Each year on December 12th celebrating the 1531 appearance of the Virgin Mary to peasant Juan Diego near Mexico City. Colorful and festive religious processions wend the streets from early December. The gay community marks December 1 as World AIDS Awareness Day
December 26, 2012 - January 5, 2013, twelve days of gay parties at Club Manana, Tease & Wet Dreams. Top DJs, non-stop strippers, shower action and go go boys. Friday Black Party, 10pm - 6am at Mañana, with special guest DJ Milton Mora, show by Kasandra & Kompany; Ritmo Latino Vallarta Fever's Official After Party at Tease, 10pm-10am. Sunday Grindr Party.
January 26, 2013, 11am-9pm. The annual Vallarta Botanical Gardens welcome to the whole LGBT community. Enjoy the Gardens in a full day of fun: tea dance, river jamoboree, hot cowboy contest, chili eating contest, vendor mart, free drink, speed dating and more --commune with nature and with others. Tickets (250-300 pesos) online or No Way José! Restaurant. Call Steve: 322-223-6182.
January 27 - February 3, 2013. Annual men's week & bear gathering with beach parties, pool parties, dance & cocktail parties, pub crawls, canopy zip-line fun, ATV tours, cruises, & whatever else the guys are up for.
February 11, 2013, 7-10pm, masquerade party on the new Los Muertos Pier. Pre-Lent celebration, people in costumes - run by the city/ mayor's office this year with intention of being more mainstream - after several years of being organized and popularized by the local GLBT community.
March 27-31, 2013. Major religious, arts and cultural event brings thousands, young and old, of all kinds, to celebrate, socialize and party in the streets, on the beaches and in the nightclubs. The party continues the week after Easter Sunday for Pascua, with entertainment, feasting and fireworks displays.
May 24-26, 2013. Friday Opening Reception, 5pm at Taste Restaurant/ Casa Cúpula; Saturday Commitment Ceremony 11am at Lido Beach Club, then 4pm Heat Tea Dance at Blue Chairs, and Night Party at 8pm (venue TBA); Sunday Pride Parade 4pm, and LGBT Festival, from 5pm at Lazaro Cardenas Park.
Early November, 2013, each year in Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit & Tepic: master chefs & young international talent gather to share, learn & teach culinary secrets. Highlights include cooking classes, cheese seminars, winemakers night, & gourmet meals at best restaurants.
Boana-Torre Malibu Hotel (Amapas 325)Two tours offered by Boana Torre Malibu Hotel:
Experience hot springs by candle light. A men-only excusion by bus, with full meal, open bar, every Tuesday. Departs hotel at 4:45pm; returns at midnight.
Horseback riding from ranch north of Vallarta, along river through tropical forest; stop for a dip, and then for food and drinks at hilltop restaurant with a view. Transportation to ranch departs hotel daily at 2:30pm.
Explore Banderas Bay with daylong catamaran excursions that depart every Thursday morning from Los Muertos Pier, two blocks north of Blue Chairs Beach. Look for the boat flying the rainbow flag. First stop: snorkeling at Los Arcos, three giant rock formations with tropical fish darting about the crevices Then to a private beach with walking traisl and a waterfall, followed by lunch at restaurant onshore. After the cruise there's a free drink and male strippers at the Blue Chairs Resort by the Sea's rooftop bar.
For whale watchers, gay oceanographer Oscar Frey operates well-respected tours. Most clients are straight, but his outings are very gay-friendly. A four-to-five-hour excursion costs $95 per person, including beverages, snacks and lunch. Whale watching season runs from early December to mid-March.
Plan your visit, or be an online tourist at these gay websites: Gayguidevallarta.com, and Discovery Vallarta. The print quarterly Vallarta Lifestyles, is online at Virtualvallarta.com with restaurant reviews, and information about tours, real estate, activities, shopping, and art galleries. An English-language window onto the area's rich history can be found at Puertovallarta.net; and Beck's Best: Puerto Vallarta's Restaurant Guide, written by Gary Beck, has an online version at Cafepress.com/vallartaguide
Educational research center and pleasure garden, 20 acres of tropical dry-forest ecosystem at 1,300 feet, 3,000 different plant species. On Highway 200, twelve miles south of Puerto Vallarta towards El Tuito, beautiful mountain setting, rugged Pacific coastline, jungle gorge and majestic granite halfdome, encrusted with orchids, plumeria and wild vanilla. For food and refreshments they have the Hacienda de Oro Restaurant.
Drive or take the "El Tuito" bus from corner at Carranzas and Aguacat, Zona Romantica. Bus leaves every half hour (or so) for 15 pesos. Taxi fare is about $20 US each way. Address: Carretera Puerto Vallarta a Barra de Navidad Km. 24, Las Juntas y los Veranos Cabo Corrientes Jalisco. C.P. 48447
PVRPV (Pino Suarez 210)All-day Banderas Bay gay cruises that set out each Friday from Los Muertos Pier, $70 per person.
Unique ATV Tours (Basilio Badillo 429-B)Take a trip to the nearby Rio Cuale with huge boulder-strewn riverbeds, swimming, and trails; or to remote villages located in Cabo Corrientes using the newest, very driver friendly, fully-automatic ATVs. Fully bi-lingual services.
It's a center for art creation and exhibition, and Puerto Vallarta's cobbled stone streets of Old Town around the iconic Church of Nuestra Senora de Guadeloupe down to the beachside Malecon, are full of galleries, shops and uniques treasures. From October to May, many of the local galleries have open-house exhibits with cocktails, from 6-10pm each Wednesday evening.
