Yelapa, Mexico- February/March 2021

It literally felt like we traveled back in time to a small fishing village. Yelapa had the feeling of a remote, slow paced island and the only way to get there is by a 45 minute boat ride from Puerto Vallarta. There is no government, no police, it is run by the indigenous people. Water is gravity fed from a spring above one of the waterfalls. There are no ATMs, credit cards (except for the three tourist restaurants on the beach) or cars; only rock roads with donkeys, horses and ATV's. There are a handful of local restaurants, some have the menus written on cardboard and food is cooked out of a brick oven.  No shopping list to make, you eat what’s in stock and there are two small markets. To get to the touristy beach side you have to cross the river on foot. You have the ocean on one side, the river and the lushness of the jungle and waterfalls on the other and surprisingly there was a lot to do.

Our first outing consisted of a two plus hour hike to the upper waterfall, without a guide. Jim took us on twists and turns up river, up hills and across rocks. As for the waterfall I guess I was expecting something more, but getting there was full of adventure, laughs and natural beauty. I suggest the lower waterfall in town, much more stunning, especially in the mid morning. 

Upper waterfall-2 hour hike

Town waterfall-10 minutes

One afternoon when the river was full we just sat on the beach and watched kids build a raft out of bamboo. Jim helped some guys get their boat out to the bay and we made friends with Pedro, the iguana. We attended a boxing match, it was a big community event and a first for me.  And one day we hiked as far up the river as we could, where we hung out for the day secluded from anyone.

We hiked up the east side of Yelapa....(STRAIGHT UP) to see the old lighthouse which basically was a cell tower. Not worth the hike nor the view and I wish I could say we had a ton of laughs along the way, but mainly it was me bitchen’ and being worried about this so called trail Jim had me on. 

Small world. Our host called us one afternoon and said he was with someone who knew us…in YELAPA?  It was a cool experience running into Terry Price, a friend from Weed. Of course we had to celebrate over drinks and shots of Racilla. We actually spent a few days in P.V. with them lounging at the El Darado and having the most amazing lobster dinner and delicious soufflé at Hacienda San Angel. We also listened to one of the best Mariachi bands.

We spent a day with Franco, a local of Yelapa on the water and saw so many beautiful beaches, tiny villages and gorgeous scenery. We went into a cove to snorkel but found it filled with jellyfish. We headed to Chimo, south of Yelapa, where we anchored in the bay and canoed into the little village. Jim and I walked around, hung out on the secluded beach, drank margaritas and had langosta a la diabla y ajo for lunch, which was excellent. But what made this day perfect and absolutely the BEST was all the WHALES!

Toward the end of our trip we decided to do a hike to the “Top of Yelapa.” Jim assured me the hike would be worth it and it was.  

On our last day Rafeal and Jamil took us the long way back to Puerto Vallarta…..which meant fishing, tequila, whale watching, music and fun, which made the ride back to the city a lot of fun.

I was a little excited to get to P.V. because I was looking forward to a solid night’s sleep. For some reason from around 11:00 p.m.-5:00 a.m. you could hear any of the following: beautiful Spanish music, roosters (always), barking dogs, fighting cats, squawking birds, ringing of the church bell (2:00 a.m.), people looking for each other or lost (it seems customary instead of knocking on the door you just stand in front of the house and holler about what you need), the sounds of parties on the beach.... and then just as dawn would approach back to the sounds of birds and roosters and finally around 5:00 a.m., the retro music started.  But as we left I remember thinking to myself how much I will miss Yelapa’s beauty and simplicity and the wonderful friends we met.