Visiting Puerto Vallarta - Part 27

WATER SLIDES & DOLPHINS, NUEVO VALLARTA

If you like water parks then you will find that there are two beautiful water slide parks in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. When driving from Puerto Vallarta to Nuevo Vallarta, both of the water parks are located at the Southern entrance to Nuevo Vallarta. Aquaventuras Water Park is on the east side of the highway, while Splash Water Park is on the west beach side of the highway.

AQUAVENTURAS WATER PARK

In Nuevo Vallarta is located just 10 minutes from the PVR airport at the first entrance to Nuevo Vallarta. It’s on the right-hand side when exiting the freeway, just behind the tall, white Eurowindows building. This is really a fun water park offering daily dolphin and sea lion shows, and 10 water slides. There is a Water World children’s area with a pirate ship, low-speed mini water toboggans and a kiddie paddling pool. The facility is further enhanced by a lazy river, a snack bar, swimming pools and lounge areas. It also has a separate swim with dolphins program.

SPLASH WATER PARK

Is a new and modern facility. The water rides include both slides and tubes. There is a special children’s zone as well as a lazy river. Interactive dolphin swim programs are very popular at this facility, as are the dolphin, seal and sea lion shows. There is also a very large area with gardens, a children’s playground and sandbox, as well as special areas for beach volleyball, soccer, and basketball. Right next to the water park is the basic Splash Hotel. An option of some, especially families with teens or children, is to spend a few days here before moving on to their full-time accommodations.

El Cora Crocodile Sanctuary

Nature and adventure come together for those taking a tour of El Cora Crocodile Sanctuary in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit. It is located right off of Mexico highway 200, just 150 meters south of the Flamingos Golf Club. This stretch of the highway is also called: Carretera Puerto Vallarta-Tepic, and the Flamingos Golf Course is marked by a giant white golf ball on top of a tee.

Just look for a small sign showing a drawing of a crocodile along with the words “Cocodrilario El Cora”. You turn onto a one-lane unpaved road and then drive on for about 2 kilometres. The per person entrance fee is a donation of $20 pesos. There are numerous other animals that can be seen including a Tejon which is a Mexican racoon, turtles, parrots, geese, chickens and other birds. The sanctuary also offers one-hour swamp tours in a small boat. The cost of this tour is $200 pesos per person but you should remember to tip the captain at the end. They do have a comfortable on site, open-air restaurant specializing in seafood. All profits from the entrance fee, boat tours and restaurant go to benefit the sanctuary.

Continued in part 28.