We took our first big “airplane” trip with both boys and it was amazing!

The Bearded One and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this June with a vow renewal ceremony in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was such a beautiful experience and we had a wonderful time!

We have visited Puerto Vallarta previously for our first wedding anniversary and fell in love with the culture, the people, and the beaches. Since we enjoyed it so much, we decided it was the perfect place to celebrate our 10-year vow renewal.

We have traveled to several parts of Mexico and we chose Puerto Vallarta specifically because of it’s location on the Pacific coast and the fact that it doesn’t have the same summer time sargassum blooms as the Cancún areas.

We started planning our trip a little over 18 months in advance to give all of our family and friends a chance to join us (which didn’t go as planned but that’s a story for another time).

The first time we stayed in PV we spent a week at the Hyatt Ziva. We enjoyed the Hyatt, however, we felt that Hard Rock Vallarta was more kid friendly and decided to give it a shot.

Technically the resort is a little outside of Puerto Vallarta; it’s located in on the beautiful beaches of Nuevo Vallarta, in the center of Riviera Nayarit,Mexico. The resort was beautiful, had great amenities, delicious food and wonderful staff. The only negative I’d say would be the construction. As of July 2026 they are closing the resort down to renovate it for six months. (After seeing the renovated room my mom stayed in, I’m excited to see what they do!)

Resort Days

Arriving at the resort was surprisingly stress-free. I have to say, the boys did fantastic on the plane. We were also joined by one of our favorite couples (my incredible bestie and her wonderful husband) and my fabulous mom, which made the trip even more memorable.

We spent the majority of our time enjoying the pool, swimming at the beach, and just relaxing at the resort. Of course our little guys are water babies and absolutely love to splash and play. This resort was very kid friendly; it had a waterslide, a kiddie pool and a ton of beach activities such as kayaks, boogie boards, and paddle boards. I lost count of how many times the boys slide down the slide (myself and The Bearded One also joined in) !

Pool service was fantastic. The staff was friendly and our cups stayed full. The kids loved the pizzeria by the pool and we all enjoyed the lunch buffet set up daily.

For a big name resort, I was a little nervous the food would be average, however, we enjoyed pretty much everything. Surprising, my favorite was the Italian restaurant Ciao!

Excursion: City Tour

On our third day we decided to book an excursion to go explore the city. The Bearded One and I loved PV the first time and did our own little wandering, but we were in no way experts. We decided a city tour was probably the best bet for our little guys (a little too young for snorkeling and ATVs). We decided to book a private tour so we didn’t have to stick with a group, and I’m glad we did.

The tour started out in the Malecon, which is essentially the giant board walk. I honestly wish we would have just spent the day here, however, our tour guide had other things in mind.

After the Malecon we saw The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a small candy store where the boys get paletas and The Bearded One got crickets (I’m not kidding) then a silver factory/shop after heading into the mountains for the last leg of our tour.

The mountains were beautiful and along the way we stopped for a little tequila tasting and then at a small family owned restaurant for an authentic, delicious lunch.

All in all I would say the tour was very informative and gave us an opportunity to experience the culture of Puerto Vallarta. It was different than what I expected, but we all had a great time and our guide was fantastic (the boys slept solid on the way back to the resort!)

If you’re interested, we book the tour through : https://www.amstardmc.com/en/

Vow Renewal

While at the resort, we planned a small vow renewal ceremony and it was perfect. As some of you may know, we were married in Mexico and it poured down rain, so we didn’t get our toes in the sand beach ceremony. This time, the weather cooperated and we had our perfect little ceremony. Unfortunately, I don’t have all of our pictures yet because I haven’t got them but stay tuned!

Overall, I give Hard Rock Vallarta 8.5/10 and The Bearded One gives it a 9.5/10. The location was perfect, the resort over all was beautiful, and the staff was very accommodating and helpful. We’d love to return after renovations to see the new look!