Puerta Vallarta

We arrived on our cruiseship, the Coral Princess, after two days of sailing from Long Beach, California. Never one to pass up an activity, Debbie booked us onto a boat excursion to Islas Marietas, the National Park islands at the mouth of Bahía de Banderas, the bay leading to Puerta Vallarta. One of only two homes for Blue-footed Boobies, the other being the Galapagos, no one is allowed to land. Instead, we went snorkeling and even though the waves were choppy, we got a close up view of some beautiful fish. We were told by one of the other guests who has done this before that the water is usually calm. The good news was that despite the waves, visibility was reasonable and the water was comfortably warm.
After snorkeling and looking at the birds on the island, we headed across the bay until we found Humpback whales. We watched two different pods, each with multiple males vying for the right to mate with the single female. Apparently, a fair amount of fighting goes on between the males underwater, but what we saw was the slow roll of their backs as they surfaced. None of them breached, but the sight of these wonderful mammals was magnificent nevertheless.
The final treat was the crew performing on the deck of the catamaran as we returned to port. Good fun and a lovely day.
Of course most people go to Puerta Vallarta to sit on the beaches, drink, and shop. We did none of that, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves surrounded by the beauty of the bay. If you come to enjoy the resort, you may want to put aside a day to visit Bahía de Banderas.
Note on the cruise itself: We are traveling with close friends, Doug and Debbie, and are enjoying being with them and the ship. The food is good - not exceptional, but lots to do including a number of very interesting talks we attended so far. The comedy show, starring Tom Briscoe, was excellent. If you get a chance to see him, we think you will enjoy his comedy.