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Download Episode! Subscribe to The\xa0Puerto Vallarta Travel Show\xa0on iTunes What do you need to know about taking a public bus in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico? Hello fellow travelers, welcome to this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show, all about buses in Puerto Vallarta. \xa0I am your host Barry Kessler and I am just so happy to be\xa0 to introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico. That music you were just listing to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa group of restaurants,\xa0 La Palapa Restaurant is on the southside of town, right down on the beach in Puerto Vallarta. La Palapa, and El Dorado Restaurants. And if you play your cards right, you can hear Alberto play his beautiful music and enjoy songs like Samba de Puerto Vallarta when you enjoy dinner at La Palapa. Just saying an added bonus to a great romantic meal on the beach. Now before we get to buses in Puerto Vallarta I want to thank a listener, Brett from Seattle Washington who reminded me about a tip regarding filling out those immigration forms that we talks about in show 2 and 3. You know, the one you get from the flight attendant before you touch down in Puerto Vallarta, they are called FMM\u2019s which stands for Forma Migratoria Multiple. Anyway, he says in his note\u2026Barry, Listening to your second podcast and noticed you didn't mention that you can complete the FMM online.\xa0 It's so much easier, and you don't have to worry about a pen and writing small enough to get everything in the tiny boxes.\xa0 When printed, fold it several times so they can separate the 'top' part from the 'bottom' like the pre-printed ones.\xa0 I occasionally have to tell them it's 'nuevo - en linea'.\xa0 Big time saver!\xa0 Here's the site:\xa0https://www.inm.gob.mx/fmme/publico/en/solicitud\xa0... there's an 'ES' and an 'EN' button you can click for Spanish or English. So I have added the links to download that FMM online and you can find them at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com in episode 4. And thank you again Brett, by the way Brett has a really good story about timeshares and he is a little shy, but I\u2019m gonna try to coax him to come on the show and tell you how he makes timeshares work for him. It\u2019s really interesting. And you..yes you can reach out to me and tell me your Puerto\xa0Vallarta story, give me a suggestion by going to the contact us tab at the top of our webpage and sending me a email. It\u2019s easy and fun. \xa0 This episode I will be talking buses in Puerto Vallarta with my friend JR in PV. Now you guys have to cut me a little slack here please because I\u2019m just getting used to the long distance interviewing and the proper recording levels and all that other wonky tech stuff. What I\u2019m saying is that it will get better in future interviews so please bear with me as I improve my technique I have been told by the best in the business, don\u2019t let perfect be the enemy of the good. So with that that in mind, let\u2019s ask JR, is it okay to take buses in Puerto Vallarta? What about \u2026. take buses in Puerto Vallarta? JR, what about buses? Are the safe? Are you gonna find chickens and livestock on them? What do you expect when you get onto a bus? JR: \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 We don\u2019t have chicken bus, going back we did. First what we have to understand the bus system here was not built for tourists. It was built to get people to and from work. For children to get o and from school, etcetera etcetera. The roads tend to go through the residential areas. The local residential areas where tourists will be completely lost. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Interesting, because I found most bus drivers don\u2019t speak English very well. I imagine that\u2019s why they don\u2019t interact with tourists that much. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Some do, if you can say the destination in Spanish, they\u2019ll either say Yes or No. Another thing to consider of course is downtown, we basically have two North-South streets. In other words, in order to get to the South side of town to the North side of town you got to go through one of those streets. Basically, if you\u2019re going North it\u2019s one street. Going South, it\u2019s another. Consequently, there\u2019s a lot of business that go through downtown then go off into all these weird many areas that I\u2019ve never seen. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 You mentioned on your website a very funny thing. You\xa0 say take a mystery tour, hop on the bus and see where it takes you. Sounds like a lot of fun. Would there be a place that you would take a bus to nowhere that you wouldn\u2019t want to go. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 No. It\u2019s a cheap trip it\u2019s just seven and a half pesos. There and back it\u2019s 15 pesos. You go to the end of the line. Sometimes the bus will turn around back. Sometimes there\u2019s another bus waiting to go back. If you change course of course you have to pay twice. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Sure. So do you need exact change when you get on a bus? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 It helps. Seven and a half pesos. 50 centavo coin is a tiny thing. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 You\u2019ll lose it. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Very small and difficult to find in your pocket sometimes. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 That\u2019s for sure. What is this little white piece of paper the driver gives you when you get on a bus? First time I got on a bus I thought it was for transfer or something. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 No, that shows that you paid. And occasionally an inspector would come in and look at the numbers at the bus drivers stack of tickets and go through the bus and check the numbers if everybody's been issued one. And that the driver is not cheating by not giving a ticket. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 That\u2019s what that\u2019s for. They don\u2019t have these cameras that they have here in the States to keep an eye on your drivers and keep them all good and honest. Actually they\u2019re handing you their ticket which is a receipt. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, it\u2019s a receipt. And also I believe it covers you in case of accident. Although, I can\u2019t even remember ever there being a bus accidents where anybody got hurt inside the bus. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 That\u2019s good to know. Let\u2019s say that you arrive at the airport and all you have is a carry on baggage. Maybe a backpack, a roll-away, you\u2019re traveling light. Can you catch a bus from the airport to where you\u2019re going either North or South of the airport? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Only South, no, North or South really.. The ones going North will be not city buses but long distance buses most of them because the border of the next state is just north of the airport. Everything going there is basically an intercity bus. The buses coming South basically are coming from Ixtapa, Las Palmas not that many. One of them that I\u2019ve taken before is a magical mystery tour. Although it said central, it eventually got there but it took a long long time. We ended up in the hinterland. I don\u2019t know where we were. I just sat there and crossed my fingers. Eventually it got to the South side where they all end up. In the case of coming through the airport, avoid any bus going South that says Pitillal because that\u2019s the first place the magical mystery tour bus goes. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 It kinds of winds it way to Pitillal I imagine. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 It goes to Pitillal and it goes to other colonias that I\u2019ve never seen before. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 So you\u2019re gonna be looking for a bus going South that doesn\u2019t say Pitillal on it. But do you have a specific like Central on it. What does it say? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Central. I don\u2019t think there are tunnel buses that go by the airport. I might be wrong. I should explain that if it says tunnel which is spelled T-U-N-E-L pronounced \u201ctoo-nle\u201d this goes on the bypass road around downtown avoiding that constriction there. If you\u2019re going to the south side or going from the South side North and you want to avoid downtown and the delay going through that traffic. You take the bypass road which is called Libra Miento which basically means it\u2019s free. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Okay, it will also say tunel on it right? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes. \u201ctoo-nle\u201d. T-U-N-E-L. That will avoid downtown if you\u2019re going from the hotel zone, the Marina or any hotel towards the airport you want to go to the South side of town you can avoid downtown by taking the Tunel Bus. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Okay, got it. If you\u2019re taking a\xa0 bus from from the hotel zone that\u2019s pretty much just going through downtown, isn\u2019t it? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Right. They all go to the South side but from the hotel zone\xa0 some would take the bypass road.\xa0 You can see it quite easily on my map. And you can click on that. It starts from the Marina airport area all the way down to Mismaloya. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Okay, and it actually shows the right buses to take. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes. I also have maps of North of the airport. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Fantastic, so this is one of the reasons why you all need to go to vallartainfo.com and click on that map tab. Bring them down and you can see how nice and detailed these are. They give restaurants.They give locations ofwhere to catch those buses. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 It shows the bus stops.\xa0 Well, most of them. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 That is so invaluable. These destinations are put on the windshields of the buses right? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 At the top of the bus, there\u2019s a window that\u2019s their main destination window. That will tell you where they will end up. Then right on the windscreen the various places that you might want to go to. For instance Wal-Mart it might say IMSS which is the local state hospital. It may mention markets like Mega or Soriana. It may also mention places in between the main destination and the origin. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 So those are the tips when you\u2019re looking at the bus. To understand where they\u2019re going at the end which is along the top. The stops they make along the way which is written on the windscreen. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 For instance, Marine Terminal if you want to take an excursion that\u2019s leaving from the Marine Terminal you would want to look for the bus that says Wal-Mart and Marine Terminal. If you go to the Marina which is not the same as the Marine Terminal and is quite the distance away. You need to take the Marina Bus. There\u2019s only one bus that drives into the residential area of the Marina. That will say Marina on top. This particular bus is not very regular about every 20 mins. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 If you want to go to the Marina you really need to plan for not having a bus come pick you up right away. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Right, it\u2019s not as frequent as the other buses. The other buses are every five minutes there\u2019s another bus. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 It seems like it\u2019s a congo line of buses in Puerto Vallarta. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 If you\u2019re going South, let\u2019s say to Mismaloya Boca de Tomatlan There\u2019s the bus that goes from the South side all the way to Boca de Tomatlan and then turns around and comes back. That is eight pesos. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 So seven and half for city bus all the way up to the airport-ish. If you are going to catch that Mismaloya bus, it goes down to Boca that will cost you eight pesos. What\u2019s eight pesos today? About 40 cents? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, I think. If\xa0 you\u2019re going further South to say to the Botanical Garden or to El Tuito. There\u2019s another bus that leaves on the corner of Aguacate and Carranza and that will cost you 28 pesos all the way to El Tuito and takes about 50 minutes. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 It\u2019s a regular city bus too? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 It\u2019s intercity bus because El Tuito is considered to be another city. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 And that one you catch and will take you even further South. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Right, if you\u2019re going to see the Botanical Garden. They say to Botanical Garden it\u2019s only 20 pesos but quite often just take 28 which is all he way to El Tuito. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Tell me what\u2019s El Tuito like? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 El Tuito is quite a bit older than Puerto Vallarta. It was a stop on the Camino Real, the King\u2019s road from Barra de Navidad to the mines. The Manila boat coming from the Philippines would stop occasionally at Barra de Navidad and unload some goodies for the mines. Maybe take on a little silver but mainly unload some goodies for the mines. They would go by oxcart and mule all the way up this road. It was quite primitive in those days and El Tuito was about halfway and it\u2019s a valley and it had grazing and it had \xa0water. They would stop there and eventually they built some accommodation and that was the start of the town. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 I just saw not too long ago a post of you going down to El Tuito. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 We went to El Tuito which is on the way to a couple of beaches called Playa Mayto and a fishing village called Teramecle. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 I think pretty much covers most of what I want to talk about, well not really. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 This bus is going North. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Yes, that\u2019s what I was gonna say what about the bus going North? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Right, do you want to get to Nueva Vallarta Bucer\xedas, Punta de Mita, Sayulita, Lo de Marcos La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and all those place in Rinc\xf3n de Guayabitos, a lot of them are covered in the bus line called ATM. Not to be confused with the cash machine. Compostela Pacifico line the ATM only goes to Punta de Mita at around the bay for Sayulita your location you need the Compostela Pacifico line. These are all available at Wal-Mart. There\u2019s a special bus stop for these buses going North, not city buses. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 You catch the buses at Wal-Mart that sounds just like a commercial. I like that. You catch a bus if you\u2019re going to North and get the Compostela bus. You need to get to Wal-Mart first. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 There\u2019s one stop before Wal-Mart, the first stop is right at the end of libramiento departamento of the hotel zone. It\u2019s marked on my map. It\u2019s a good one to get to if you want to get a seat if it\u2019s very busy. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 It\u2019s really going to be busy going up North especially in the\xa0 mornings when people are going to work, right? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Exactly. This applies going to South as well. If you want to go at Boca de Tomatlan went down to catch the first bus on the South side you might want to go to next bus in line to get a seat. Because quite often you\u2019d be standing. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Those are fun trips when you\u2019re standing in the trips especially the South one. How about the North one is it just as fun? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 It\u2019s good. It gets busy. I even had a lady offer me a seat once. Barry: \xa0\xa0 No. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 I guess she thought I was really old. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 These buses are interstate buses. They go from Jalisco to Nayarit? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Right, they\u2019re considered inter-city. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 What kind of pesos do we need to bring along when we go to Punta de Mita and we hop on that bus over at- JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Let\u2019s see, Bucerias is 14 pesos. Nuevo Vallarta is either 15 or 18 pesos depending on whether you go to North end or South end of it. La Cruz de Huanacaxtle \xa0is 18 pesos. Punta de Mita is 26. Sayulita is 35 I believe. And that takes you right into Sayulita and that\u2019s the best bus to get for Sayulita. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Sayulita they go farther North? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 If you want to go further\xa0 North let\u2019s say San Pancho which is actually called San Francisco but everybody calls it San Pancho. Lo de Marcos, \xa0La Cruz de Huanacaxtle are all on the way on that road that eventually goes to Tepic the capital of Nayatrit. Those buses won\u2019t go into these various peach towns. They will drop you in the highway and you have to huff it in to the actual town. Usually it\u2019s less than a mile. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 All those buses you catch at Wal-Mart. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Wal-Mart is the most recognizable location. Everybody knows what it looks like. You can actually get earlier as I said at the beginning of the hotel zone and it\u2019s marked on my map. If you want to get seat. It also stops at airport if you wave it down. Buses will stop for you whether it\u2019s not natural regular stop. On the South road or Northern road as long as it\u2019s a place they can pull off because there are only two lanes. Then they will stop. In order to wave them down, not wave at them. They\u2019ll more likely wave back. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 What\u2019s the right sign? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 The way to stop the bus is to point in the middle of the road right in front of you. The bus will stop. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 They take directions. Instead of waving and saying hey there what you\u2019re saying is stop right here. Right where I\u2019m pointing. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 This is the tradition down here. They never wave and the bus drivers know if that means somebody wants you to stop. If you wave they might think you\u2019re waving at somebody else. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 If you are a visitor coming to Puerto Vallarta would you suggest ever renting a car? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 No I wouldn\u2019t at all. Unless you\u2019re planning on driving to somewhere whether it\u2019s not a regular bus service like San Sebastian. You can\u2019t really have a day drive on San Sebastian because the time you get there it\u2019s almost time to go back. Because they have about four buses a day. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 San Sebastian, that is the silver mining town up in the hills. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Up in the mountains. 4,600 feet is pretty high. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Is there anything else that you can think of that we need to know about the public bus system down here? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Just be ready to hold on because quite often the driver will take off while he\u2019s making change. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Keep an eye on that. Make sure you always turn around. Don\u2019t leave anything on the bus,very important, before you leave because you may not get it back. Or maybe you will? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 People get their stuff back right where they left behind sometimes but there\u2019s not central garage or anything. A lot of these buses are owned by the drivers and they drive them home. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 I didn\u2019t know that. That\u2019s very interesting. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 The bus companies but they\u2019re like cooperatives in a way. Some of the bus companies own a bunch of buses and in effect rent them out to the driver. Other drivers actually own the bus. And work with the cooperative and pay cooperative a certain amount. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 That\u2019s pretty precise description of what\u2019s going on down on the ground in Puerto Vallarta regarding buses and bus system there. Just remember everybody; if you have the urge to rent the car don\u2019t. Unless you\u2019re gonna go where the buses and the cab won\u2019t take you. Speaking of cabs, in another episode you and I will be talking about taxis. Is that okay JR? JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Sure that\u2019s fine. I would interject also if you\u2019re going to rent a car, the only rental company I can always really 100% recommend are Gecko Car Rental. They\u2019re not in town they\u2019re in Bucerias. But they will come and bring your car anywhere including the airport. They\u2019re the only ones that don\u2019t have bad press. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Thanks that a great tip then. Gecko for those of you who are thinking about renting a car. If you really really got to do it. Do it in through this company in Bucerias called Gecko. JR once again, you are a huge fount of information for us , for my listeners, for our listeners. I really really appreciate you coming out today again. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Welcome Barry. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 We\u2019ll talk again soon maybe about taxis. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Okay, I\u2019ll try and think of good things to say. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Sure you will. Thanks again JR. JR:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0 Okay, bye. Barry:\xa0\xa0\xa0 Bye now. So that was quite an in depth look at taking buses in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. A couple of items I want to touch base on before we leave this subject behind and that is the conversation I had with JR about taking a bus from the Airport. I would never suggest that you take a bus if you are a first time traveler to Vallarta. That is a bus from the airport to your hotel. It would be silly. I\u2019m just talking about the seasoned traveler who is traveling light. No luggage just a backpack. That bus you can catch along side the arrivals terminal under the pedestrian bridge and look for a bus that says Centro on it. The other item I wanted to mention is that the Mismaloya bus that also goes to Boca de Tomatlan can be found at the corner of Basillo Badillo and Constitution. They are orange and white buses and will cost you 8 pesos.And I just want to remind you that the bus to \xa0El Tuito and the Botanical Gardens is at Aguacate and Carranza. Check in my shownotes for all of the routes and costs for buses in Puerto Vallarta and you will find them at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com and the notes will be right there with this podcast post. I should also mention, since we are talking pesos and dollars, as of this podcast, January 22, 2017 \xa0the Mexican peso to the US dollar is almost 22 pesos to 1. \xa0I also have to add that we have experienced an increase of up to 20% in fuel prices in the last weeks here in mexico so taxi and bus prices are expected to rise in the near future but never fear, we will keep you up to date as things on the ground change. Thus far however, we haven\u2019t seen any drastic changes in transportation costs to the end user. Okay, Again you will find all of the show notes to this podcast and others to come including the links to JR\u2019s site and to the website where you can purchase the fantastic music of Alberto Perez who we will listen to as we play out this episode at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com, just click on the show links tab at the top of the home page. Remember that this show is an interactive one. I need your participation by sending me emails with questions for JR that you would like to hear him answer on air with me. And please Email me your suggestions for show topics that you think \xa0I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the contact us tab on my website at the top of the home page at \xa0www.puertovallartatravelshow.com.\xa0 And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR\u2019s website and reserve your tour through him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience and on the ground knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you\u2019re just doing it through him as a way of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you can come on-board\xa0and share with others what you liked or didn\u2019t like about the tour. Again, email me with your experiences.\xa0 And one more favor please, if you like this podcast, please take the time and give me a good review on iTunes if you would. It would be so appreciated if you would just take the extra time to do that for me. That way we can get the word out to more and more people about the magic of this place. So, thanks to you for listening all the way through Thank\xa0 you JR for sharing all you know about buses and answering all my goofy questions. Thanks again my friends, this is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Relax, Manana. Nos Vemos amigos!