Tips & Tricks for First Timers to Puerto Vallarta Serena M. - TripAdvisor
go to original March 25, 2015

Prior to my trip, I found the reviews on TripAdvisor to be so helpful so I thought I'd try to answer any questions that I had before I visited PV!

Spring Break 2015 was my first time to PV (3/14/15-3/21/15) I thought I would share useful information that will help you on your first journey to Mexico! Feel free to ask questions!

I am a college student so initially the price and location drew me to Hotel Rosita. I had planned my trip around spring break and booked one room to share for three people (myself and another female and a male - all in our early 20's).

I wrote a detailed review about Hotel Rosita and you should be able to find it on my profile if you are looking for hotels. Overall, would highly recommend this hotel.

Recommendations for first timers:

Traffic

Traffic is CRAZY and they do not yield to pedestrians so always be aware of where you are walking. Even people biking will zoom past you on the sidewalk and if you have small children this can be dangerous. Many of the roads are made of cobblestone so it is a bumpy drive. Although the streets in old town PV are wide enough to have two one way lanes, there are no lines separating the lanes so driving is competitive.

Money

Before my trip the exchange rate was 15 Pesos to $1 USD. If you can secure a nice exchange rate before you leave I would suggest this. We had no problems paying in USD anytime during our stay but every business offers a different exchange rate (most business on the Malecon exchanged 12.5 Pesos to $1 USD) so it would be in your benefit to exchange them with your bank prior to arrival. The Cashola and Intercom ATM's only allowed you to extract money in USD with a $6.95 USD charge per ever $100 extracted. We only found 2 ATM's that let us extract our money in Pesos during our stay.

Safety

As a young female in my early 20's I felt comfortable walking by myself both day and night but was always very aware of my surroundings. I always kept my money in different areas on my person and did not dress with excess jewelry. (The nicer you dress the more people will try to sell you stuff). When we walked in a group (two females and a guy) we had no issues...however continue reading at TripAdvisor for a wake up call...