Puerto Vallarta is a town of approximately 350,000 people located on the Bahía de Banderas, the Bay of Flags, on the western coast of México. Vallarta is nestled between verdant, jungle-covered mountains and the largest bay in México. But this is only the first of many variances in the Vallarta area. Perhaps the most striking is the positioning of some of the most modern and luxurious resort hotels in this hemisphere side by side with the red-tiled roofs and cobblestone streets of the city itself. Similarly, Puerto Vallarta is a place where seemingly half the population has a cellular phone, but one can still see burros in the streets and farm animals in the heart of the city. It is this combination of old world charm and modern convenience that sets Puerto Vallarta apart from the usual Mexican town.

The weather in Puerto Vallarta is astonishingly nice. There are 365 days of sun a year, and for most of the year the days are warm and sunny and the nights, cool and comfortable. It is only from July to September that the heat becomes a bit oppressive, largely due to the humidity. In September the rains come. Though heavy and often spectacular, they seldom last more than a couple hours before giving way to more sun.

Puerto Vallarta is a mecca for sports enthusiasts, particularly if the sport involves water. Twenty-five miles of beach provide ample opportunity for virtually any type of water sport: sailing, surfing, body boarding, snorkeling, scuba diving, parasailing, water skiing, windsurfing, kayaking, jet skiing, deep sea fishing, and more. And then there's the jungle and the mountains. Horseback riding, hiking, biking, camping, swimming, rafting, canoeing, four-wheeling, climbing, bungee jumping, and pretty much anything else imaginable can be enjoyed in the Vallarta vicinity. And there are hundreds of tennis courts and a nice golf course, too.

The opportunities for shopping, sightseeing, and other forms of entertainment are too numerous to mention. Most of the world's cuisines are available in Puerto Vallarta, and the nightlife is vibrant. Clubs, discos, cafés, and bars line both the Malecon and Olas Altas. The Hotel Zone sports a dozen more night spots. There are theaters showing first and second run films, most of them in English. And there's always the pleasure of an evening stroll along the Malecon or Los Muertos beach. Mariachis wander the streets and give impromptu performances on the buses, and the night air is filled with the sounds of music and laughter. At night, Vallarta is a truly magical place.

Of course, no place is perfect, and Vallarta has its share of flaws. Most are minor, but two stand out. The most obvious in Vallarta is the abundance of tourists. If you're a tourist, this doesn't much matter, but for those of us who live here, it can be a bit annoying. This is not too difficult to overcome, however. Most Vallarta veterans learn to stay away from the more touristy areas.

A secondary minor irritation may be the lack of a few items with which most Americans and Canadians have become rather accustomed. Many find ways to get around this problem, usually by coaxing visiting friends to bring down suitcases stuffed with whatever it is that they can't get here. What kinds of things? It could be anything. In the U.S. or Canada, all it would take is a hop down to the grocery store, the hardware store, or wherever. In Puerto Vallarta, it may be simply unavailable.  But before you resign yourself to having to obtain it from outside the country, check around at the local "ferretarias" or hardware stores, the local Walmart, or the local Mall, which includes a Radio Shack and other international stores.

That said, Puerto Vallarta remains one of the most captivating and comfortable places on Earth. It has charm, beauty, and a relaxed way of going about life that can become quite addictive. Having occasionally to deal with the unavailability of some items or the overabundance of tourists seems a small price to pay for a chance to live in Paradise.