[asylumdown]

Just got back from a spontaneous 5 day trip to an all inclusive in Puerta Vallarta. It was my first time in Mexico, and since it's on the Pacific side, I wasn't expecting an awful lot from it to satisfy the reefer in me, but let me tell you, I was blown right out of the water.

We went on a day trip to an eco-themed park thing called Las Calletas, which is at the far tip of the bay and only accessible by boat, and you need to book a tour with Vallarta Adventures to get there. There is a couple hundred meter stretch of beach and rocks you can snorkel along and while the water was really unpleasantly cold and there was no coral of any kind, I have never seen so many fish in my entire life. I've been snorkelling on the great barrier reef and all over the Caribbean, and I've never seen so many fish, or so many kinds of fish, in one place at one time.

I wish I knew more about Pacific fish, but there was a healthy school of what I think were very large King angels, at least 3 other species of angels I recognized but couldn't name, tons of Moorish idols, the most incredible damsels (of all kinds) I've ever seen, two kinds of huge puffers, gobies and blennies galore, small rays, a spectacular trumpet fish, what I think were either schools of small tuna or some sort of jack, and many other, even more incredible fish (big ones too) that I couldn't even place with a common name. If anyone is ever in that area, I can't recommend it highly enough.