I can't speak on PV itself since I'm in Mexicali, but I did go through this process during late Summer 2015, so I can give you my experience.

PStars requires a lease or a local utility bill and the front and back of your ID (your US drivers license is fine). When I had my scans in order and submitted it on the PStars system, it took less than 6 hours for me to have my US account now be a Mexican account for real money

How long it will take you to get that paperwork is up to you, but I wouldn't risk it. You could be making weekend trips to TJ from SoCal to get this up and running.

As for money, it's all going to depend on your setup in PV. If you are around a lot of other poker players that you know & trust then you might never need a bank account. Just ship money to each other on Stars and in-person and you'll be fine. I've used the money threads on 2p2 to get cash on Stars with relative success (been ripped off once). I have not yet run into a need to have a bank account in Mexico.

However, if you do decide to get a bank account, I've researched this quite a bit and there's a key item that you need to know: if you want a USD account and are within 20KM of the US border, then you can get a Mexican bank account with relative ease and a reasonable deposit, like $200. You can do this on a tourist visa with a local address (again, a utility bill or lease). If you are not within 20KM then it becomes a little harder. Most banks require a long-term visa (not just tourist) and a much larger deposit. My understanding is that some banks want as much as a $15,000 as the initial deposit. NOTE that this is for USD accounts and make sure you research those specific requirements. The requirements for a MXN account are virtually none, but you probably don't want that. The Dollar has been so strong that holding MXN is nothing but -EV right now.

If I was in your position, I would get both Stars and the bank account setup while you are still close to a border town like TJ. It will make your trip smoother.

Finally, as for driving down there, I wouldn't do it. Do you own your car outright? If you don't, you should know that most purchase and lease agreements prohibit you from taking your car to Mexico. Plus if you have anything that even remotely resembles a nice car, it's an invitation to get robbed and also shaken-down by cops looking for a bribe. I ain't about that life . . .

Good luck to you and let us know how your trip goes.

I'm sold on PV for location/ease of transport and price plus I have already visited.

Thank you so much for the advice GentlemanJack & boliver! I will be sure to read through the other Mexico threads.

Guess not many players living in PV at this time.

I have a friend who has a house in Ensenada and I'll try to get my affairs in order there before I head down to PV. Well if anyone catches this thread and is interested in getting a 2x2 condo in PV for March, April & possibly longer, shoot me a message.

Thanks again!

What's the budget for something like that? I have no idea what those rentals would run.

From searching on TripAdvisor and CL, I think I could get a nice 1 bdrm for under $1000. It's tough though for 2 months cause places are way more expensive for short term leases. A place may be $700/mo for a year lease, but $1400/mo for a 3 month. Figure I'll go down and speak to a some condo rental agencies and stay in a hotel for a week.

Do you speak Spanish?

I would be careful with the items on CL. Everything I have found listed on there has a price premium on it. I think they figure that if you find them on the web, and speak English, then you are a person of means and can pay a lot more. So I'd caution you that the best way will be to be there and walk around and find your own rental.

At the very, very least focus on the Spanish rental web sites since those will give you better rates but still slightly inflated (from what I have seen in other Mexican cities).

Looking for an apartment/condo in PV. Can anybody recommend a reliable real estate agent/company? Or general info on where to stay, where to avoid, internet quality, etc?

Lease would be 3 mos, starting end of February.

Bump.

Looking for a place in downtown, close to restaurants/gyms/possibly beach.

Anyone in the PV area with an affordable room I can rent for 3-4 months? I have accommodations locked in until April 8th so anything after that would

Not overly picky on location. HMU on here or willduva@hotmail.com

I'm coming to PV on Tuesday. Are there any poker jocks down there right now? We'll have to go get some beers, and maybe visit the club de striptease

Left PV ~2 weeks ago but it was hands-down my favorite part of Mexico (over Rosa/PDC). Will happily return there in the future.

Any updates on poker in Puerto Vallarta? Cash games, tournaments, safety. Resort recommendations?

Also, what other Mexican resort areas have live poker safe for American tourist...

BUMP
I'll be in PVR for a few months starting Aug 10. Any out there? I have stars and gg set up already but does anyone know if party is easy to get running?

im in the next state over (jalisco), and have had quite a few people i've met here coming from PV to escape the much harsher lockdowns over there. sayulita and surrounding is packed as everyone been going to the beaches there, so police are patrolling beaches and kicking people out, which everyone just returns 10 mins later. so PV = harsher lockdown, coastal surf towns = heavy crowds of bored people going to beach. Just a heads up.

I couldn't imagine any problems at all getting onto party with proper mexi documents

fwiw i've heard claims that august 15th we may change status of the semaforo from orange to yellow or something (mexicos rating system on how bad corona is for each state). but that seems to fit the narrative of '2 more weeks!' which has been going on for almost 6 months now. guadalajara almost all life is back to normal, businesses open but require facemask, and clubs are closed - bars and restos forced to close around 11pm

Thanks for the updates. I am more the type to go to a waterfall then the beach. I hope I can find some good hikes. I honestly assume I will just be in my room/cafe/gym the majority of the time. How is the weather right now?

Probably not great. June through September is hot, muggy, overcast, and rainy. Rest of the year is amazing though. (If we're talking about PV)

lots of beautiful hikes, both up mountains with nice views, and along the coastline going through thick trees and beach hopping from swimming hole to swimming hole. nut worst time of the year for weather, sadly

I am from Arizona and I have come to love the rainy season in Thailand. This sounds like it might be alright.

Does anyone know if there are any good currency exchanges in Puerto Vallarta? Should I exchange my money in the USA or is it better to bring USD and exchange it locally?

Rates in Mexico are always going to be better. Change some money when you get there but not all of it. Any time you pay for something, at any store, ask what they buy the dollar at (some will have the rate posted on a sign). Sometimes, stores will give you a better exchange rate than what you can find otherwise.

Update, I went to two locations of "Casnio life" in the hotel zone and neither had live poker.
I can say that the currency exchange inside the Galerias Vallarta Casino life has a bit better rate then the currency exchange inside Walmart.

Winclub Casino has a poker room, although it may not be reopened yet, as most casinos in Mexico are only partially reopened.

Thanks for the info. I stopped by yesterday. They had two or three tables set up. They said they start 25/50 at like 9pm everyday. IDK if there getting any traffic yet but I will try and stop by Friday or Saturday night and see if there is really a game running.

Looks like I'm headed to Puerto Vallarta in April and staying for 6 months. Got an apartment in Zona Romántica, about 6 blocks from the beach. I'm pretty stoked as I've been wanting to visit PV, but thought that it would be too expensive for a medium-term stay. Got kinda lucky to come across a FB post about a nice 2-br condo and negotiate it down to $1k/month, since we wouldn't be staying during tourist season. I later found that the guy lists the place on AirBNB for like $140/night, so it was a pretty good find.

My girlfriend and I were looking for a large beach city to stay in and thought PV would be the best fit since we'd already done Mazatlán (we rate it pretty highly) and neither of us are that big into nightlife, which seems like the main advantage of Playa del Carmen. Mostly we just like to chill at the beach occasionally, walk/bike the boardwalk daily, and enjoy restaurants, cafés, and a beach bar every now and then.

Kinda itching to play a bit of live poker (I average like 1x per year), so I guess I'll check out Winclub. Unfortunately, I only really like playing PLO, so probably unlikely they'll run PLO only, but we'll see. There's also something called the Nuevo Vallarta Tour, with a poker series running 7 days in mid-May. Maybe they've have a PLO event or PLO side games. They haven't release any info yet.

Made it to Puerto Vallarta 4 days ago and found a nice apartment that will be our home for the next 6 months. I figured I'd put a bit more info and pics in this thread with some thoughts.

First impressions of PV: I had fairly high expectations going in, and I dare say they may have been exceeded.

We're staying in Zona Romántica, an area right next to downtown packed with bars and restaurants. We're about 6 blocks from the most well known beach, Playa Los Muertos, and feel like this is the perfect beach. Basically in ZR, in the first block or 2, you'll find a couple super touristy locales, as well as the little markets selling all the touristy crap. Then the next block or two, you'll see more nice restaurants/bars and frequented by quite a few tourists. But then after that, the vibe changes to a more local feel, which I love. So we get the benefits of being close to all the action, but a bit more peace and quiet with a local vibe (which I prefer). The section we're in seemingly has anything you'd ever need: tortilla shops, a great local market, taco stands, great little restaurants, bars, etc. As well as being a 7-8 minute walk to the beach and having tons of other incredible restaurants nearby.

Couple pics of the Zona Romántica:




Right next to the Zona Romántica is Playa Los Muertos, the most famous of the beaches in PV and often quite busy. I'd say we arrived at the perfect time. The weather is still great (a bit hot during the day and perfect at night) and not too packed w/tourists. High season for foreigners is in the Winter months, and national tourists tend to visit around Holy Week, which ended 3 weeks ago. One of my concerns was that it would feel way too packed with foreign tourists (like Los Cabos was when I visited 2 weeks ago), but it's not too bad, and a nice mix of foreigners and Mexicans. And of course, you need only venture 3 blocks away from the beaches and the tourists start thinning out pretty quickly.

The beaches near the center of PV are decent, but can't compare to Cancún or Los Cabos. Water won't be near as clear, and parts of the beaches will tend to have little pebbles, which makes it difficult to enter for a swim. I've also heard that during rainy season (July-Octoberish), the rain can bring a lot of garbage into the bay, making the beaches unswimmable some days. That being said, there's a lot of activity with bars/restaus lining the beaches, and beautiful scenery for a walk.





Heading north from ZR/Playa Los Muertos to El Centro, you'll cross the Rio Cualé (Cuale River), a nice little island area with restaurants and a very touristy market.



After crossing the Rio Cualé, you'll hit the Malecón and El Centro. The Malecón is about a mile long and packed with great sculptures on one side, and lined with clubs, bars, restaurants, and food stalls on the other. This seems like the area to go if looking for dance clubs w/insanely loud music. Great place for an early evening walk to take in the sunset, and plenty of activity with street entertainers as well.



You'll also find the main Church, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, and the central square, and while nice, I found it a bit underwhelming compared to many central squares in Mexico. This area will also have lots of art galleries, and we're looking forward to checking out the Art Walk on Wednesday, through this area.



Traveling further north, you'll encounter 5 de Diciembre neighborhood. It's still packed with taco stands, bars, and great restaurants, but much more of a local feel. I'm looking forward to checking out this area more as I think it would be a great place to live if you want to stay more among locals, while still being walking distance to the most popular areas. The beach here, Playa Camarones, also had a much more local feel.

Much further north (about 25 min. drive from El Centro), you'll encounter the Zona Hotelera (Hotel Zone) and Marina Vallarta. I've got a friend visiting next week and staying in this area, so I'm gonna wait until then to check it out. For me, it doesn't seem like an interesting area at all. Mostly just larger resorts, where foreign tourists who don't want to interact w/tourists just hang out at their hotels the whole trip. But I'm glad it exists b/c it attracts many foreign tourists and thus keeps them out of El Centro and ZR.

Thus far, the big winner for me is the food. We've had 4 meals and 3 of them have been incredible. We follow an American couple on YT who have lived in 5 Mexican cities and visited every state in Mexico, and they swear that Zona Romántica has the best food they've ever tried. So far, I'd have to agree. Their recommended places have been excellent. We've eaten some of the best shrimp and marlin tacos ever, and heard there's another stand that might be even better! Had great fajitas and coco shrimp, and then a fish filet that I thought was very good.

The owner of our apartment said that the last place is only average as far as ZR goes, so I'm excited to start checking out some of his recs. And prices have seemed pretty reasonable so far. 4 enormous marlin and shrimp tacos cost about $6.50 total. The fish filet w/veggies, rice, etc. cost about $10. The most expensive was the coco shrimp at $17.50, but it was super delicious and a massive portion that could almost feed 2.

I would need to check out PV in other times of the year. The Summer, to see if the heat and rainy season are somewhat manageable. As well as touristy high season, the Winter, to see if the city is somewhat fun or if it's just too packed with tourists. But so far, it's looking like a place I could see living long-term since I'm a sucker for hot weather and coastal living and PV seems about the best option for a larger Mexican city on the coast (Mazatlán is high up there as well).