Puerto Vallarta - Las Caletas

When we signed up for the Ziplining excursion, the company we booked through (Vallarta Adventures) was running a special - 3 excursions for the price of 2.  Sounded like a good deal to us!  They had a lot of activities to choose from, so for our second excursion we decided to go to Las Caletas for the day.  According to Vallarta Adventrues, Las Caletas was once the private home of film director John Huston who considered it one of the most beautiful places in the world. Nestled in a secluded nature preserve on the southern shores of Banderas Bay, Las Caletas is now Vallarta Adventures' own exclusive tropical beach hideaway. 

Las Caletas is isolated and unspoiled because it's only accessible by sea.  So, once again, we hopped on a boat and headed out for our adventure.  This time, instead of inflatable speed boats, we climbed aboard a catamaran and cruised by some of the most fantastic scenery the Mexican Pacific has to offer.

The guides on the boat were pretty entertaining...

But who could concentrate on that, when you had views like this!

That's our hotel (below)!

There were also these amazing rock islands in the middle of the bay.

As we reached our destination, the sun finally came out and gave us amazing weather.  As promised by the guides, once Las Caletas came into view we were awe-struck by the natural beauty of the turquoise ocean against a steep backdrop of bright green canopies.  Absolutely gorgeous!

We deboarded the boat and made our way over to the stunning beach.

We were immediately handed cold boat drinks and given a schedule of the day's activities.  Kasey and I decided to go snorkeling and headed up to get our gear.  Kirsten and Iris got massages at the outdoor spa center.  And Jacquie and Mel found some friends to hang out with on the beach.

Based on the color of the water by our hotel, I had my doubts about snorkeling, but it was surprisingly good at Las Caletas. 

We saw an octopus...

And a puffer fish...

And some kind of sponge-thing...

Not a bad way to spend the morning.

While we were out, the rest of the girls decided to have a kayak race. 

Loser buys boat drinks.

It was a close race...

But Kirsten and Mel were pronounced winners.

They gloated.

Then it was time for a little R&R in the sunshine.

But I got antsy, so I decided to explore the area - camera in hand.

I found the dining area.

Lots of hammocks on palm trees.

 A couple lizards.

Tiny crabs.

The scenery was just so lush and gorgeous.

And then it was time for lunch.

We had buffet-style lunch of BBQ chicken, seafood paella, ribs, veggies, corn on the cob, etc.  The food was outstanding.

After lunch we made our way over to meet the birds and monkeys.

The birds were very friendly...

Maybe even a little too friendly.

This one snuck in a little tongue action on Mel.

Kirsten's terrified of birds.  This is about as close as she was willing to get.

And then it was time to go.

We goofed around and took a bunch of pictures while we were waiting for the boat.

Adios Las Caletas!