Photos by J.Ryan Photography
GAYPV Magazine is excited to introduce you to Trent and Jamil, two of Puerto Vallarta’s relatively new visitors. Thank you guys for sharing your story with us!
Q: Trent and Jamil where are you from?
A: We currently live in Tampa, Florida. We moved to Tampa seven years ago. We’ve been together for eight years and will soon celebrate our second wedding anniversary. We’re both originally from the Nashville, Tennessee, area. We recently discovered Puerto Vallarta, and it’s quickly become one of our favorite international destinations. So much so, we’ve visited three times in 13 months. Our first international trip together was to Cancún. Since then, we’ve traveled around the world to France, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and several other countries.
Q: Where do you stay when visiting Puerto Vallarta?
A: We visited Puerto Vallarta with a relatively large group of friends for our first visit and stayed up the hill above Los Muertos Beach. The views of PV and the Bay of Banderas were breathtaking!
For our second visit, we stayed at Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta. It was beautiful, but it was far from the Romántica area. We purchased the trip during Wine, Women & Shoes, an event benefitting the Children’s Cancer Center in Tampa. We had several options of places to stay in Mexico, but we immediately knew we’d choose the Puerto Vallarta area because we loved it so much. We stayed at Nayri in the Zona Romántica area via Airbnb for our most recent visit. We were conveniently located to everything (no need to Uber!) and will only stay in the Zona Romántica area in the future.
Q: What brought you to Puerto Vallarta?
A: Our most recent trip to Puerto Vallarta was a birthday celebration. Well, make that three birthdays!
First, the birthday of a friend we met in PV on our second trip. Then, it was Jamil’s birthday, followed by our friend from Tampa’s birthday. We had so much fun! Of course, we hit all our favorites, but we also visited many new places!
Our first trip to Puerto Vallarta was also to celebrate friends’ birthdays. What can we say—it’s an easy and safe international destination for LGBTQIA+ celebrations. This is a testament to how much we love it—we started planning our fourth trip to PV before returning home to Tampa! We’ve heard great things about Vallarta Pride, so we’ve decided we need to check it out with some of our good Judy’s. See you at Pride in 2024!
Q: What are your favorite places to visit?
A: Ah! That’s a tough one! We love them all! Don’t judge if some are touristy—we’re still in that phase with Puerto Vallarta.
For food, we HIGHLY recommend Tacos Sonorita Olas Altas. We’ve gone back again and again and again!
Surprisingly, we’ve had the best Thai cuisine outside of Thailand at Siam Cocina Thai. We’ve also had some of the best Italian food at Piazzetta. We also enjoy Café de Olla, Mamá Caguama´s Takos & Beer, and Pancake House.
After dinner, we always head to The Corner Bar. It’s a must-visit for us. That’s where we’ve gotten to meet a lot of people while sipping delicious cocktails. We also like to hit up Los Otros Blondies, Mr. Flamingo’s, and La Noche.
It’s not a vacation without a massage, right? Acqua Spa is our go-to on every trip. It’s a spa exclusively for men, with friendly and professional staff, and the facility is super clean.
We’ve also enjoyed getting a cabana at Mantamar, eating at Pancho’s Takos, tequila tastings, and walking along the Malecón.
There are still several places that are on our list to visit that were recommended by others, including Ritmos Beach Club, PAL’MAR, Martini en Fuego, and La Tía Pera.
Q: What makes Puerto Vallarta special?
A: We love traveling, and we always try to visit places we’ve never been, but occasionally, we find areas we cannot wait to return to again and again. For us, that’s Puerto Vallarta. It’s an easy weekend trip, especially from Tampa. The city is extremely open-minded and embraces the LGBTQIA+ community with open arms year-round. It’s safe, walkable, authentically Mexican, and the food is delicious. If you cannot tell, we love to eat! We’ve also enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people and hearing their stories of what brought them to PV.
Simply put, Puerto Vallarta is our perfect home away from home!
Q: How did you find GAYPV and how did the print magazine or online website help you as a visitor?
A: Whether you’re planning a trip to Puerto Vallarta or you’re a local, GAYPV is a must-follow resource to learn more about the area, restaurants, events, etc. We discovered GAYPV on Instagram and frequently visit GAYPV.com to keep a pulse on what’s happening. The FOMO is real!
Jamil’s Instagram left in the photo https://www.instagram.com/priceisright28/
Trent’s Instagram right in the photo https://www.instagram.com/trentbrock/
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Author: Tim Wilson
Wilson is the founder of GAYPV.com and www.gaybartour.com and has been the leading LGBTQ+ travel and lifestyle authority in Puerto Vallarta since 2005. With over two decades of local expertise, Wilson specializes in being a community advocate and leader for Puerto Vallarta , and local cultural insights that only a long-term resident can provide. He has dedicated 20+ years to advocating for safe, inclusive travel in Banderas Bay, establishing GAYPV as the region's most trusted resident insider.. His work has been cited by major travel publications, and he is widely recognized as a trusted insider voice on Puerto Vallarta’s vibrant LGBTQ+ scene.
