Enjoying Las Caletas Beach Hideaway

After eating breakfast at the nearby El Patron Mexican restaurant in Villa del Parmar Flamingos, we boarded our taxi for the short ride to Vallarta Adventures in Nuevo Vallarta (a 15-minute taxi ride).

After checking in at the Vallarta Adventures lobby, we purchased the additional flyboard activity for Alex  ($39 extra) and waited for our turn to board boat #6 for Las Caletas Beach Hideaway. The boat first traveled to Puerto Vallarta to pick up additional passengers, then continued for another 45 minutes to Las Caletas. (The boat ride each way took 90 minutes because of a stop in Puerto Vallarta).

We were entertained on board with the fun crew of Boat #6 – Alan and the gang. We were also offered plenty of margaritas, rum punch, and soft drinks. We arrived at La Caletas at around 12:30 pm.

We were scheduled to have lunch at 12:30pm, followed by several activities planned. We were seated at a table and had an excellent selection of Mexican specialties, including multiple salads, chicken, beef, fish, guacamole, and chips.

The guacamole and chips were incredibly delicious! (Much better than our hotel's!)

After lunch, we rushed to the 1:30pm Encounter with Animals. Inna, Alex, and I all got to experience a squirrel monkey on our shoulders.

Besides, we also held Macaws and small parrots.

We took turns holding birds and monkeys.

After these encounters, we headed for the beach with multiple outdoor activities. There was kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, snorkeling, and swaying hammocks.

Here is a GoPro 4 Silver video of our kayaking, paddleboarding, and other fun:

At first, Alex tried the SUP, while Inna and I tried the sea kayak.

The paddleboard area was limited, so we quickly became uninterested in this activity. Also, there was a long line to rent paddleboards. Nearby was the fly-boarding (which Alex had reserved for 3:30pm); it looked fun.

After these beach activities, we headed to the Teen Adventure Cove. A few unique, somewhat extreme activities were available for Alex and me: the Blob, the zipline, the Step Up, and the Slide' N Fly water slide.

Alex tried the Step Up activity first. In this particular event, he must step up on narrow tree stumps to a soaring height. Alex started out fine, but stopped two-thirds of the way through as he was scared (despite wearing a harness). Eventually, he overcame his fear of heights and reached the top.
After finishing this, we decided to try the zip lines since the extreme water slide was closed (due to low tide). The zip line started at the top of a cliff and finished on the water. Unlike most zip lines, this one was moving really fast. Alex went first, followed by me. I hit the water fairly hard – like a vast jolt – and was quickly unhooked.

Here is a video recording of Alex's descent on the zipline:



The next activity was the "Blob". I didn't understand it until I saw Alex thrown 10-15 feet into the air. He said that it was pretty scary! It was my turn to go next, and I jumped onto the inflatable tube and crawled to the end.

Here is a GoPro Hero4 Silver video of Alex trying "The Blob":



Then, one of the other operators jumped onto the other end. I didn't know what to expect and was completely surprised by the sensation of being thrown upward into the air, like from a cannon!

Here is a GoPro Hero 4 video recording of my encounter with "The Blob":



I did an inadvertent backflip. It was quite an unusual experience.

After finishing these activities, we rushed to the beach for Alex's flyboarding session at 3:30pm. In flyboarding, a jet ski provides thrust to a small device worn on one's feet, allowing one to fly over the water. Alex quickly figured it out and flew around quite well. He almost looked like the Green Goblin from Batman.

Here is a short video of Alex's flyboarding:



After finishing flyboarding, we decided to rest in the hammocks on the beach.

We rested there until Boat #6 came back to pick us up (They were about 30 minutes late). The ride back was fun and entertaining, as the Boat #6 crew did many lip-sync impersonations of popular bands, including ZZ Top, Wham!, Prince, and Bruno Mars.

We returned home quite late – around 7:30pm. We were pretty tired but exhilarated from our Las Caletas trip.