For the cost of 300 pesos per person for an approximately 1 hour 20 minute guided tour, El Cora Crocodile Sanctuary is a must do. Juan (our tour guide) was very informative and had a deep passion for not only what he does but also for the animals. For those that may wonder how to pay, they accept card or cash. They also have bathrooms on site so no need to worry. Once you are done your tour, they have no problem calling a taxi for you if need be. All around, had a great experience here.

When I say that this is the best ecological tour (or tour in general!) you can take in Puerta Vallerta, I wholeheartedly mean it. As someone studying biology, it's hard to find someone who's passion for wildlife conservation matches my own. Cesar is so intelligent, kind, and tenacious in his work with these beautiful animals, and in saving what precious little habitats we have left for them. Please, go here and learn, especially if you are in the resort rows. Saving our planet and the stunning creatures who were here far before us is a never ending battle - you can help us, and meet some of the awesome wildlife while doing so. The tour takes approximately an hour, and is 2km long in a loop around the property. It was an easy walk and there were benches for breaks if needed. Cesar was incredibly interactive and hands-on, making this a great activity for parents to bring their children to. He gives tours in English and Spanish, and is fluent in English. He is extremely knowledgeable, and answered all the questions we had with gusto. I recommend closed toed shoes that you don't mind getting a little muddy. Prepare to have your breath taken away - this is not a zoo, or anything like it. This is an Animal Sanctuary, promoting true welfare for its inhabitants.

Really a great experience! One of the highlights of our trip. Highly recommend the guided tour if you're unfamiliar with the native environment or want to know more. Alfredo was happy to educate and answer any questions we had. He and the sanctuary are pursuing a truly noble mission to protect animals of the area.

It was 300 pesos (MXN) per person for the guided tour, and it was very interesting and educational. There weren't any other visitors when we went, so we got the tour guide to ourselves. I can't remember her name, but she was very friendly and easy to talk to. She apologized for her English, but she was very easy to understand and was able to answer our questions and give lots of information. The sanctuary had several crocodiles who are unable to live in the wild for various reasons, as well as a pig (peccary?), some baby coatis, a baby raccoon and 'possum, some turtles, green macaws, etc. We did not get to pet/see a baby crocodile because she told us that the 1 baby they'd had died. 😭 They're hoping the male and female they have together will have more babies this year, but they haven't had any the last 3 years. She told us about how the crocodiles are being displaced by construction and tourism expansion, and how they're trying to buy some of the land to protect it for the crocs, but it's very difficult because land developers want to buy it, and they have access to much more money. The sanctuary is not funded by the government, only by admission fees and donations.

It was an amazing experience to see all these animals with the thought of them being cared for and released when they are well. I would 100% recommend coming here for your own experience and to help support all the animals in there.

An incredible experience, really kind and knowledgeable staff. Definitely worth the trip! All proceeds of admission go towards the animals

El Cora is a must visit if traveling to Puerto Vallarta! We selected the tour option, which I highly recommend to understand the rehabilitation efforts of the facility but also to learn about the animals you will see. Alfredo, the veterinarian, showed us around the facility and was very friendly and knowledgeable. There were several crocodiles in the facility which we were able to see up close. There were also other mammals and birds. We loved seeing the lagoon where Alfredo was able to point out two crocodiles in their natural habitat. A truly wonderful experience!🐊

Wonderful experience with a guide (who is a Veterinarian). He was so knowledgeable and had an obvious love for all the animals there. Not just crocodiles, but an assortment of animals who were in need of care until they can be release back into the wild, if possible. My Granddaughter and her friend, who are both Veterinary Students, loved every minute of the 1 hour walking tour. So nice that it is a Refuge and not a Zoo. Note: If you take a taxi or Uber in, be sure to arrange for them to wait for you or return at a certain time. It was difficult to get one to come in afterward.

My daughter and I are in Nuevo Vallarta for the last 3 days of our two week trip and decided to check this place out based off reviews. It did not disappoint!! Go here now!! Our guide (who is actually the veterinarian) is so passionate about the animals and how to teach humans the importance of responsibility when it comes to "exotic pets" and natural ecosystems. We both highly enjoyed learning about and interacting with all the beautiful animals. The cost has been upped to $300 per person, but it goes to a good cause and I would much rather spend my money here than a lot of touristy places. Thank you so much!!

What a fantastic tour. I am so glad that this place exists to educate the public and tourists about the natural habitat of the area. So much of the natural habitat has been developed and this location will allow you to see what it looked like before all the development. You see many rescued animals and learn about them. Our group of 8 adults and kids aged 5-70 loved our time there. Highly recommend. Definitely go with a guided tour.

Hard to find, might even be hard in a sedan in wet weather, but worth the trip. Make sure to ask for the guided tour "en inglés" as needed. I got more out of it as my Spanish is rough. Your funds go directly to the cause.

We took the 1.5hr tour with Juan, ... It was excellent! He is very informative, passionate and well spoken. We would highly recommend visiting and supporting.

El Cora 🐊 sanctuary was very very cool! We paid for the guided tour in English. It was so worth it! Our guide, Juan, was incredible. He was so passionate and knowledgeable. We could tell he really cares about the animals and birds in their care. We learned so much from him. It was amazing to hear about the history of the sanctuary, the area it is located in (plus to learn about the fauna of the whole of Banderas Bay) and the stories of the animals in their care. To learn which ones can be rehabilitated and which ones will need lifetime care due to many reasons, such as being blind and not being able to fend for themselves in the wild. The mangrove swamp there is so beautiful too - made me feel like I was in Africa. Or the Amazon. Juan told us that there are over 100 species of birds in the area. And many of them are in the mangrove water area. We saw some very cool birds as well as creatures in the sanctuary. We loved learning about the crocodiles too, their ages, their personal stories, how the young ones are released back to the wild and more. We highly recommend a visit to this sanctuary and will definitely bring more family and friends to visit here in the future. So glad we finally made the trip there. It’s actually less than 10 minutes from our place near Bucerias. We were surprised how close it was! We had been hesitant to go in the past due to the stories of the long bumpy treck in. But it really wasn’t that bad at all. It was actually like a cool adventure and really made us feel like we were entering a jungle to see the sanctuary. We will definitely be back :)

Amazing!! Wonderful tour with our guide who spoke fluent English. Cannot recommend enough. Legit place. Tip: Take an Uber though!! Taxi had to wait with us and ended up charging a lot.

Highly recommend coming here! It is a good idea to do the hour tour with the fantastic team, we found it very educational. They have some cool merchandise to buy also to support them.

What a wonderful surprise to find El Cora. Our guided tour took about 90 mins, but I could have stayed a lot longer. Alfredo was very interesting and knowledgeable. I have a new found respect of crocodiles. Driving up to the sanctuary was a little bumpy..but not to worry...So worth it!

Very quaint sanctuary. We viewed crocodiles, macaws, egrets and several others. $200 pecos self guided. The road getting in is not paved. An hour is a generous amount of time to cover the entire grounds.

Nice Mexico town, less crowded beach 🏖️ so peaceful 😇

Bucerias is a cool little town and for our first visit here we enjoyed the Centro area the most because it is cleaner than other areas of town. There are several restaurants and shops in the area and even a flea market to browse! The beach is beautiful and a lot of locals hang out there. We will definitely visit Bucerias again.

Gorgeous sculpture surrounded by beautiful people, dogs, markets, dining options, and views!

Great plaza area right by the market area and many restaurants and shops. Great access to the beach, which you can safely walk down for miles.

I have never been to this part of Bucerías, but I really enjoyed visiting today. Beautiful beach, alot to see and alot to do.. so many restaurants and people. Amazing view as well. Recommend it highly. 👌🇲🇽

We enjoyed our visit today. Bought some sovener's had a couple of drinks on the beach.

Nice little town. Big sandy beach. Great sunset.

Did not stay -attended the Bandaras Bay Musicfest. What an incredibly beautiful resort.

Beautiful manicured gardens, wonderful pool and restaurant, extraordinary casitas, suites, apts. Great service, friendly,

We have lived here a few months. It was great at first, in the past two months we have been asked to pay rent early so the owner could pay her staff. We were robbed last week of all our gold jewelry while I was in the hospital having our first baby. Owner has since hired new staff but refuses to help us try and figure out who did it. Now she isn’t sending the cleaning people and is hanging up on my husband when he calls the office. I have never been treated like this in my life, if you stay here ask for new locks on the doors because everyone on staff has a set of keys and everyone staying here gets keys year after year and locks never change. And there are different people working here every day, here is a photo of the window that was broken into. Beautiful property but absolutely horrible management and owner. Also our neighbor got her car backed into and took months to get it sorted. Police report is in and hiring a lawyer now to try and get back some of the thousands of dollars worth of jewelry taken. Sad and frustrating situation. I’ve sent multiple emails about friends booking a room and she just doesn’t write back now to anything. Really sad especially since we have a newborn baby and should be enjoying this time in our life.

Attended music festival there. You NEED to taxi/uber, especially at night. Looks like a neat hip chic community.

L.A.V. is an extraordinary location/safe haven with amazing management and beautiful surroundings within 10 minutes of Central Bucerias and the beach. The swimming pool is large, clean and comes with a wonderful bartender, Hilario. You will be pleasantly surprised at this jewel.

Attended the Banderas Bay Music Festival there. Had a wonderful evening of music under the stars. The facilities were perfectly suited for the event Hope to see more such events there.

Great place to visit friends

The place is run down and not as in the photos. Manager was EXTREMLY rude. They do not answer emails or telephone and are trading off of thier so called eco green credentials which are a stretch to say the least. If there was a zero star this place could have it! It’s also in a very dirty and unpleasant area just outside town and the town is also well worth avoiding. Best thing to do is donate some cash to a worthy charity of your choice and stay in another place if the reason for staying here was to support green and eco communities.

Great place to live for just a short few months or to full time. Beautiful grounds with nice pool and restaurant and with an art garden too.

Beautiful grounds, excellent service. Heated pool. Beautiful tropical plants all over the 35k meter estate.

A blow up park in the water, what a great way to cool off from the Mexican heat. Took a bit of effort for the kids to swim out to the play structure from the shoreline. Lots of area for them to play on. One was out of service the day we went. Owner provides life jackets for all the kids. We went on a day where the water was rough, would recommend going on a calmer day, one of my kids got nauseous.

Inexpensive, well maintained equipment, safety staff on duty

This floating contraption is an eyesore that ruins the view along an otherwise magnificent beach.

This is a great experience for kids and adults

Super fun for all ages

Total blast. Good exercise too.

(Translated by Google) It is an incredible experience, you feel like a little child again going up and down. Although I went in the month of May, the waves were very strong and that made it more difficult to climb and go up the ramps and since everything is wet it is even worse, plus when you fall into the sea and try to get up you get scratches all over sides. The good thing about this is that there is always staff to support you and if you fall they will pull you up and explain to you how to do it. (Original) Es una experiencia increíble, te sientes como niño chiquito otra vez subiendo y bajando. Aunque yo fui en el mes de Mayo, las olas estaban muy fuertes y eso hacia más difícil el estar escalando y subiendo las rampas y como todo está mojado peor, además de que cuando te caes al mar y te tratas de subir te raspas por todos lados. Lo bueno de esto es que siempre hay personal que te apoya y si te caes ellos te jalan para subirte y te explican cómo le tienes que hacer.

I'm traveling to the area in late February 2023. Would someone confirm for me that the 10:30 am Sunday mass is in English?

It’s a simple church but you’re there for the Mass not for the beauty, right?. As of July of 2023 Sunday Mass times are 7:00 am, 10:00 am, 12 pm, 7 pm. Weekdays (including Saturday) 7:00 pm. If you attend, say a prayer for me!

Lovely, typical Mexican small town church.

I have been to a few Spanish masses at this church. I don’t speak Spanish but our church is so universal I know what’s going on and it’s easy to follow. The people were friendly and their voices in song (acapella) were beautiful. The church itself is so lovely, with the crucifix and our lady being behind the alter, and the carved stations of the cross all around the walls. Simple wood slat benches and padded kneelers. It shows some age but I love it.

This church is beautiful in typical Mexican style. Four daily masses is a gift and the church attracts young and old in the week that we have been here. We felt very welcome and the priests were really great, down to earth, full of faith and great catechists! It is in the heart of the downtown area where it’s easy to park and after mass go and have a meal or wander through the little shops.

Share the love as you walk in Gods home. A king is born. Spent the night with a beautiful Christmas mass 9:00 pm. Bless all the Parishioners. And bless our Priest and beautiful choir. We are God’s family Unit on earth.

Amazing place to be in touch with Good. Rustic and lovely. Calm and blessing church to meditate and pray. I recommend a lot this magical place to talk to your inner spiritual human being.

As of December 2022 Mass times are: Sunday 730am 1030am (bilingual English and Spanish) 12pm 7pm. Monday - Saturday 7pm