Gustavo took us on the guided day tour to San Sebastion, and also drove us to Boca de Tomatlan to catch the boat to Yelapa. We were going to take a taxi to Boca, but Gustavo offered and his charges were much less. On the way to Boca, he even gave us the scenic tour of Puerto Vallarta when he discovered we hadn't been there yet.
Gustavo and his wife, Veronica, own a small sweet shop on Morelos just off Lazaro Cardenas in Bucerias, a short half block before Morelos runs into the beach. The sweet store, Dulce Galeria, is open everyday, so it's easy to drop by and talk to them about what tour you might like to take. Samples of all their wonderful selection of candy are included with the discussion. : ) In addition to San Sebastion, Gustavo also does tours of Puerto Vallarta, beach towns north of Bucerias, and shopping tours to towns in that area of Mexico. Veronica and Gustavo are also planning on adding overnight tours to San Sebastion soon. We might do that on a future trip!
Craig and I both highly recommend Gustavo Arce. He speaks perfect English and drives customers in his Ford Explorer. He's very careful and stops anywhere you like along the way. In addition, he knows the history of the areas he travels and includes that in his tour. Native to Mexico, he and his wife have also lived in Europe and the United States, so there's never a lull in conversation along the way! His local number in Bucerias is (322)1215834.
Craig and Gustavo on the bench at the coffee plantation in San Sebastion.
I did a thorough search through my Mexican wallet to see what else was stored in there. I wish I had a card for the best lavanderia we've ever used in Mexico. (That tip came from Gustavo!) It was on a side street in Bucerias up by the main highway. We took our whites there and they came back looking brand new. Craig wished we'd brought our entire wardrobe with us so they could make everything look new again! No card for the lavanderia, but I did discover 840 pesos in that wallet! That's enough to fund us for dinner and the supermercado trip in La Gloria our first night on the island until we can get into town to use the ATM! I love a nice surprise!
(By the way, I added that hyperlink on Lazaro Cardenas because I often wonder who people are when their names are on streets in every Mexican town.)
4 comments:
Great info! Gustavo was a real find for you. I want to hire him for a trip when we are there in the Fall - thanks a lot Beck! I'm going to start a file!
Jeanne
Jeanne, hope your fall trip is wonderful. If and when we go back, we'll use Gustavo again. We really liked staying in Bucerias. I think it's a good base with lots of good restaurants, a beautiful long beach for walking the sand, and a nice Mexican village feel.
Yes, you really do get the Mexican village feel. And they do have good restaurants with really good food! I loved it there - of course we had a "meet up" with some cyber friends that made it even better (Candice & her husband, Jerry & Anne, Dee and her husband).
Check out Casa de la Reyna - that's where we stayed - do a google for it and you'll see it and see how beautiful the place is. And it's very reasonable!
Jeanne
We spent almost 2 weeks in the area. We liked Gustavo's candy shop and we bought a lot of things from him, including the art he sells; big plates for hanging on the wall. We spent over $150 in his shop, and he was supposed to ship the items to us.
But he never did.
Gustavo is a smooth talker, and very personable and friendly. So he might make a fun tour guide. But he will rip you off if you ask him to ship things. We have waited over two months. Every time we call he has the same story, he will call us the next day and give the tracking number, but he never calls; and never shipped it.
Do not trust Gustavo Arce.
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