Vacationers with plans to visit Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit in the next few days will be pleased to hear that the popular Mexican destination on the Pacific Coast were untouched by Hurricane Patricia, which made landfall more than 200 miles away on October 23, 2015. In fact, the monster storm barely affected Banderas Bay besides some rain and very little wind.
Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit – a Safe Haven
It would seem that Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit were protected from the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Patricia thanks to the Sierra Madre Mountains that run the length of the Pacific coast and embrace Banderas Bay like a sheltered basin. Although all precautionary measures were taken in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit, just in case, the area was virtually unaffected.
Precautionary Measures in Banderas Bay
When news of Hurricane Patricia’s category 5 strength and close proximity was announced, the first precaution was to advise those people on vacation in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit to evacuate and cut short their vacation if possible, and postpone flights entering Puerto Vallarta’s International Airport (although in the end, the airport was fully operational the next morning after Hurricane Patricia made landfall). The toll roads leading out of Banderas Bay were also free to speed up the evacuation process.
For those who chose to stay in Banderas Bay along with residents, local authorities issued a curfew starting at 2pm, four hours prior to the predicted landfall of Hurricane Patricia. This curfew limited everyone to stay in their houses, prepare gardens and terraces, board up windows etc, in preparation for what was predicted to be a destructive hurricane.
Hotels in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit moved guests into safe havens or advised them to stay in their rooms away from the windows, preferably in bathrooms that have no windows. There have been many reports of the excellent service tourists received during this tense time for Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.
Short-lived Panic
Thankfully, despite the fact that Hurricane Patricia has gone down in history as the strongest hurricane ever recorded to have made landfall in the Pacific, the monster storm made no impact on Banderas Bay. Within hours after the hurricane had made landfall at 6:15 pm on Friday October 23rd, it was clear that Puerto Vallarta was going to be saved from any severe damage, although the threat of flooding was a possibility. By morning of Saturday October 24, 2015 the sun was shining once again and clean up brigades were sent to the affected area around 3 hours south from Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.