So how come when I do a blog search for Puerto Vallarta blogs, all I find are margarita-fueled drunk fests about how PV is “awesome!”. The cultural experiences people seem to have found seem to be how cute their waitress was at their all-inclusive resort which they barely left (except to go to Señor Frogs).

I know that Puerto Vallarta has a spring break and easy vacation vibe but it also has lots of galleries, creative people, people who’ve moved their to write, to paint in the amazing light. So where are you? Send me your writing that captures how special this place is and it’ll get published here.

I love a good beach, don’t get me wrong. But that doesn’t mean there are other things I like too. And many people who visit Puerto Vallarta aren’t aware of what the other options are that are not too far away.

One of my favorite vacation strategies is to book an open jaw ticket, i.e. flying into one city and departing from another (read the linked article for details on how this works). So one could fly into Puerto Vallarta and depart from Guadalajara for example, thereby combining time at the beach with time in the wonderful vibrant city of Guadalajara. If you like there are many places to explore along the way too, whether you rent a car and take your time between the two points or go by the excellent Mexican bus system and pick a few stops along the way.

For example, The North Shore News recently published an article entitled Mexican Adventure in which the author drove from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita, Tepic, Tequilla, Guadalajara, Morelia and the Monarch Butterfly sanctuaries near Angangueo. It would be easy enough to return your rental car and fly home from Morelia or Guadalajara.

I did a much longer open jaw a few years ago to explore Mexico for several months. I flew into El Paso, Texas and then went on to explore the Copper Canyon, Mazatlan, San Pancho (just north of Sayulita), Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico City and finally Puebla where I flew home. Phew. Needless to say you need to have a few months free to do that.

The trick here is to find an airline which services both Puerto Vallarta and your end point. Continental Airlines services an amazing amount of points in Mexico including Puerto Vallarta, Morelia and Guadalajara. And Alaska Airlines last year added service to Guadalajara to complement their longstanding excellent service to Puerto Vallarta.

Plan your trip: click on Travelocity Flight Search then click Multi-Destination to search for an open jaw.

We discovered what one part-time resident describes as “a mix of the modern and the primitive.” Large, attractive villas with lush vegetation and brilliantly coloured bougainvillea spilling over high fences sit next to ramshackle structures in overgrown yards.

Dogs laze, outstretched on the dusty roads. Bananas ready for plucking hang from small palms growing beside the sidewalks. Huichol Indians in traditional attire stroll through town, selling their wares. A magnificent, sandy beach runs parallel to Bucerias and stretches for kilometres both north and south of the community.

Read the whole article: The Vancouver Sun: Mexican village of Bucerias is a diamond in the rough.

Locate it: Show Bucerias on the Satellite Map.