Mexico!! ✈️ 🇲🇽

This was a big one for our family. A trip to MEXICO!!!! Neither myself nor our girls had been on a plane before so we were super excited and anxious for this trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. One whole week of sunshine, no cooking or cleaning for me and unlimited drinks and eats at Canto del Sol Resort. It was also my first meeting with the love of my life (well, second love, next to my Hubby), the ocean!

As easy as it was to fall into the tourist routine of eat, drink, swim, sleep, repeat, we wanted more from our time here so we ventured into town, walked the famous Malecon sea walk, ate at a quaint restaurant in the old village where we were serenaded by a mariachi band and watched the locals wade and play under a bridge in the river. You can’t go to PV without experiencing the market and that in itself is an experience and highly recommended should you go here. The art of bartering with the vendors is part of the novelty of visiting PV and when you come out with the treasures that will tell the stories to take home, they become priceless! The beautiful sandcastles along the beach were impressive and the Church of Guadalupe is stunning with it’s rich history and architecture. Our girls were particularly taken by the men dressed in ancient Mayan attire walking around carrying lizards and were excited to get so close to them.

Our resort was fantastic and checked off all the boxes for us. Situated right off the beach for strolls, horse back riding, stunning sunsets, a dip in the ocean, or enjoying other water activities like parasailing or riding a banana tube, we couldn’t have had a better first experience then what we had at Canto del Sol. From poolside dancing to aqua aerobics and even a swing of the stick at the piñata for the kids, there was something for all of us! The nightly entertainment was interactive and engaging and our girls loved being part of the show…even my hubby got his 5 mins of fame.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all smiles and fun for us on this trip. We had booked an excursion with the Pirates of the Bay pirate ship where they take you out to the beautiful cove of Majahuitas. Each family/group is assigned their own “pirate” which looks after your needs such as dinks, food and giving instructions. Our “pirate” Pearl was fantastic, helping out even with Rhylee’s sea nausea and making her comfortable. On the 29km voyage, we were treated to a pirate breakfast and show which Rhylee and I ended up participating in and was fun for us. Just before arriving at the cove, our pirate Pearl gave me a plastic bag for our belongings, as we had to exit the ship onto a smaller speed boat to take us the rest of the way to the shore while the ship remained anchored at sea until we returned. The time spent at Majahuitas was fabulous! A treasure hunt for the kids, volleyball games, beach bars with drinks and lots of sunshine for all. When the time came to pack up and head back to the ship, the winds had picked up and the waves had grown substantially, making it challenging to get into the speedboat. We were the second group of 3 with approximately 10 passengers to make our way back to the ship. The first group made it safely while the third group waited on the beach for their turn to board. While making our way across, the engine on our speed boat died halfway between the shore and the ship. The solution was to have the speedboat carrying the supplies (chairs, alcohol, volleyball nets etc.), to tow us to the ship, which was rocking parallel with the waves quite heavily. As we got closer, it was quickly apparent that this was not a good idea (my screaming at them may have been an indicator), and my husband ordered for us to be turned away to which they quickly complied (he can be a little intimidating haha), except by that point, the tow line essentially sling shotted us straight into the side of the rocking ship as the bumper came down on my side, just missing my hand and causing us to take on water. Then, as the ship rocked away from us, the bumper hit my side again and this time, flipped us all over into the sea. Luckily, no one was sucked under the ship with the force that was there and we all grabbed onto our upturned vessel and began to hold on for dear life. Thankfully we all had life vests on. My husband jumped onto the speedboat that towed us and proceeded to throw all the chairs and supplies into the sea to make room for everyone to get on and yelled orders for the crew to do the same. They all acted quickly as my husband jumped back into the water to hoist people into the speedboat as it was being emptied. Once we were all safe, a man who had been fishing and witnessed the whole account picked up the third group still waiting on the beach and watching in horror, and brought them out to our boat for us all to be taken to the port we left from earlier, as my husband made it very clear that they were not getting us on the ship. Not 5 mins from boating away from the scene, a shark fin was spotted in the water not far from us. We realized then, how much worse the whole ordeal could have been and we just wanted to get to port and back to the resort. If not for our pirate Pearl giving me the plastic bag for my belongings, I would’ve lost everything from this trip as my camera was in the bag among other personal belongs and I’d have no photos to share here or to look back on. Many others who were with us lost their passports, wallets and cameras so we were luckier than most in that regard. We were all just happy to be safe and uninjured. It was a terrifying experience that to this day, even as an avid boater and boat owner, has me anxious when the waves get choppy. Needless to say, the rest of our trip was at the resort on land and we cancelled all of our other excursions, including a catamaran trip. My husband was a true hero the way he took charge of the situation and helped save us and many others. It’s ironic that the poster/advertisement for this ship was “Expect the Unexpected”….well that it did deliver!

Now it’s not a trip to Mexico without indulging in a bit of the nightlife! We had met some great people from Calgary during this trip, and even though they were all in their early 20’s, we hit it off and went out for a night of dancing together. Some of us remember more than others I’m sure, so we at least have these photos to go by which speaks for itself on what a great time we had!

The rest of our stay was great. We kept ourselves busy in the pool, on the beach and enjoyed many tasty meals, especially the a la carte nights where we dressed up a little. Our final full day was Rhylee’s 8th birthday. We surprised her with a birthday message on the beach and ended the day with a rooftop dinner with a special cake and song surprise for the birthday girl. Our final sunset was one of the best from the whole week. We loved Puerto Vallarta and we loved the resort. We met some great friends and made lasting memories. We would definitely revisit.