Camping in the Rain - Tips and Tricks for Making the Most of a Wet Weekend

We've all been there, checking the weather forecast before an upcoming camping trip only to see that it's supposed to rain all (or much) of the time.  Do you cancel your reservation?  Make alternate plans?  Choose a new place to go that looks more promising?  Or do you go anyway, fingers crossed, and hopeful that you'll still have fun?

I'm horribly guilty of cancelling plans when I see an unfavorable weather forecast (especially if we are going into the backcountry and planning to sleep in a tent without shelter or retreat from the wet conditions.)  Sometimes though, you have friends counting on you, you're already committed, and there's nothing you can do but suck it up and make the most of the crappy weather ahead.

Give a kid an umbrella and hiking is suddenly the "most fun" thing ever!

We've been quite lucky over the last few years of camping and haven't had too many "truly craptacular" weekends (probably because we cut our losses in advance and know when to stay home.)  We have learned a few things though about how to make the most of a "less than ideal" weekend at camp.

Tips and Trips for Making the Most of a Wet Weekend at Camp

 

Stay Busy

Do fun things to take your mind off the cool or wet weather and try to stay busy rather than just hanging out at camp.   I know many families like to "relax" when camping but it's not really much fun to sit around in the rain "chilling".

When it's cool and overcast it's even more important to stay busy and occupied rather than just hanging out at camp trying to keep spirits up.  Below are my favourite things to do at camp when temps. just aren't super pleasant:

This is a great way to spend a rainy day at camp

1.  Take a drive!  Go sightseeing, go for lunch in a nearby town, look for a nearby coffee shop, and use the opportunity to dry out and warm up.

2.  Seek Indoor Fun.  Find an indoor leisure centre, movie theatre, playground, or museum in a nearby town or city.  We've discovered some great indoor water parks and pools while camping in the rain.

3.  Have a movie party complete with tons of snacks and popcorn.  Thanks to portable DVD players and tablets, this is easy to plan at the campground and gives the kids a break from playing outside in cold temperatures.

Go Fish!  (everybody's warm, dry, and having fun.)

4.  Games and Cards!  Pull out the board games and cards, and set up a dry spot to play with a tarp or screen tent over a picnic table.

5.  Pull out the "crazy."  Plan some old fashioned children's games (think musical chairs with lawn chairs, tug of war, a three-legged race, etc. 

Old fashioned Camp Games

Alternately, crank the tunes and have a dance party in the campsite, go on a bike ride and look for the biggest puddles to ride through, plan a scavenger hunt, or head to the beach and swim in the rain.

What you're looking for here is FUN, CRAZY, and SILLY.  Anything to distract the kids.

6.  Do things that aren't overly affected by inclement weather.  Hike low elevation forest trails, canyons and interpretive trails, bike paved trails that won't get muddy, go swimming or canoeing - you're wet already, or try something new like geocaching or disc golf (offered in many campgrounds.)

You'd never know it was cool or less than ideal here.

It was cool but we still had fun biking here

7.  Seek Knowledge.  Check out provincial or national park visitor centres, museums or interpretive centres.  If you're lucky, the campground might even offer free family programs in the afternoon.

8.  Follow your Passions.  Do things you really love so you won't notice the bad weather so much.  For us, that would be biking and we are generally happy on our bikes regardless of the weather.

 

 

 

 

Do outdoor activities between showers 

Be prepared with lunches and snacks packed up, gear loaded in the vehicle if need be, and be ready to jump the second you see it stop raining.  You might only have a one or two hour break from showers so get out while you can.  The trails will smell amazing after the fresh rain and you'll find lots of puddles to stomp in.  This is the best time to go for a bike ride or a short nature hike.

The rain stopped and we were ready to pounce on the opening

Accept the Conditions

Play in the mud, stomp in puddles, take a bath in a creek - you're wet and dirty anyway!  Embrace the weekend for what it is and challenge yourself to see just how muddy you can get!  Hopefully the campground has showers!

Kids care much less than we do when it's rainy

Seize the opportunity to visit popular places without the crowds

Water parks, beaches, popular hiking trails or bike trails - all deserted and quiet on rainy days.  So get out there and enjoy the solitude.  You may get the whole beach to yourself!

These kids had the beach to themselves on this cool day

Don't be afraid to change plans

Cross over to a new valley that might have sunnier weather, get a relaxed start and head out Saturday morning instead (one less wet night at camp,) leave early (again, one less soggy night,) OR - if possible, reschedule and try again for a nicer weekend (this is especially important if camping with children or friends new to camping.)

This would have been a good morning to pack up early (yes, that's snow)

Final thoughts RE Planning Ahead

Sometimes planning ahead is the smartest thing you can do.  Here are just a few final suggestions that could set you up for success in the event it rains while you are camping.

• Always invite some crazy fun friends to go with!  (everything's better with friends.)
• Look for campgrounds that have cook shelters with indoor stoves if camping early in the season (this should be imperative for the May long weekend!)
• Have a back up plan (if possible, have alternate plans for bigger trips like backpacking when you may not want to go in the rain)
• Try to make last minute plans when possible early in the season.  (I still haven't booked sites yet for my June backpacking trip and won't till I see a long range weather forecast!)
• Leave some open weekends later in the summer for trips that need to be rescheduled.  (something we finally decided to do this year!)

Always invite fun people to go camping with

More Inspiration

Outdoor Play Ideas and Tips for Rainy Days - Rain or Shine Mamma

Rainy Day Fun - Painting with Mud - Rain or Shine Mamma

10 Things to do Outside on a Rainy Day - Bring the Kids

Rainy Days Made Fun - Campers Village

Rainy Day Hike - Walk Simply

Our New Favourite Alberta Camping Destination

I've written a lot about the best campgrounds and camping destinations in Alberta but we are starting to realize that most of our favourite ones are in Southern Alberta.  Dinosaur Provincial Park, Writing on Stone Provincial Park, AND Cypress Hills Provincial Park.

I'd written about Cypress Hills before and even listed it as one of the best camp destinations in Southern AB.  Then I removed it from my story on the best provincial park campgrounds in Southern Alberta because I realized I just didn't know enough about the area and needed to explore more.  We only camped there once when my son was quite young and all I could say was that the beach was nice.  However, there are closer beaches to access from Calgary and we always seemed to end up at Dinosaur Provincial Park every time we headed south for the weekend.

Cypress Hills Provincial Park and Elkwater Lake

We've now visited Cypress Hills a second time and LOVE it!  I can't wait to plan another trip next summer.

 

What's so Awesome About Cypress Hills Provincial Park

The Lake and Shoreline Trail

Elkwater Lake has a beach with sand to play in, a roped off area for swimming, and boat rentals.  There's also the awesome Shoreline Trail that passes by three playgrounds, leads you to a free mini golf course (payment by donation,) and that navigates through several marsh areas where you get to cross on wooden boardwalks.

Biking towards the West Day Use Area on the Shoreline Trail

Boardwalks on the Shoreline Trail in Cypress Hills Provincial Park

The boardwalks were a lot of fun to hike and bike over, and the Shoreline Trail is very easy for young children.  The section from the Marina to the East End Day Use Area has no boardwalks which would make it good for kids on scooters. 

Easy Biking on the East part of the Shoreline Trail

 

The Mountain Biking

We are always looking for new mountain bike trails and Cypress Hills definitely delivered! We tried a few trails during our three day weekend and came up with one clear favourite!

Starting off on the Horseshoe Canyon Trail

The Horseshoe Canyon Trail is one of my new fav. bike trails in the whole province. The trail is 4.1 km in length and can be ridden one way in the downhill direction in less than an hour (set up a shuttle with friends or have somebody drive down to the lake to meet you at the end.)  It's rated as an intermediate trail for biking and this seemed like a fair rating to us.

Easy double track riding on the Horseshoe Canyon Trail

We started from the Horseshoe Canyon viewpoint and after riding some rolling terrain on an old road, we proceeded to lose 190m of height as we rode down to lake level, coming out in the Old Baldy Campground.  There was one short section of single track riding near the end through a wide open meadow, but most of the ride was definitely on an old road and double track the whole time.  This made it easy for novice riders despite some bumpy hills, loose rocks, and a few interesting bits where the trail would turn sharply or become eroded in spots.

Riding across open meadows on the Horseshoe Canyon Trail

I would definitely say that a 20" bike with gears and hand brakes is the minimum requirement for this trail, but one of my son's friends did the ride with coaster brakes and no gears.  This also isn't the best choice for "first mountain bike ride."  Capable kids with previous mountain biking experience will love the ride though. 

The Horseshoe Canyon Trail is a great Evening Ride

Other Bike Trails we "Tested"

The Shoreline Trail and Soggy Bottom Trail - Easy, paved with wooden boardwalks, both follow the lakeshore.

The Sunset Trail - A continuation of the two easy trails above,  this 1.1 km long trail is not paved and serves as a great introduction to easy mountain biking for children.  It is not especially narrow as seen in the photo below as well.

Biking on the Sunset Trail

The Plateau Trail - We renamed this one to "Root City."   Do not bike this trail with kids.  We were mislead by the "easy" rating but that's clearly for hikers and not bikers with small 20" wheels.  Even I found the trail to be unpleasant on a bike. 

The Trans Canada Trail - This is another one that I can't entirely "recommend" with kids for a few reasons. The full length of trail is 8.3km one way with 127m of height gain.  It's rated as intermediate and the description mentions an old road.   We took that to mean it would be double track and relatively easy. We started from the Reesor Viewpoint and biked one way down to Reesor Lake.

The challenge with this trail is that we started off biking a few km across a wide open cow pasture.  It was beautiful as you can see from the photo below but it was bumpy, rough, and very unpleasant.  None of us enjoyed it.  It was also poorly signed near the beginning and we spent a bit of time trying to figure out where the trail went when we came to a ravine.  (Don't  go down into the ravine.  Stay high and bike around it.)

Scenic Riding on the Trans Canada Trail (not the same as "fun" riding)

We finally entered the trees and left the cow pasture behind only to find out we were now on a horse trail, equally bumpy and rough, and still not very pleasant.  Again, it was still pretty so I guess that's something...

Bumpy riding on the Trans Canada Trail

And the ending:  Finally smooth, finally some awesome riding, BUT - single track and very challenging.  My six year old was able to ride the full length down to Reesor Lake but I was not.  I found the trail to be too narrow, too twisty, and entirely too scary for my liking at this point.

The Descent down to Reesor Lake

We got down to the lake and then had to send my husband back up for the truck which was still at the viewpoint.  Not a fun way to end a ride, climbing uphill on the road.  If you're going to do this trail, set up a shuttle!

Next Time:

Next time we go to Cypress Hills, we want to try the Rangers Trail, Ridgetop Trail, and the Lakeside Trail at the Spruce Coulee Reservoir.  Let me know if you have experience biking any of these trails with kids please.

We rode the kids pretty hard

The Hiking Trails

We went for a lovely hike on the Old Baldy Trail up to a beautiful lookout over the lake.  Then we descended via the Firerock Trail past a glacial erratic that was fun to climb on.

Hiking on the Old Baldy Trail to the View Point

Great way to spend a chilly morning in Cypress Hills

Thanks to the awesome folks at the Visitor Centre, we also had these great scavenger hunt sheets to check off as we hiked.  The kids got pretty excited every time we found something on the list and we all learned more about the unique landscape around us.

For more information on trails in Cypress Hills, visit the Alberta Parks website.   All trails are multi-use for hiking and biking so make sure you pay attention and look out for bikers when hiking on narrow trails.

One of these is a "White Spruce" Right??

Climbing on the Glacial Erratic we found on the Firerock Trail

The Visitor Centre

It's always good to have an indoor place to retreat to when weather gets miserable.  The Visitor Centre in Elkwater is an amazing place to spend an hour or two.  There's two rooms full of interpretive displays, a toddler play area, and there's a restaurant next door.  The staff were also very welcoming and helpful.  They got us set up with scavenger hunt maps, maps of the disc golf course, information on everything to do from mini golf to biking and hiking, and spent a good deal of time highlighting recommended hiking loops and directions on maps for me.

Looking at the displays at the Visitor Centre in Cypress Hills

The kids were totally fascinated by the interpretive displays

The Campgrounds

We stayed in a group campground so I have no first hand information or opinion on which regular campground is "best."

I have theories though.

• The main Elkwater Campground has a big open meadow for playing in with a playground.  It would be a great place for families to camp.  Best sites would be in loop C around the playground.
• Old Baldy Campground is right at the bottom of the Horseshoe Canyon Trail.  This could be convenient if you were biking back to camp after being dropped off at the top.
• Beaver Creek Campground has a playground and a nice little hiking/biking loop around it.
• Firerock Campground is very close to the lake and a giant playground at the West End Day Use Area.  Loop A and AA are closest to the water and playground. 

For information on the campgrounds, go to the Alberta Parks website.  Reservations can be made in advance and many sites have power for RVs.

Camping in Cypress Hills

More Campground Reviews for Cypress Hills

Camping in Cypress Hills Provincial Park - Play Outside Guide

Firerock Campground Review - Play Outside Guide



Have you camped in Cypress Hills?  Which is your favourite campground?   Also, what did you enjoy doing best in the park?  I'd love to read your comments.

A Beginner's Guide to Family Camping

For many families, the word ‘camping’ evokes memories of their childhood spent at a lake learning to swim, riding bikes around a campground chasing cousins and friends, going on family nature hikes or catching that first fish with Grandpa.

Meanwhile, many of us (myself included) didn’t grow up camping and it can be very intimidating to get started. You may have questions like:

“How much gear do we have to purchase if we want to just try camping one time?”

“What if a bear tries to get into our tent?”

“What if the baby wakes up at 2am and won’t go back to sleep?”

“What if our toddler screams the whole night?”

Before you know it, you may have a very long list of questions.

Camping - when everything goes right

My family has grown to love camping over the past several years, and I can assure you that every trip gets a little bit easier. First though, you have to get started.

In my newest story for Calgary's Child Magazine, I cover my top 5 suggestions for families wanting to try camping and who may be looking for practical tips on how to get started or how to make it a pleasant experience for everybody involved.

In my story:  Camp Dazed? A Beginner's Guide to Getting it Right,  I talk about comfort camping, equipped camping  in campsites that are already set up for you (yep, that exists,) choosing the right kind of weather and location, gathering the gear that you'll need, and making it FUN (something that should be a primary goal if you are going to go camping!)

Camping when you've finally figured it all out

Here's a preview from the story:

Tip #1:  Try comfort camping or book an "equipped" campsite. Parks Canada has started placing tent style cabins called O’TENTiks in some of their more popular campgrounds. These small cabins offer sleeping for up to six people, comfortable mattresses and a heater to ensure your first camping experience is a pleasant one. Two Jack Lakeside in Banff is the closest location where you can try comfort camping, and it’s one of the best campgrounds in Banff with lakefront camping, showers and nearby amenities in the Town of Banff. While you’ll still need to bring sleeping bags and food, you won’t need much else, so this is a great way to ease into camping without investing in a lot of equipment.

Parks Canada also offers a new service called "Equipped Camping." Together with Mountain Equipment COOP, Parks Canada has equipped 22 campsites at the Two Jack Main Campground in Banff. Each site comes with a six-person tent fully set up, sleeping pads, a stove with propane and a lantern. Bring your sleeping bags with food for the weekend and you’re ready to go!

Comfort Camping in Banff

Read the rest of the story here at Camp Dazed? A Beginner's Guide to Getting it Right.

Kids on Wheels - Nipika Mountain Resort

I've written a lot of stories now in my "Kids on Wheels" series and I'm really excited about this new one because Nipika Mountain Resort is one of my favourite places to spend the weekend!  We usually visit in winter for cross country skiing but it was high time we checked the place out with bikes instead.  And wow, are we ever glad we did!

Family Mountain Biking at Nipika Mountain Resort

 

What and Where is Nipika?

Nipika Mountain Resort is located in the Kootenay Rockies of British Columbia approximately 45 minutes outside the town of Radium Hot Springs.  It's a short drive for a weekend getaway from Calgary and an easy day trip from Invermere or Radium Hot Springs in the Columbia Valley.

Nipika has over 100km of bike trails ranging in difficulty from wide double track ski trails (great for family biking in  summer) to challenging and technical single track trails perfect for the more advanced riders in your group.

Easy riding on "Main Street"

Dad taking a spin on "Cliff Hanger"

Families wanting to visit Nipika can either pop in for the day (donations accepted if you want to use the trails in summer) or stay overnight in one of Nipika's log cabins.  The cabins can accommodate 6-8 people and include a kitchen, bbq, fireplace, and lovely deck to spend your afternoon on.  The largest cabin, the Rocky Mountain Cabin, can accommodate 13 people which is great news for those wanting to travel with friends and family members.

Log cabins at Nipika Mountain Resort

The Rocky Mountain Cabin can sleep 13 people at Nipika

Our Favourite Family Adventure Destination: Mexico!

We live in Calgary, Alberta on the doorstep of the wild Canadian Rockies.  We are outside year round and most people would say we lead a fairly adventurous lifestyle hiking, skiing, biking and paddling.  Add camping and backcountry trips, and our weekends are far from mundane or boring.

Looking back on the past 4 months though, our biggest adventure this year took place way outside of our beloved Rocky Mountains  and required a plane ride to get us there. 

How we hang when we go to Mexico on vacation

We go to Mexico for a week every winter because we have fallen in love with the Pacific Coast and area surrounding Puerto Vallarta.  And while most families go here to relax, we travel to Mexico for the adventure!  Check out some of the status updates I posted to Facebook while we were gone:

Mexico Highlights 2015

"And a status update you don't see every day - today I jumped off the second deck of a pirate ship 6 meters below into the ocean. And it was AWESOME!! I was shaking for a good half hour after. (No shock, I was the only passenger begging to walk the plank!)"

Not ME, but that's exactly how I chose to exit the ship too (while screaming of course)

"Family bike tour around Nuevo Vallarta that ended with a cheetah licking my hand!!! For real! So awesome!!!!!!"

We LOVE biking around Nuevo Vallarta Mexico

"Yesterday we left our resort for an authentic Mexican adventure high up in the hills. We went on 12 Zipline cables (the longest was 400 m long) - and Noah was not scared for a second! Then we played in a river with a bunch of local school kids and played on natural rock water slides (total thrill ride in themselves!!) As you can tell, we don't like to stick around our resort all week!"

My dare devil child choosing the fun way to get in the river at Los Veranos

"New things Noah has done so far in Mexico: body surfing, adult sized zip-lining, he held a tarantula, he held a snake, Cliff jumping into a river off a rock slide that ended way way above the water, and he took his first banana boat ride."

Mexican Zip line Adventure - for the WIN

Body surfing in Mexico with a super cool little boogy board

"Life's too short to "relax." Go big or go home! So today's adventures included swimming, boogie boarding, stand up paddleboarding, and horseback riding."

Noah's first real horseback ride - no surprise he loved it!

Love learning to SUP surf in Mexico

"They've built awesome bike lanes in Nuevo Vallarta since our last visit and they are so great for families. Our resort also loans out bikes so it's been a great way to get out for a short free tour."

Riding the awesome new bike lanes in Nuevo Vallarta Mexico

Top Three Adventure Tours for Families in the Puerto Vallarta Area

We've done a lot of adventure tours in the Puerto Vallarta area, with kids and without, but these are our favourite three tours that most families will want to check out next time they travel south to Mexico.

Even Mama got a thrill playing in the river at the Los Veranos Canopy Tour

Los Veranos Canopy Tour

We searched high and low to find a zipline tour that our 6 year old could do in the Puerto Vallarta area.  He did the kids' adventure park at Las Caletas the year before when he was 5 but it wasn't nearly thrilling enough for our little dare devil.  Enter the Los Veranos Canopy Tour that accepts children from ages 6+ and where the kids get to ride the lines together with the guides most of the time to ensure complete safety. 

Noah got to ride with the guides on all of the big crossings

The tour was a lot of fun and as mentioned under highlights above, we got to do 12 cables, the longest being 400 metres long.  Noah wasn't scared for a second and we felt safe at all times.

Equipped and ready to FLY

I LOVE Ziplines so am super happy that Noah does too!!

There were lots of crazy ways you got to cross on the shorter lines

As fun as the zipline portion of the tour was, I think the highlight for me was actually playing in the river afterwards.  We had an authentic Mexican lunch beside the river and then had time to play for an hour or so.  The natural rock waterslides were a total thrill ride and I was sore for a good week after from hitting the water so hard each time I went down.  Let's just call it cliff jumping because those slides ended nowhere near the water!  Thank God the water was deep enough.  Noah tested it for me before I went down.  ;)

So much fun!!!

Such a great way to spend a hot day in Mexico

There were little kayaks for the kids to play with too

This tour gave us a taste of what we will call "the real  Mexico."  We got to play and interact with local school children, played in a river that may or may not have been very clean (I haven't gotten sick yet though and I swallowed a lot of water,) and got a taste of every day simple life outside the  big city.  I'd go back to Los Veranos just for lunch and to play in the river any day!! And this would be super fun for families who have rented a car.

There were all sorts of critters we got to interact with at Los Veranos

Mama certainly did NOT hold the snake!  But Noah was all over it.

Final notes:  If you're staying at an all inclusive resort just ask the tour staff at the hotel if they can book a tour for you at Los Veranos.  Our hotel did it for us and arranged shuttle transportation for us from a nearby convenience store. Also, bring cash or a credit card along to pay for photos after as well as for the lunch (which was not cheap!)  And finally, bring your own life jacket for the kids if you think you'll need one.

I could hardly take this photo let alone look at this big tarantula Noah's holding!!

Las Caletas Beach Adventure

We did the Las Caletas Tour with Vallarta Adventures last year in 2014, and it is tied in our mind for first choice of tour together with Los Veranos.  For younger kids it definitely upgrades to first choice. The adventure park is a lot of fun for kids 4+  and gives them a mini-zipline experience with a mule ride and some easy climbing.  It's a wise way to introduce the kids to zipline tours before starting with a big one like Los Veranos.

Mini Zipline tour at Las Caletas

Easy climbing in the Kids Adventure Park at Las Caletas

You never know who'll drop in on you at Las Caletas

In addition to the Kids' Adventure Park, you get to spend hours on the beach playing in the sand, using their kayaks and stand up paddleboards, and you can go snorkeling if you want.  You can even pay to snorkel with sea lions for an extra cost. 

Paradise at Las Caletas

Beach time at Las Caletas

Lots of fun  animals to interact with at Las Caletas

Final notes:  A welcome buffet and lunch are provided (with amazing local food) and you'll enjoy entertainment on the catamaran ride to the beach. Note that small kids might find the boat ride a bit long at times and the music can get a bit loud.  Also bring extra money or a credit card for photo CDs that you can purchase.  Most of my photos were taken by the Vallarta Adventures Photographer.  Finally, you can usually purchase this tour from your resort through tour staff at the hotel.

The beach was beautiful at Las Calletas!

Pirate Ship Vallarta

We did the day time Pirate Ship tour this year with Pirate Ship Vallarta and I'd have to say my 6 year old was about two years too young for it.  He enjoyed the time on Pirate Island but the pirate show on board the ship was too violent for him.  Each child is assigned their own pirate for the day and it's pretty hard to watch your pirate spend half an hour getting beat up in front of your eyes.   The comedy during the pirate show was slap stick humour but young kids of a sensitive nature will still find it disturbing.  The ship was also loud at times which my son didn't like.

Our Pirate Ship and authentic Spanish Galleon

The ship used a real wheel for steering

One of the scenes from the Pirate show on board the ship

We ate breakfast and lunch on board the ship and enjoyed great local food for both meals. There were also drinks served on board and one was never bored for long with all the entertainment.  The highlight for us though was the time spent on Pirate Island.  We got to go kayaking, could have gone snorkeling, and played in the waves.  There was also a treasure hunt for the kids and free banana  boat rides.

Banana boat rides at Pirate Island

Noah and his pirate for the day

The beach was beautiful and definitely worth the visit

Final notes:  We brought our son's life jacket but it wasn't necessary as they were provided on the ship.  We were also able to purchase this tour from our hotel staff and took a taxi from our resort to the marina where we started.

A look at the plank that I jumped off of when exiting the ship for Pirate Island

Our pirate ship for the day

Where We Always Stay in Nuevo Vallarta

We always stay at the Marival Resort and Suites in Nuevo Vallarta for several reasons.

One - Biking

The resort provides complimentary bikes and bike tours to interesting places such as to a nearby zoo (kids' bikes start at 20" bikes and for the tours kids really should be 6+ and competent riders as you'll be riding on the streets with traffic. 

We also love the new bike lanes they've built in Nuevo Vallarta.  It's a safe way for us to use the resort's bikes to go for a family bike ride to the nearby Startucks and mall (which has an indoor playground for hot afternoons.) 

Note that while we enjoyed the guided bike tours from the resort, riding as a family on the official bike lanes was much safer than joining the organized bike tours and most families will want to chose this option.  (we almost saw a 5 year old get hit by a car on the guided tour.)

Highlight of staying at the Marival Resort - Biking every day!!

Two - The Water sports Centre

Gilles runs a pretty amazing water sports centre with  kayaks, boogie boards, sail boats and stand up paddleboards. The Marival Resort is one of the only resorts to rent out SUP boards (for an extra cost) but there is no cost to use the boogie boards or kayaks.  To use a sail boat, one must do a quick test first to prove competency.  If you can't pass the test, you can take a refresher course (for a small charge) or you can pay for one of the water sport staff to take you out for a ride.

This was a great way to spend the afternoon at our resort

Learning to SUP surf last year

Sailing last year

Three - The Pool and the Kids' Pool

The resort has a great swimming pool and kids' pool with waterslides.  Noah spent hours here every day.  My only complaint is that there's never enough lounge chairs and you have to put a towel on one if you hope to save it when you go to breakfast in the morning.

Playing in the main swimming pool

The Kids' Water Park with Pirate Theme

Other than those top three features, we just find that this resort is easy for families.  There's always something at the buffet that kids will eat (even if it's just the pasta bar) and the snack bar is always loaded with pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs, and fries.  Noah never went hungry and we didn't have to worry about fancy gourmet restaurants.  We chose to eat at the a la carte restaurants a few times but found them to be harder with kids.  The new Brazilian Steak House restaurant was great though because it was located right beside the kids' pool.  Next time we'll just bring Noah to dinner in his swim suit! 

Sunset at the Marival Resort, Mexico

Room Tips - This year we chose to stay on the Club side of the resort and it was a LOT quieter.  (The Grand side by the pool is very noisy at night.) We also upgraded to a two bedroom ocean view suite and the photo below shows the view from our deck.  I'll never be able to go back to a normal hotel style room again.

The view from our deck at the Marival Resort

Final Adventures from this year's Mexican Vacation

We often take a day trip down into Puerto Vallarta to walk along the Malecon (boardwalk) but this year chose to take a taxi to the nearby town of Bucerias.  The town actually didn't do much for me but we did find a man giving kids horseback rides on the beach which made me happy we had gone. (note it was far from cheap though!!) Noah had a blast and we enjoyed just hanging out on the beautiful beach there.

Horseback riding in Bucerias

When I die, bury me in my new Mexican happy pants.

Questions?  Leave them below and I promise to respond.
 

Paradise at the Marival Resort and Suites