activities + adventure in mexico // travel

during our visit to

villa del palmar loreto

, the staff planned plenty of activities for us to get the full experience of what they, and the city of loreto had to offer. i'd like to think that ryan and i have a good balance between adventure and relaxation planned on all of our vacations. and i think that's perfect, you can't lay around too long or be too scheduled. but i will say that when it comes down to the last day, it's usually those adventures that we look back on and remember the most. so, today, i will share all of my absolute favorite adventures that villa del palmar planned for us

and also my longest post! you can see the

run down i shared yesterday on the the resort here

.

like i said yesterday, the resort is located on it's very own (enormous) piece of land untouched by the borders of any other hotels in the area. part of their property included a gorgeous trail that led to the top of a hill with views of all of the surrounding islands. all i was thinking the whole time was how much i wished my girls from home were there with me that i run with every weekend. this would have been the perfect place for us to explore! it would have even made an awesome quick getaway (flights out of LAX are just as quick as getting to cabo) for a bachelorette party for girls that are looking for something different than the typical vegas weekend.

we were led by a guide who knew his stuff. he even stopped to grab fruit from a cactus for everyone to try. pretty sure it doesn't get more authentic than that

unless you're on survivor or something.

views from the top were insane. we stopped here to take a breather.

one afternoon, we were led by one of the staff members into the ocean and were given a quick lesson on clam diving. it took a while to learn how to spot them, but once i figured it out i was down there with him digging up dinner. this isn't something they offer up regularly, but the resort does serve chocolate clams that are a specialty in the area.

after 2 hours of diving, we swam back with a giant bag of over 90 clams! we drank margaritas from the beach bar and opened the clams to enjoy right there on the beach.

earlier that day we had some time to take advantage of their water activities. they had stand up paddle boards and glass bottom kayaks to cruise around the bay. after seeing how smooth the water was at the resort i couldn't wait to get my hands on one of the sup's. i paddled around, out to the boats, checked out a few of the private beaches you could only reach by water or a long hike and ended with a little float and sun bathing.

clearly we all had a thing for spending as much time in the water as possible. we took a boat trip one of the days after a walk around town and jumped off in several spots to snorkel and float in the clear blue water. there were plenty of fish and creatures to keep us busy all day. the resort prepared a light lunch and drinks to enjoy while on the boat. this would have been the perfect experience to do on your honeymoon or anniversary. we stopped at honeymoon beach where we were going to have lunch (but the water was too high on the beach at the time), how fun would that be? a private beach for lunch and snorkeling? yes please.

a tour of the tiny town of loreto was also scheduled for us where we visited plenty authentic shops. plenty of souvenirs were picked up and we all learned a bit about some of the local goods. we visited the spice shop below. i could've spent hours filling up my bag with fun stuff to cook and experiment with when i got home

only, the heat has this effect on me where i need to keep moving, and i really can't focus otherwise

anyone else? :)

the architecture, greenery and coloring of the buildings made for the most beautiful pictures. it always makes me think, when did we (in california) decide it was going to look good to paint every single house and building the same color

tan. we need to add a little color and fun back, right?

i had fun with my new and old gal pals during these adventures. so there is obviously plenty to do for those of you looking for adventure with your girls or for your special occasion. check back from part 3 on some of my tips for relaxing at

villa del palmar loreto

!

[ huge thank you to

villa del palmar loreto

for planning so many unforgettable experiences for us.

vdpl

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