Vallarta Botanical Gardens AC — Attraction in Jalisco

There is Old Town Puerto Vallarta, there is the Bay, and there are the beautiful people and the genuine hospitality in the city of Puerto Vallarta and the valley, but the very essence of what Mexico is and what the Puerto Vallarta region has to offer can all be found at the Vallarta Botanical Gardens. We were so fortunate to have Eduardo as our driver on the bus ride to the gardens and as a personal guide through the winding paths of absolute beauty. A very knowledgeable, polite, articulate young man who took the time to understand us and what we wanted to experience from this beautiful country. It was truly almost emotional the moment of just stepping off the ride and experiencing the vision and vibes of the place; one of our parties even teared up. Eduardo's explanation of the plants local to this region, their scientific names when asked, and the native medicinal uses of the plant among the local people was astounding. With care he discussed the plants, the balance of nature, the wildlife in that region and the life of Vanilla and Chocolate. The lunch was outstanding, personal, and presented with a hibiscus tea and a wonderful vanilla mojito. The fajita that I had was better than any fajita I’ve experienced by far. After lunch we were allowed to walk alone through the garden, down to the River where we saw two huge parrots noisily flying over. It was a very full day and I will come back here every time I am in the region.

As a note, I read the very few reviews of this place that were not favorable and I don't understand any of the comments that people wrote. Let me save you some work by summarizing what they all said. There is no concrete paved road through the jungle. It is literally a 1-2 person wide path that can go up and down stairs, around corners and into the nooks and crannies of green. Nature alert, trees grow in this botanical garden and there are roots. The roots go where roots go and they have done an excellent job of having paths that are not primarily just for safety, but to protect the trees. If you open yourself up to the gardens, the meandering well-kept trails are not an issue. I did not experience any bugs here but this is not a shopping mall. You are outside…bring bug spray if you are sensitive to no-see-ums. And for the few who do not find the food to their liking, I am surprised because the food was excellent. The care and attention from the staff was perfect.

Trust. Ask for Eduardo, book your very inexpensive tour, leave your Wi-Fi needs behind and allow yourself to become one with the universe in...

Overall we had a nice time at the gardens. I love that this used to be just a patch of land with nothing on it and through sheer donations and work the owners and community made it a beautiful place.

We booked the shuttle that leaves zona romantica and takes you straight to the gardens, and comes with admission. It costs 1,200 mxn per person which seems a bit expensive but we were at least happy not having to negotiate taxi prices and the driver was very friendly and a great driver. The route takes about 45 mins and is on Mexican roads so if you get car sick on bumpy roads I recommend bringing gravol just on case.

Also want to mention there is a taxi that usually hangs at the entrance of the gardens in case you are worried about finding a way back home from the gardens... but not sure how much they charge.

We came on a super hot day in September so by the end of the four hours we were pretty depleted and ready to go home. We were happy that our driver let us sit on the AC's van while we waited for the other passengers.

The nice part of this garden is that lots of things were in full bloom. There were a ton of butterflies which were beautiful and lovely orchids that smelt lovely. There was nice areas with turtles and tortoises and a beautiful koi pond.

... One of our main downsides was that this also meant there were the most amount of giant spiders I've ever seen. I think we were illprepared for the amount of giant spider webs we would have to avoid while walking through the various areas and paths. We tried to walk down to the river and once we had to go past our third giant spider web we decided to abandon mission and go back to the main trails haha. But if you are braver come ready to swim. We also tried some of the smaller hike loops but felt more like we were rushing out so we don't get eaten by spiders. Maybe this is just us being scardy-cats but just being honest 😅

We did have a really nice time at the restaurant and wish we had stayed there longer. We saw some amazing birds and humming birds from our table that overlooks the jungle area!

Also want to note. I got so many mosquitoe bites after,even when applying bugspray multiple times. So be prepared for that or spray...

The gardens are beautiful with many of the plants marked for reference. There are several walking paths throughout the gardens and there are several located off the central beat. While there is a map you can scan or take a photo of... I wish the paths would have been defined with signage pointing you in the right direction. Trying to read a map based on a picture I took with my phone proved challenging. There are many butterfly species through the gardens and I did see a chart on my walk to help id the different varieties you may see. We were told that they had a hummingbird area where you could purchase hand feeders and they would come to you to drink the nectar. We went ahead and purchased the feeders and were told to go upstairs to the restaurant where the staff would fill the feeder for us. Once we got to the restaurant we were told that there were too many people and the hummingbirds were only active early morning or late afternoon. I just wish I would have known this before buying the little feeder. Even though we went in November it was hot and humid so bring or buy plenty of water to keep hydrated. I did take the walk down to the river which was nice however due to recent storms parts of the trail looked like it was washed out and the water was running fast and muddy in the river. We did not eat upstairs at the restaurant but enjoyed a cool drink of hibiscus water on the lower level. The waiter even brought cool moist towels to wipe our faces which was a wonderful treat We came to the gardens as part of a tour so only had about 1.5 hrs here and didn't arrive until almost noon. My advice if you love plants and walking/hiking is to take a taxi and plan to arrive when the gardens first open which I think is 9am. There are several taxis waiting that can take you back when you are ready. Wear good shoes if you plan to hike some of the trails that aren't in the central garden area, bring a small backpack with water and snacks and some wet wipes and possibly a bandana. If you just want a short visit and to just walk the easy trails around the central garden area then it would probably be easiest to actually do a sponsored tour...