Running in Puerto Vallarta?

I went there for a wedding

Was fine but stick to parks

I wouldn't be too concerned with safety. PV has more Americans and Canadians there during the winter months than they do locals. I've never felt threatened or scared running there. I don't know what part of the city your hotel is at.. but there's basically a main road that goes from the North end of the city (airport) to the South part, which is where the older businesses are. I've usually stayed on the South side and done my runs along the walkway along the bay.. then i keep heading North along the main road toward the airport. There's actually a public track about 1/2 way which is pretty cool. I've done some light workouts on the track. BTW, if you run on the track, keep your shirt on, as it's one of their rules for the facility. I've never found dirt trails or roads, but then again I haven't really looked. A smaller town that's a 45 min drive from PV is Sayulita, and I've done a good number of runs on dirt roads up there through the years. Have fun. It's a great time of the year to be in PV.

It will be over 20 F inside where you run on the treadmill.

Good stuff, thanks, GWT. I think my hotel is just south of the airport so that was very helpful.

Run on the malecon, that's what people do. It's perfectly safe and you'll see plenty of other runners, just don't do it at like 9pm when it's full of walkers, babies, dogs, etc. No one is going to rob you.

The malecon is basically a concrete path that runs along the waterfront. Zoom into a google maps of PV and you'll see it.

Don't stay by the airport if you don't have to. It's too far out. Get closer to the downtown/Zona Romantico and you can actually enjoy the city a bit.

Don't go to Sayulita. Sayulita is what gringos think Mexico should be. It's a dump full of idiots who wear Northface gear and think they're in the "real" Mexico. There are so many of them there now that the poor town's sewage treatment plant doesn't function correctly, and there's raw sewage running into the ocean at all times. This has caused a significant amount of sickness in the area -- just avoid it altogether.

Night Of The Iguana

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Thanks, Jose. Unfortunately I'm stuck at the airport - that's where my conference is and company is putting us up. According to Google I'm about 7.8k to the start of the malecon - think it's worth jumping in a cab to get there if I don't have the time/energy to go 10+ miles? Or just run along that main road (rt 200 i think) that GWT mentioned?

Are there donkey shows there or is that just Tijuana? Asking for a friend.

Walk out of the Marriott and stand on the street, next bus you see going south that says CENTRO on it, jump on. Avoid any bus that says "TUNNEL" on it. Whatever bus you do end up on should head toward the start of the malecon. Jump off when you can see the Bay or things are looking good.

Going back, make sure you're on a street with northbound traffic (some streets are one-way). Look for a northbound bus with "Marina Vallarta” or “Marriott” or “Westin” or “Velas Vallarta” written on the windshield.

Good luck.

Awesome, thanks again Jose!

Is it safe to run in the hills east of Puerto Vallarta? I see on Google Earth there are dirt roads that climb the hills. Like at the south end of the city near the Malecon the hills aren't far away from there.

Or is it best to stick to the sandy beach or Malecon?