First of all, the beaches are OK but not the white sand and calm waters on the Caribbean side. With so many restaurants to sample in the evenings including most ethnic types as well as a variety of accommodation types; it is a cultural and vacation destination. There are hotel rooms and 1 and 2 bedroom time shares that you can rent as well as private villas for larger families.
There are also different “neighborhoods” from the old city to the Marina to Nuevo or new Vallarta. It was great for a family, I loved having a beautiful 2 bedroom ocean front unit which gave us a large living room and kitchen area. (No worries, we only ate breakfast in the room; no cooking on vacation!). We had plenty of room for 5 of us and could gather together in the living area or balcony; which you can’t do in 2 hotel rooms.
Jet skiing, ATV-ing in the mountains, golf, boat excursions and fishing are just a few activities available. The weather is not as hot as in the Caribbean so going for a long walk into town or on the beach at 2 in the afternoon is comfortable. At the same time it can be cool in the mornings and evenings.
For us on the East coast, it is a bit of a trek as usually you have to connect flights and it takes a total of about 7 hrs to get there, maybe more. The Caribbean is only about 4 hrs. I recommend it for a great warm weather trip in the winter.
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