La Cruz de Huanacaxtle (La Cruz) is a small town located in the northern corner of Bahia de Banderas (Banderas Bay). During the day it’s a sleepy little town but in the afternoon and evening the sidewalks are taken over by restaurant tables, the bars open up and the live music starts playing. It all gives this place a very cool vibe. There is also a great Sunday market that they set up along the waterfront. There had to be at least 75 booths and vendors along with the fish market.
There is a large marina here but there is also a great anchorage area just outside the marina, so we elected to stay there. The marina provides a dinghy dock and for 40 pesos per day (about $2.75 Canadian) we can tie up and visit the town.
One evening a group of us went to a place called Tacos on the Street. A very busy restaurant (a wait for tables at a taco stand is unheard of) but worth it. Beef tacos were 30 pesos and beers were 25 pesos each. Afterwards it was off to the Green Tomato for some live music.
Necessity forced us into a tour of Buccerias. Ok we were running low on cash and the nearest banks are in Buccerias. So, four of us flagged down a Colectivo. These are white vans that run specific routes. Kind of a cross between a taxi and a bus. Don’t expect comfortable seats or A/C and they will pack the vehicle as full as they can but hey it cost 50 pesos for all 4 of us to ride. We walked through a massive tourist / flea market, the countless vendors all had a story as to why we should look at his or her shop and how theirs were the best prices. “Almost free” seemed to be the line of the day. “No Amigo” was our answer.
La Cruz and its neighbour Buccerias might as well be Canada’s 11th province with all the expats and snow birders that are located here.
We were having so much fun we spent five days in La Cruz, but we must keep moving so it was onto Nuevo Vallarta.
Talk about a change. Here we are in the Paradise Village Marina. This is a huge all-inclusive resort and condominium development. There are possibly more rooms here than there were people in La Cruz. I’m not complaining just noting the difference.
How can I complain? Part of our moorage package includes use of the facilities here and the evening entertainment.
While staying in Nuevo Vallarta we took a day and hopped on the bus to downtown Puerto Vallarta. Had to take in the Malecon there and see the sights.
Another day we took the dinghy up the river estuary. While there are signs warring of crocodiles in the waters we did not see any. Which is probably a good thing given we were in a 10 foot inflatable boat.
We did see about a million iguanas though.
Yup its boat chores, grocery shopping or touring in the mornings and afternoons by the pools. Feeling sorry for us yet? ?