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Scams in Puerto Vallarta to avoid… yes, there are still so many scams, ranging from old ones to new ones. From airport scams to scams on the street, and unfortunately even with your accommodation. And, while Puerto Vallarta is generally a safe and friendly place to stay, like all tourist places, there are scams to avoid.
We will say, we felt totally safe the entire six weeks we were in Puerto Vallarta. At no point did we feel unsafe from any of these scams or even from people on the street. In our experience, the locals we came in contact with were always really polite even when we turned down whatever they were trying to sell us.
None of these scams even come close to comparing to the scams in Marrakech.. where we legitimately felt unsafe. However, they’re all nice to know and will help save you some money while traveling to Puerto Vallarta.
1. Vacation Packages
It’s said that nearly 8 tourists are scammed per hour when purchasing vacation packages for Puerto Vallarta.
To avoid this scam, simply ensure the company you’re booking through is legit. If it seems fishy, it’s best to assume it is.
Check here to see if the company you’re looking at is registered in Mexico here.
2. Taxi Scams
When snagging a taxi just on the street, you have to barter with the taxi drivers, and most cabs don’t have a meter, so you’re in for a real treat with what they end up charging for the ride. Be sure to settle on a price for your trip beforehand… likely a price per person for the given destination. Always bargain the first price they give you, as there are plenty of places to catch a cab, and the first price is always too much.
Alternatively, you can take Uber instead. Uber is often used, especially for booking rides from the airport. Using Uber is a safer option than cabs and is also a prepaid service through an app.. meaning you don’t have to haggle with your cab driver at all for a good price — and it’s not priced per person, but instead just per drive.
{Traveler’s Tip… If arriving at the airport, you can hang a left out of the airport (walk straight through everyone on the sidewalk) and cross the walking bridge, meeting your driver at the restaurant on the other side. This is a cheaper way to meet a cab driver, as you don’t have to pay airport fees. We used Uber for this as we didn’t have pesos right away — super convenient to be able to pay with your card in the app.. and the airport has free wifi for you to book your Uber upon arrival!}
3. Puerto Vallarta Timeshare Scams
This is a well-known scam for those who do their research before traveling to Puerto Vallarta, however, it’s still an overwhelming scam when arriving at the Puerto Vallarta airport.
The timeshare representatives will offer you free beer, tequila, or even tours for only two hours of your time. And while they say it’s only two hours of your time, in reality, we’ve heard and read horror stories of 8-10 hours of people’s days learning of a timeshare they don’t want to buy, trapped in an infomercial-style presentation they can’t get out of.
Avoid this altogether. Do not even give them the time of day, by walking by with your head straight down, and repeating “no, gracias” or saying nothing at all.
4. Puerto Vallarta Airport Scams
Not just the timeshare scam happens at the airport, but also the scam of free or cheap transfers and accommodation.
Upon arrival at the airport, you’ll go through immigration, grab your luggage, then go through customs. After customs, you go through a big sliding door, where hundreds of people are waiting to feast on your money. Literally hundreds of people hoping you’ll make eye contact with them so they can lie to you about being the person you’re looking for.
To avoid this scam of Puerto Vallarta, walk with your head down or only make eye contact with who you’re traveling with and get out of the area as soon as you can. You’ll go through another sliding door where you can catch your breath and get your ground before being bombarded outside the terminal with taxi drivers and more timeshare personnel.
If you have a prearranged airport pick-up, look for them outside of the airport. This is the only place they can legally be. Do not give them your name or the hotel you’re staying though. Instead, ask them to answer what hotel they’re representing or who they’re looking for and see if you’re that person.
5. Taxi / Uber Scams
Just like the airport scams, you’ll get random people coming up to you when you look like you’re waiting for an Uber. AKA, standing somewhere looking at your phone or walking by cars looking for drivers that look like your driver.
The scammers will say something like, “who are you looking for”. And while this seems helpful, it’s actually not because once you say a name, that instantly becomes their name. haha. They’ll then ask you where you’re heading and say something like, “yes, yes, I can take you there”. That’s when you just say, no I already paid someone else, and just move on.
While you can’t completely avoid this scam, what we found to help is simply asking the person for their name first. When you do that, they can’t scam you anymore into thinking they’re the correct person. If they hesitate about giving their name, you know they’re not the Uber Driver looking for you! 🙂
6. Currency Exchange Rate Scams
Okay, this one may not be an actual scam, but it’s something to know. Exchange rates vary drastically from different cambio (money exchange) places. At the airport, the exchange rate equated to 25% less than the actual rate we should have gotten. We then walked around Puerto Vallarta and found all the exchange places had different rates. If you plan on exchanging money, don’t just stop at the first cambio place and change money. Look around at different rates first!
If you’re super hungry or thirsty and think you just have to have money right away, think again.. Oxxo, the local corner shop here has everything you can imagine needing and you can use your travel credit card to purchase even small amounts of things. Buying a beer and ice cream held us over until we got to a proper exchange place for getting money for street tacos!
7. AirBnB Puerto Vallarta Scams
We love using AirBnB for booking places to stay for much cheaper rates than hotels. However, we’ve found more and more that AirBnB isn’t held up to the standard it used to be. While we’re not sure if this is a common scam or not, it’s one we experienced during our first stay in Puerto Vallarta.
Our host tried to change our reservation from 7 nights to 1 night. Then when we asked him about it, he told us we could cancel if we wanted to. Had we gone through with canceling, we would have been out our money and had no place to stay…with that person still making money from our booking… even though he’s the one that recommended the change in the first place. Deny any changes with your AirBnB… it’s not worth the stress and hassle of finding a new place — especially if your host tries to still get your money from you.
8. Wifi or AC Not Working
Wifi and/or AC not working or even not available even when it’s listed. This one is super frustrating because when you book a place you book it under the expectation of it being what is listed. Do not let people try and tell you something wasn’t included or it wasn’t in the listing correctly.
If it was there when you booked it, it should be there when you get there. Period. Otherwise, you should get your money back or a discount.
To try and beat this scam, screenshot what is included in the listing and confirm via messages on AirBnB or email with your accommodation. This way everything is in writing when you need to prove something to either a larger company or even just a person in general.
9. Overcharging for Local Bus
Typically buses in Puerto Vallarta are around $10 pesos per person. However, when you get onto the bus and ask how much it costs, in this scam, the ticket collector will give you a different price… often, nearly triple the cost. You can tell they’re doing this because they have to think of the price for a bit instead of just saying a number.
There are a couple of ways to avoid this scam. Ask locals how much the bus costs before you board, watch what other people are paying, or just give ten to twenty pesos without asking the cost and see what change they give back. This way, they don’t know you don’t know the price. Instead, they think you don’t have smaller change.
10. Workers from Restaurants Jumping Aboard
This one got us when we traveled to Yelapa from Puerto Vallarta. We had jumped on a water taxi taking us to Yelapa and had high hopes of relaxing at the beach there. We had read the water was phenomenal, and boy it was! However, that’s beside the point.
When our water taxi arrived to Yelapa, it pulled up on shore in front of a super inviting-looking restaurant with chairs and umbrellas. A man jumped on the boat, and welcomed us to Yelapa, explaining the chairs and umbrellas were there for us. We thought this was a scam, so we questioned him a bit once we got off the boat. He walked with us for a good five minutes explaining how that area is for us and that the different boat companies work with different beach areas to offer seats for their passengers.
Wow.. we thought we were in a dream. This seemed too good to be true, but even after we questioned him up and down, he insisted it was included in our water taxi fare. He legitimately confirmed this like five times.. in the five different ways that we had asked him.
But, low and behold, after about five minutes of sitting on the lounge chairs, he came back up to us and asked us if we wanted a drink or food. We politely declined as we had brought stuff with us. And that’s when he said we don’t understand.. that we have to buy something from him to pay for him setting up all the chairs and umbrellas for us.
Ahhh.. the scam hit.
We explained that’s not what he told us, and just packed up our stuff and left.. refusing to pay someone that just scammed us into sitting there in the first place.
To avoid this scam, just don’t sit on the lounge chairs. Know that you’ll have to pay for food or drink if you’re using the chairs.. If you’re okay with that, great. But do know the prices for the food and drink there are quite high!
So… Is Puerto Vallarta Safe?
Absolutely!!! In our experience, we actually felt really safe the entire time we were in Puerto Vallarta. There was never really a time we felt we were in danger or like we would be pickpocketed or robbed. I think the media displays this false sense of safety a lot of times and tries to control us with fear. But more often than not, places are a lot safer than what we see on the news and in the media.
By learning about these Puerto Vallarta scams before you head to Puerto Vallarta, you’re already more prepared to feel more comfortable while traveling. Be sure to just stay aware of your surroundings and pay attention to your gut instinct in all areas!
More on Puerto Vallarta
Finding the Best Tacos in Puerto Vallarta | every taco stand we visited
9 Waterfalls in Puerto Vallarta | geo-tagged and bus stop locations
Our Total Expenses and Cost Break Down for 6 Weeks in Puerto Vallarta
Grocery Stores in Puerto Vallarta
Animals of Puerto Vallarta | the dangerous ones + the friendly ones too
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