This summer I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Riviera Nayarit outside of Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. Every year, 50 publishers at Macaroni Kid are invited to attend an event known as the Silver Daisy Boondoggle. It’s a press trip for our writers, and this year was extra special as it was the first time that we’ve gone international and went to Mexico. There are plenty of adventures to be had in Mexico, from experiencing the wonderful culture to exploring the rainforests I was so excited to be able to attend! With my passport in hand, I was ready to go!
From Oakland Airport, it was a quick non-stop flight of just a couple hours. We stayed in an all-inclusive resort which was fantastic! The name of the resort was called Reflect Krystal Grand Nuevo Vallarta.
To begin with, let me tell you how impressed I was with the resort. It was absolutely gorgeous. It had not one, not two, but five pools! Each one had a different personality with one of them an infinity pool that seemed to just disappear into the ocean. Stunning. The staff was friendly and helpful and spoke English which made it super easy.
The food options at the resort itself included a buffet, a sushi restaurant, a coffee bar, a grill and several others I wasn’t able to visit.
And that was just one of the amazing resorts on this beach.
What I’d really like to tell you all about are the amazing adventures that are to be had in this beautiful area! Here are the top three experiences that I had:
One of the most amazing things that we did was an offroad adventure with Vallarta Adventures. Boarding onto specially designed Mercedes-Benz all-terrain vehicles, we explored some of the local wilderness not far from us. There were multiple streams and remote villages we voyaged through underneath the canopy of the forest accompanied by knowledgeable and ecologically oriented guides and culminated with a short hike. We also made our own tortillas and tacos fresh from the corn and finished with lunch on the beach at Hacienda La Cruz, a beachfront restaurant. This was a true farm to table experience as we actually purchased the corn at a local market!
The second experience that I would like to tell you about is Sayulita. Sayulita is a world-famous surfers retreat, so of course, I felt right at home. Known for its cool and relaxed vibe with inviting beaches, amazing surfing and eclectic crafts it really is a place to experience the culture first hand here.
The final experience I’d like to share is our trip to San Pancho. We toured EntreAmigos, a free community program for children to develop motor and communication skills. I was really impressed! It’s a cornerstone of the community of San Pancho and is doing great things for these kids. EntreAmigos uses all recyclables as their crafts, and like many of the things we did in our time here they are very conscientious about taking care of the environment around them. I was happy to partake in an afternoon planting trees in the area and give back to this amazing community where I experienced so much.
Coming home, all I could think about was coming back with my whole family to have them also get to see and experience this amazing place. It’s a special place, with a ton of culture, adventure (and my personal favorite) incredible foods to try.
*I was hosted for the purpose of this review, but all thoughts of this writer.
