Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Live and Invest Overseas.
Watching the sun dip into the ocean, hearing the crashing of the waves (and perhaps a wandering band, fireworks, or both), I pinch myself knowing this is just a short walk away.
Those Puerto Vallarta sunsets never get old, and that’s one of many reasons my wife and I are back here for the eighth time.
Flashback to 2017 and this thing called remote work was starting to take off. We left our English teaching jobs in China and took them on the road with us, deciding to spend a few years traversing Latin America with our laptops, and thus our classrooms, on our backs.
As we were starting the journey after a long visit with friends and family in the U.S., Mexico made the most sense for our first stop. I also needed a root canal and a crown, and those things are rather expensive up north.
Puerto Vallarta landed on my radar for its great English-speaking dentists, and I figured recovering on the beach would be nice.
Cheap rentals
We found a cheap local apartment on Craigslist and spent around $350 for the month-long stay. In addition, we spent a few hundred each to take a Level 1 Spanish course for a few weeks.
It’s no surprise we fell in love with the place and wanted to stay longer—a common refrain around here. Our host said if we paid three months up front it would only be $200 a month.
We asked if we could buy some furniture to make the place more comfortable and put it towards the rent. She said yes. And then we stayed another three months after that.
We’ve been coming back to Puerto Vallarta (PV) ever since. We typically stay somewhere in the three- to six-month range.
Either way, for a couple of wandering digital nomads, this has been the closest thing we’ve had to “home” since we left China in 2015.
Why we can’t stay away
Why do we keep coming back here? First and foremost, it’s the people. We have many good friends here now, locals and gringos alike, and we enjoy spending time with them.
The people of Puerto Vallarta — known as pata salada (salty feet) — are a fun bunch in general. They never turn down a good fiesta and it’s always such a jovial vibe here. It seems like there’s a parade or festival just about every weekend here, even in the low rainy season.
Speaking of the weather, once upon a time we were “low season people,” taking advantage of much lower rental rates from May to October when it gets very hot, humid, and rainy here.
During the pandemic, we ended up stumbling into a luxury condo in the Hotel Zone with a rooftop pool right by the beach.
We only paid $1,000 a month as the owners were willing to take that rather than the $0 they were getting from Airbnb bookings at the time, and we stayed there for six months through the high season, which was anything but in 2020 with travel slowed to a halt.
It was nice while it lasted, but that wasn’t the area for us. In recent years, we’ve ended up subletting places from friends back in our old haunt of 5 de diciembre and currently in the trendy Versalles area.
Happy despite big changes
Things have changed a lot in these neighborhoods in the past few years. Construction is everywhere with new high-rise condos going up in every direction.
That being said, I am still very happy to be here. I feel very fortunate to have the ability to sublet this apartment from a friend who took a job in Thailand. Our rent is around $450 per month and that includes high-speed internet.
The apartment is simple and was sparsely furnished, so we put a few hundred bucks in to get a desk, nice chairs, and things for the kitchen. We brought our party lights and our hammock to hang on the balcony, which overlooks palm trees in the common garden and pool area.
It’s the little things that make it feel more like home.
Several friends live in the building and we often hang out in the evenings or on the weekend. It’s a nice little community here—locals, retired gringos, digital nomads, families—sharing this beautiful space in Mexico.
Thanks to the development of the neighborhood, we now have multiple cafes, restaurants, bars, and shops in the area.
I can pop out for a coffee and pastry, get a haircut, get my teeth cleaned, grab some street tacos, meet friends for cocktails, have a nice dinner, and even get a massage, all within a couple blocks of home.
That sunset on the beach I started out with? It takes us exactly 15 minutes to walk over there and I do it just about every day.
Walking barefoot in the sand, dipping my toes into the salty water, maybe sipping a cold Pacifico beer, and taking in the stunning coastline of Banderas Bay is something I’m so grateful to get to experience all the time.
Cost of living
Many things have changed in PV since we first started coming here, and our situation is not common when it comes to short-term rentals. It’s tough to find a place in a desirable area for less than $1,000 to $1,500 per month, and many pay quite a bit more than that for high season in the Romantic Zone.
However, the bus still costs 10 pesos (50 cents). Sure it’s terrifying sometimes, but that’s part of the experience, amigo! You can also get up to Sayulita or down to Mismaloya for a couple bucks. Ride share apps like Didi offer more comfort and can get us downtown for $5 to $7.
Taco carts still line the streets and can fill you up for a few dollars. You can grab a cold beverage from the store for a dollar. A cup of coffee or a happy hour drink with a friend is so cheap you don’t think twice when someone extends an invite.
Even going out for a nice group dinner with a variety of Spanish tapas and a shared jar of sangria only sets us back about $50 each, and that includes a generous tip.
We always look forward to Restaurant Week, which actually lasts a month and features very reasonable set menus from restaurants that would otherwise be reserved for special occasions.
Endless fun and quick getaways
There are so many cultural events here and places with live music that we are never bored and almost never pay a cover charge of any kind. Of course, we keep cash on hand to tip the bands, bartenders, and everyone else keeping us dancing and having fun.
When we need some big city energy, it’s a quick, cheap flight on Mexican airlines to head to Guadalajara or Mexico City.
In short, Puerto Vallarta continues to be the place for us when we need to slow down, stay a while, focus on work, and enjoy some familiarity.
After 10 years of nomad life, we’ve realized these longer stays are necessary to keep the balance. And of course, we’re always planning the next adventure, knowing that PV will welcome us back with arms wide open, a shot of tequila in one hand and a taco in the other.
