Palapa in Yelapa

The first thing that my mom and I did when she arrived in the Puerto Vallarta airport on St. Patrick's Day was hop on a bus from the airport to the downtown ferry pier, where we caught a very bumpy boat to Yelapa!

 The boat ride with my mom that only involved a little screaming and swearing!

With only two weeks here to visit me and many plans already made, my mom wanted to get off to a running start. She had heard of a tiny hillside town that is only accessible by boat, and decided that we must take a short detour south before heading up to Mazatlan and Baja. While she had second thoughts about this plan on the jostling boat ride, it was definitely worth it to spend a few days in such an interesting and unique place that has been unspoiled by tourists. During the one full day that we spent in Yelapa, we hiked nearly all of the trails around town, including to this waterfall for a swim and picnic.

 

 

 

We also got very excited about eating fresh seafood on the beach, staying in a palapa-style (thatch roof) hut and swimming in a gorgeous bay. The brief detour to Yelapa was a brilliant way to start the two weeks of traveling with mom to follow, and we hope to someday check out other towns and waterfalls on the south side of Banderas Bay that are also accessible by boat. The next stage of our trip would take us north for more adventures!

Yelapa's "downtown" on the hillside. We had to walk along the beach and then hike up some stairs built underneath houses to get into town!

 

View from the main part of Yelapa to the beach where we stayed in a palapa hut.

 

 

 

It was a good looking bay!