Communication & Safety

Puerto Vallarta is fairly safe as it’s a popular place for tourists. Mexico, as a whole, can be very dangerous. If you are concerned about crime, we would recommend staying close to the more touristy places at all times.

While in and around the areas of your resort, you're not really required to know Spanish and you should always be fine communicating in English. If you come across an employee that doesn't speak English, they typically are very helpful in finding someone who does. But as you leave and venture off to more localized areas, you'll want to be able to communicate in Spanish.

This app, iTranslate, works offline so you don't need to worry about having service. And it would also be wise to always have your maps downloaded should you lose service or don't have an international data roaming plan.

Save money by negotiating

Negotiate as much as you can. This will not work for restaurants, bar, and grocery/convenient stores, but for street vendors, smaller shops, transportation services, rentals, etc., they are used to negotiations.

It would be kind to keep in mind that this is how they make a living, so be reasonable, but do negotiate. If you genuinely think they are over-charging, walk away and see how quickly thy will chase you down to offer you lower prices.

Example: We went to rent jet skis on the beach. The first group offers $50 for 1 hour. We started walking away and he came after us and said he could do $45. We said no and moved on. The group, about 100 yards away said the best they can do was $40. We were about to say yes but decided to keep going. We ran into another group, who was the same company we just passed, and then guy offered us $35 for the hour.