It was hard to get everything in with 2400 characters! but here is the condensed version.
We had a great time at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle (Aricife 1). If you are looking for a quiet relaxing place this should be at the top of your list. The personal pool we had was just awesome.
The villa:
Clean and nicely appointed, fully functional kitchen complete with spices, main bedroom had firm mattresses, beach towels for everyone, 5 gallon water jugs supplied, set out empties outside door daily with 30 pesos to get refills, 2 boogie boards and one paddle board, washer and dryer were great, maid service midweek, great Weber gas grill.
We rented:
Extra paddle board, Julio at the restaurant had a contact. $160 US. Rosa, the cook, was wonderful, cooked what we wanted and brought in all food. Reasonably priced. Assir provided the contact. Boat and Captain for a day to tour the bay, ate at a restaurant on the beach, hiked to a waterfall, caught fish and snorkeled.
Things to do:
Sunday Market in La Cruz, 10 min taxi ride, 160 peso, be there by 10 am if possible, wonderful local crafts, food and music. Fish market in the marina open 8-3 daliy. Tiki hut restaurant next door with Julio and Jesus, amazing food at a great price, spectacular view, cash only. Walk the complex, it is beautiful. Paddle board each morning right out front before the wind starts at 10:30. Walk the beach to Bucerias. Buy fresh oysters from locals diving for them in front of Villa, $100 pesos per dozen.
Important notes:
Bring plenty of cash, pesos if possible, they will take USD but the exchange rate is 16 or 17.
Mobile app to translate Spanish if you don’t know it
Mobile app “Whatap” it’s how everyone communicates there.
I would highly recommend this villa as well as this complex as a place to go and enjoy if you wanted a quiet relaxing place. The main pools often times were completely empty when we would walk by.
The only downside was they started a huge construction project on the beach jetties just in front of the Villa two days before we left, so there were dump trucks and heavy equipment working less than 30 yards away from the Villa. Definitely noisy. They expect this project to last at least six months. I would check to make sure you know the status of this work before you rent this place.
Would we come here again? The answer is absolutely! Assir, the owner, stopped by to check on us during the week and was very accommodating.