Finding Nature and Nurture in Puerto Vallarta

Come for the mountains, ocean, and adventure. Stay for the martinis, massages, and freshly cleaned sunglasses.

I checked into Casa Kimberly, a hotel my driver called "the hidden hotel." You really could walk right past it. Step inside, and the reverse is also true. The city disappears.

I was driving a souped-up RZR through the mountains with River Park Tours, following my guide, Omar, around hairpin turns. 

The route took us across three bridges, past a waterfall, and up to Jorullo Point, a lookout painstakingly built by local farmers and landowners. For a few hours, I was a kid playing in the dirt again. Or maybe a spy disappearing through the jungle. 

That evening, I washed off the mountain and walked upstairs to The Iguana at Casa Kimberly for a martini and fish with asparagus, baby carrot, poblano mashed potato, and pineapple sauce.  

Pro Tip: The restaurant offers live mariachi performances Monday, Wednesday, and  Friday nights from November through April, and each Friday for the month of May. 

This became the rhythm of the trip. Get out in the elements. Get into my element. Repeat.  

The next morning, I boarded a yacht for a luxury snorkeling trip. Snorkeling’s meditative. Put your face beneath the surface and the world goes quiet. Below me, I saw colorful fish completely unconcerned with emails, deadlines, or return flights. 

Back on the boat, after a relaxing pit stop at the idyllic Majahuitas Beach, a little community started forming among the 20 or so passengers. A couple from Mexico City. Some Canadians. Honeymooners from one of the Carolinas. People I'd sit beside on a train back home without ever thinking of introducing myself. 

 The rules are different here. There are fewer strangers in Puerto Vallarta. 

That night, Café des Artistes made me one of the best meals of the trip. Its famous cream of prawn and pumpkin soup (“a 35-year tradition”) is finished tableside with soup ladled from an actual pumpkin. I’ll admit. Pumpkin isn't really my thing. It’s not something I would usually order. But that’s the difference between a good restaurant and a great one. The great chefs get you to love new things.  

For the second half of the trip, I moved to Hotel Mousai. Where Casa Kimberly is old-world romance, Mousai is colorful, modern, and slightly surreal. My balcony had an ocean view, a hammock, and a hot tub. The rooftop pool had the ultimate view. Some great tuna tostada, too.  

Hotel Mousai is everything you want from an all-inclusive, adults-only place. Fine dining. Fabulous views. Friendly guests. Impeccable service. At one point, someone in a white lab coat walked around the rooftop pool area cleaning guests' sunglasses. It’s those tiny details that make it a hotel you’ll love instead of just heavily like.  

My final day was devoted to the spa at Hotel Mousai. Hydrotherapy, sauna, steam, cold plunge, then a massage that began with my feet being washed and a small rock placed in my hand during an intention-setting ritual. After spending a couple of days bouncing through mountains and swimming in the Pacific, I welcomed the transition to a calmer state.  

That night, I took one last boat ride to experience Rhythms of the Night, a strange and wonderful combination of jungle, dinner, and theatrical spectacle accessible only by water. 

Felt like the perfect ending. Nature and nurture one last time. 

I never saw the green flash. But at some point, I stopped looking for it.  

Pumpkin soup. Hairpin turns. Fish swimming beneath me. Strangers becoming friends. Freshly cleaned sunglasses by a rooftop pool. A little rock placed in my palm. These became my green flashes.  

Maybe that's the magic of Puerto Vallarta. It’s a feeling as much as it is a place. It’s the feeling that there’s always a little more waiting on the horizon. It is the green flash.