I posted a question in a local forum about parking at the Puerto Vallarta airport with our small motor home.  One commenter suggested parking at the nearby bus station and taking a taxi.  Sounded good to me and I had the mapping all figured out.  But I forgot that in Mexico, often times you have to get in the far right hand lane to make a left turn so we missed the turn.  We went on to the airport and there was no parking for a motor home because of height barriers into the parking lot.  We figured that out a bit too late and had to do some backing up.  So we ended up letting my mother off at the front of the terminal, where airport attendants were trying to make us leave ASAP.  It all worked out though and she had no problems and a good flight home.

Highway 200 between La Penita and Puerto Vallarta.

Just down the road from the airport is a big Walmart and Sam’s Club which is where we turned left to check out Tacho’s RV Park that was only about 1/4 mile down the side road.  It’s a big park with many big RV’s set up for months of comfort.  Some of them had outdoor rooms bigger than their motor home.  The park had some sites that are nicely shaded and they now have free wifi which they didn’t previously.  We went into the office and got the price list:  320 pesos for one day, 2100 for one week, and 8100 for one month.  The rates for longer stays are reduced more.  Also, the cruise ship port is right across the street from Walmart and a Carnival ship happened to be there. 

Tacho’s RV Park in PV

Normally, the Walmarts in Mexico are not as nice as their other big supermarkets but this one was wonderful.  Very clean and the bakery section was bigger than any of the grocery stores in La Penita.  We filled our basket and our total was just under $40 US.

Next on our list was to check out the Sayulito Trailer Park.  We had stopped in three years ago but they were full.  This time we walked all around the park before meeting up with the owner who is from Germany.  This park really has character and we may try to get a spot after spending a week in Rincon.  For a while, I was following quite a number of websites of people going to South America.  They ALL stop in at this park and we saw two while there who plan to travel the world, one in a Land Rover.   Sayulito is probably 15 miles from PV – great location for seeing the area. 

I took some pictures in the RV park but there is so much shade from all the trees and plants that they just didn’t turn out very well.  What is interesting is how many of the park residents have fixed up their sites with all sorts of ways to have privacy outside and to extend the living area.  It’s nice and breezy throughout the park and fronts the ocean.  Kind of expensive though for pretty small sites.  The owner (I think his name was Hans) had one available on the end by the beach for $27 and another one for $24.  No discounts for longer stays.  And there’s a charge for internet.  We may go there after Rincon for a few days.

RV under a palapa in Sayulito.  I would bet this is someone who rents the space year after year.  People do all sorts of improvements to RV sites down here once they find a spot that they want to return to each year.  Some have put in pavers or concrete with inlaid tile for their patio,, palapa covering, plus nice landscaping.  Sure beats buying a house or condo in this area that normally is just a winter haven anyway.

Sayulito has a German restaurant named El Pretzel.