south, there is La Peñita, Guayabitos, and Los Ayala. There isn’t a beach at La Peñita. There are only fishing boats parked on the sand. The beach in Guayabitos is decent but very crowded. It is also full of water taxis to take tourists to Coral Island, a speck in the bay with an intimate beach and some good snorkeling. We snorkeled at Coral Island last year. Los Ayala has the best beach. Last year it wasn’t overly crowded, but today it was jammed with vendors and swimmers.

The beach at Los Ayala. Coral Island is in the background.

Grilled shrimp on a stick.

Downtown Los Ayala.

Being Wanda’s first foray out of the house in 10 days, she was ready to pack it in when the bus dropped us off in Bucerias. I went to the Sunshine Bar to catch Jeff and Will’s last set. They sounded good together. I felt a twinge of sadness as I pass the torch to Will. Will and his wife are moving to Bucerias and will be coming every year. Wanda and I are looking forward to exploring new places.


I have mixed feelings about this. I like the fact that we know the area so well. We know all of the bus routes, the best shopping, the finest restaurants, the cool little towns to visit, etc. It makes things very easy to plan. It is also the reason to move on and explore somewhere new. Belize? Ecuador? Chile? Europe? New Zealand?

This sprinkles accumulated on the windshield enough for the driver to turn on his wipers for a couple of swings. The little sprinkle shower lasted for a minute or two. This was the first drop of rain that we have experienced in 5 years of visiting Mexico in the winter dry season.

Dave and Wanda

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