If you are wondering what there is to do for a week on the Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta Resort, read on!
The Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta Resort is the largest of the seven Vidanta locations. Imagine a week with a huge variety of vacation options. This post will review just a few of them to whet your appetite. You can also check out our extensive list of 25 things to do at Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta. Or watch the Youtube video of 25 things.
For on the resort activities and restaurant choices, the Vidanta Resort App is a priceless resource.
If you are still planning this itinerary at home, you can opt for the quieter, more opulent Grand Luxxe , upgrade to a Loft, or take less expensive Grand Mayan option with it’s lively pool area and lazy river. If the options confuse you, check out our Grand Mayan / Grand Bliss/ Grand Luxxe/ Loft comparison page.
Arrival at Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta
Before you forget , please check with your concierge about any needed restaurant reservations on your first day to avoid any disappointments.
Dinner tonight is at one of 20 top quality restaurants of every genre. Make sure to check with your concierge for reservations. Some of the most popular , like the Italian favorite Tramonto , will require a reservation. For some reason, Burgers Custom Made is our usual choice for the first night. Maybe because we had the best cheese cake ever. Don’t be fooled by the name, it is a classy place crazy burger options and some nice steaks. This is the perfect place to eat outside unless it is quite windy.
And do go for a walk in the landscaped gardens by the ocean. Stay out long enough to realize you are in a tropical paradise. The paths are all elegantly lit.
Before we begin day one, as I said in our post “A Week at the Vidanta Riviera Maya Resort, on any given day you can substitute laying by the pool, reading, listening to music, and/or drinking margaritas or pina coladas for the suggested activities. And our patented MayanRental Ritual is a perfect template to make make relaxing easy (okay, maybe we didn't actually patent it). .
The MayanRental Ritual©
- Lay in the shade or in the sun according to your preference. You can read a book or close your eyes and tell yourself there is no email important enough to interrupt your peace and quiet
- Deep breath in from your belly for a count of 3, hold for a count of 5 and exhale slowly for a count of 7. Repeat this as needed.
- When you get uncomfortably warm. Swim across the pool and back. Get out and drip dry .
- Repeat Step #1
- Rinse / Repeat
- Insert a pina colada or margarita at any point
Day One
OK, you are here. The very first thing , and this is critically important. SLEEP IN ! You will wake up between 6:30 and 7 AM. You have nothing you are required to do. Snuggle up and go back to sleep.
Get up and go to the Samba or the Café del Lago. Here is an Insiders Secret. You don’t have to do the buffet every time, so today you can order a simple breakfast off the menu. Save the buffet for tomorrow.
After you check in, all units have fantastic pool areas to conduct the MayanRental Ritual and all have attentive service with great food and drink. Try one of their creative cocktails like the Chocolate Monkey. Or just go with whatever is on the daily “two for one” special. Nothing could make a better start to your vacation. You can have Ceviche or Nachos at poolside to avoid any interruption to your unwinding process.
Back to your room for a relaxing shower.
As we mentioned in our Vidanta Riviera Maya post, for dinner , one of our favorites in Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta is also The Gong. The Asian and Seafood choices have something that will make every palate a happy palate. Sushi lovers will also not be disappointed. ( unless you didn't make reservations we suggest on arrival LOL) You don’t need the sushi if you are having an appetizer. But you really can’t resist it. Maybe you can skip dessert. Just dream about the cheese cake you had last night.
Day Two
Since you skipped dessert last night, you can splurge and do the full buffet at Café del Lago. There are other buffets , but they all pale in comparison. Some of our favorites:
John’s Favorites Linda’s Favorites
Custom Omelette Cheese Empanada
Fresh Fruit Crepes with strawberries and cream
California Roll Fresh Fruit
Crepes with nutella The bacon hidden behind the counter
The weird green juice Carafe of coffee that stays hot
Chilaquiles verde Unique little bites of all sorts of creative food
And that’s just for starters.
So you won’t be needing Lunch today. And Dinner is currently in question as well.
A little pampering is in order at the Luxxe Spa (the Spatium) or the Brio spa depending on which end of the resort you are staying. You can choose a relaxing or a deep tissue massage. If you are not used to deep tissue, ask for medium pressure or prepare to occasionally let out a few little screams. You can add on almost any spa treatment you can imagine. Insider Tip: Guests in the Grand Luxxe, Loft , or Grand Luxxe Spa Tower can reserve an hour at the outdoor wet area at the Luxxe Spatium. It has steam, dry sauna, cold pool Jacuzzi and showers.
Alternatives include:
- Conversational Spanish lessons that are offered a few days of the week
- Water aerobics are offered almost every day
- There is a kids club every day, so check out which activities your kids might want to participate in.
- Also at the spa there are a variety of classes. There is a fee for these, well worth it to balance out your vacation.
- If you are not fully unwound yet (evidenced by checking your phone frequently, walking fast like you are going to be late, tapping your toe while at rest) you should consider repeating “the ritual” described earlier for day one.
However you spend the afternoon, you will gradually recover from breakfast and start thinking about dinner. Tonight might be a good night to check out the Chiringuito Tapas restaurant. It is next to the Grand Bliss pool.
Day Three
There are also many active alternatives for you to consider, like dance lessons, beach volley ball, ping pong, tennis courts and water sport rentals.
There are two 18 hole golf options, the Jack Nicklaus redesigned Nayar and the new Greg Norman. There is also the challenging new par 3 Lakes course. If golf is
on your vacation to do list, you may want to sign up for golf lessons at the Golf Academy right on the resort. Ask us about how to get advanced golf tee times.
An alternative active day is to take the day trip to Las Caletas beach with Vallarta Adventures. It is a fabulous all day experience, complete with a monkey on your shoulder for photos.
On resort, check out the deli for lunch with custom sandwich’s, crepes and really tasty salads of every variety. While you are there scout out the other high quality foods at La Plaza bakery and grocery.
For the afternoon, you can hang around and shop at La Plaza or stroll the beautiful jungle grounds this afternoon to unwind.
La Cantina for Dinner
Lest you forget you are in Mexico, you can find some delicious Mexican food options at La Cantina. It is great food and maybe a chance to find out if you like Mezcal, with their craft cocktails prepared at table side.
Make sure you eat outside so you don’t miss the beautiful entertaining laser light show
Day Four
Any time you run out of things to do, you can return to the MayanRental ritual or explore the Vidanta App for the myriad of activities like introduction to Spanish or Cocktail lessons.
An upscale dinner tonight could be Italian at Tramonto or French at Azur. Fabulous food with attentive service. Check out what the live entertainment schedule is for the week. This might be a good night to visit the spectacular Santuario performance venue.
Aternative: If you want to spluge and get dinner and entertainment all in one, you can try out Le Petit Chef. You need to reserve days early for this,
Day Five
Here are two different paths you can follow today.
Path One: If you need down time
If this is you, I recommend repeating one of the previous days above. For some people, this type of activity (actually non-activity) is a critical part of vacation.
If you stay on the resort, this evening (or whatever evening is Thursday) you can enjoy the Mexican Fiesta on the Beach with a buffet full of authentic Mexican dishes accompanied by a cultural evening of Mexican music and dancing.
Path Two: If You Are Ready To Be More Active
Vallarta Adventures offers a huge variety of activities off resort including sailing trips, whale watching (November to early March), zip lines (also check out Canopy River for amazing zip lines, and yes that is me hanging upside down), Rhythms of the Night dinner theater, and much more. They are located right in Nuevo Vallarta and are amazingly well run.
Another active option are the walking tours offered by Sandra Cesca. We have done two of these and they are a great way to experience a little of real Mexico.
Finally we have to mention the fabulous food tours available (like the Mole Pozole tour we took a while back).
Day Six
Before you leave this paradise, you really should have a relaxing walk north for a mile or so up the beach to the marina or I guess you could work out at the state of the art exercise facilities. As mentioned there are exercise and yoga classes available daily.
Tonight dinner could be Cuban at Havana Moon on the beach by the Grand Bliss pool. . Nice to be right on the ocean for your last night.
Day Seven
If you only have seven days, make sure on this last day you go to the best breakfast buffet in the world at the Del Lago before returning to the hussle and bussle.
Maybe you should book two weeks…
Anyway, book now to try out our one week itinerary at the Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta Resort.