The Location

All Experience Mexico volunteers will be flown into Puerto Vallarta on the pacific coast. Puerto Vallarta is a coastal city located in the Bahia de Banderas. It is a big tourist city with many shops and restaurants, including some big names you will recognise, tourist attractions, including the Dolphin Experience just outside the city, and good nights out. Or you could simply go for a cruise around the bay and take in the spectacular views.

Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta

Kontiki offers cruises round the bay

View of the Bay

The Experience Mexico volunteers for several projects will be accommodated at Hotel Peñamar in Rincon de Guayabitos. Guayabitos is a Mexican tourist town located in Jaltemba Bay. Ten minutes south of Guayabitos is Ursulo Galvan, a small traditional town, located not far inland. The next town north of Guayabitos is La Peñita de Jaltemba, which has a larger number of small Mexican shops – whereas Guayabitos has many tourist and souvenir shops, La Peñita has more shops for day to day purchases – as well as a small weekly market. La Colonia is the next town up the coast and does not even have its own church, but at the north end of the town is the beautiful unspoilt beach of El Naranjo, one of the beaches patrolled by those working on the Turtle projects and often isolated.

Rincon de Guayabitos

La Penita Market

El Naranjo is an 8km beach located in the Jaltemba Bay and the turtle project is run by a non profit organisation called Grupos Ecologistas de Nayarit A.C. The other turtle project is run at Higuera Blanca, a beautiful 3.5km beach, located between Puerto Vallarta and Guayabitos at the tip of the Bahia de Banderas.

Punta Raza, near Rincon de Guayabitos

Naranjo

Punta de Mita is very close to Higuera Blanca and it is here the office that is in charge of the Islas de Marietas is located. The taxi boats that take visitors to the islands also run from here. The islands are a 40-minute boat trip from this northern tip of the Bahia de Banderas and are both uninhabited nature reserve islands, for which a special permit is needed for visitors.

Located between La Peñita and Las Varas is the small inland town of Altavista. This small community of around 1000 is located 20 miles from Guayabitos and the town is only accessible by a dirt track. It is a true rural Mexican village with incredible views and people.

The Spanish lessons will take place either in the city of Tepic, the capital of Nayarit, or in La Peñita de Jaltemba, for those of you wishing to study Spanish for less than the 10 month course in Tepic. Tepic is a typical Mexican capital, and is inexpensive and within travelling distance of all Experience Mexico volunteers. The city has a population of approximately 450,000 and provides for many activities. There are opportunities to do several sports, visit the cinema (most films are shown in English with Spanish subtitles – a brilliant way to learn the language), shopping and cultural activities.

The city also offers the opportunity to see much of the Huichol people and their arts and crafts. The indigenous people, some of whom live in the mountains around Tepic, come daily to the centre of Tepic to sell their hand made crafts.

Just outside Tepic there is the beautiful Lagoon Santa Maria and the village of Santa Maria del Oro where meteorites are fabled to have landed and can be seen. It is also easy to travel to fantastic cities such as Mazatlan and Guadalajara from Tepic.

Also located not far from Tepic are the Deer Reserve and Huichol projects. The Rancho La Noria is located two hours away from Tepic by bus, on the mountain from which, on a clear day, you can see all the way to the coast. The locals that run the ranch are very friendly and there are plenty of activites for the outdoors lover.

The Huicol village associated with Experience Mexico is located at Potrero de la Palmita, three hours from Tepic and accessible by a 40 minute boat trip across a lake formed by the Aguamilpa Dam, the biggest in the country of its kind. The village is very remote and most of the buildings are wooden huts and very basic.

Experience Mexico ensures that all volunteers have access to medical care throughout their time in Mexico and provide full travel insurance for the duration of the visit spent with Experience Mexico.

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