Puerto Vallarta, February 18-22, 2026 - the first trip of 2026

steelfish · February 23, 2026, 05:29:36 PM

happy Birthday Jefe, on the bright side, you will never forget this one !!

alantani · February 23, 2026, 05:35:05 PM

Still stuck at the airport, trying to get a hotel.The military is out in force. Things are calming down. We may head back up to La Cruz and go fishing!!!!Don't tell my wife.

alantani · February 23, 2026, 05:37:29 PM

Quote from: Dominick on February 23, 2026, 04:21:32 PMHere is the latest: Alan is monitoring this thread. He's probably sore, hungry and thirsty. Dominick

We slept on the floor, so definitely sore, had the world's worst pizza for dinner, and shared shots of tequila. Good times!!!

steelfish · February 23, 2026, 06:00:05 PM

Quote from: alantani on February 23, 2026, 05:37:29 PM
Quote from: Dominick on February 23, 2026, 04:21:32 PMHere is the latest: Alan is monitoring this thread. He's probably sore, hungry and thirsty. Dominick

We slept on the floor, so definitely sore, had the world's worst pizza for dinner, and shared shots of tequila. Good times!!!

sounds wierd, after two shots of tequila anything that you are eating becomes the most deliciuos food in the world, after the 3rd shot of tequila you can dance and sing like a rockstar.

Gfish · February 23, 2026, 06:31:06 PM

Glad the gang is with you. I thought 12 hrs. at the airport In Seoul S. Korea by myself was bad, but I got to sleep on chairs.

Keta · February 23, 2026, 07:43:57 PM

Quote from: Joel.B on February 23, 2026, 07:07:14 PMIn the hammed-up movie they will make, the boat is the last one and the only way out of the country and Alan and crew have to fish their way to safety at exactly 12 knots or else!

The Long Ranger

starring Ken Watanabe

Uranus.

Hopefuly they can get Mike Oxlong to play Alan.

Bill B · February 23, 2026, 08:27:45 PM

How about we charter the SOA for a rescue mission

alantani · February 24, 2026, 01:05:12 AM

Was stuck at the airport last night, trying to get a hotel.The military is out in force. Things are calming down.

alantani · February 24, 2026, 01:07:42 AM

Still stuck in Puerto Vallarta, because of the cartel violence. Danny Osuna took us north, away from the city center. We had lunch when we got here, then slept. We are staying on his boat, the PacificSlayer. It's like a private yacht. We fly out in 3 days!!!

Swami805 · February 24, 2026, 02:52:24 AM

Nice set up!

MarkT · February 24, 2026, 03:24:19 AM

I was hoping you'd be able to stay on one of the boats if you were going to be stuck for a few days. Much better than the floor of the aeroporto!

Dominick · February 24, 2026, 03:51:47 PM

Well that's working out ok. Now it probably feels like an extended vacation. Still, keep a low profile and get out safely. Dominick

jurelometer · February 24, 2026, 09:45:06 PM

The shelter in place recommendation has been lifted by the US Embassy and things are getting back to sorta "normal":

https://mx.usembassy.gov/security-alert-update-6-ongoing-security-operations-u-s-mission-mexico-february-24-2026/

There sure was a lot of non-helpful propagation of misinformation and fake or misleading video and photos going around the internet. It must have been even worse for affected folk that were getting their "news" from their social media feeds.

Hope that the rest of the trip for Alan and crew is uneventful.

-J

Keta · February 24, 2026, 10:31:33 PM

Quote from: jurelometer on February 24, 2026, 09:45:06 PMThere sure was a lot of non-helpful propagation of misinformation and fake or misleading video and photos going around the internet.

On THIS the Canadian news has been better than the US news.

alantani · February 25, 2026, 01:15:49 PM

So, on Sunday, we were back from our fishing trip on the NTNC with the Osuna family and Marlas Sportfishing. The taxi driver told us that there were fires on the highway headed south to the Puerto Vallarta airport. A quick check told us that the flights were still on time, so Danny Osuna made the call to load us onto the fast panga and run us down to the harbor at Puerto Vallarta. He called ahead for a van to take us to the airport. From the harbor, we loaded into the van and it was there that I found out that my flight had been canceled. When we got to the airport, I had a porter take my two 50 pound fish bags to the Alaska Airlines ticket counter. No one was there at 11:30, but that was normal. While I was waiting, I heard a "pop, pop, pop," and saw people running. The Aero Mexico staff started running to the back and motion several of us to follow. I wound up in a back office with two very nice ladies from Chicago, Ruth and Robin. The staff tried to barricade the door, but they were poorly prepared. After about 10 minutes, they called an "all clear" and we came out of hiding. After milling around the lower level for another half hour, we were told to head upstairs. The restaurants and shops stayed open for a while, but the all closed quickly. Only the pizza place, Sbarro, reopened. Worst pizza ever, but no one complained. We slept on the floor that night. Kudos to our friend, Steve Banks. He's had experience the homeless and knew to grab pieces of cardboard from a shop that was still open. It was great insulation from the cold floor. I slept well. Others did not. In the morning, we start trying to get flights out. Three in our party got out, three of us were stuck. Around noon, Danny Osuna called. He picked us up at the airport. Then he drove us back to La Cruz, we stopped for lunch, and then he dumped us on the Pacific Slayer. The Slayer is Danny's brand new boat. It's like a private yacht. I'm telling you, it's nice to have friends. Danny really came through for us.