Rhythms Of The Night – An Evening of Magic Under The Stars

Over the past couple of years, we’ve become very interested in seeing cultural shows, musical performances and theatrical dance. Whenever we’re travelling, we now look for the local entertainment in each country we visit.

Friends and family had told us about the popular event, Rhythms Of The Night, which is one of the most popular things to do in Puerto Vallarta. They described the show as a mini cirque de soleil with incredible music, theatre, dance and food. We looked into it and decided it was something we definitely wanted to see, and reserved three seats for us and Nick’s mom to celebrate Nick’s 30th Birthday!

This magical show is set at the private Las Caletas Cove. Although we typically prefer smaller tours, due to the more intimate, local feel, we were happy to support this show and the amazing group of people involved in the performance.

A boat carrying about 100 people took off from the marina in Nuevo Vallarta, which was quite far from where we were staying in the Old Town in Puerto Vallarta. We were greeted by a hilarious crew of 6 young men, all eager to please the crowd. Drinks were served, information was given over the microphone and we were off.

As we crossed the Bay of Bandaras, the sky began to morph from blue to pink to orange, before finally dazzling us with a brilliant shade of red! We’ve seen some incredible sunsets to date, but this one climbed to the top of our list of favourites.

After about an hour on the ocean, we were nearing our destination. It was dark by this point and from a distance all we could see were torches burning in the night and the glowing of the ocean floor. An eerie sort of music played as we disembarked the boat and made our way across the dock.

The whole event went like clockwork with the help of the amazing staff running the show. We were all seated in an outdoor auditorium surrounded by towering palm trees and twinkling stars in the dark sky above. Even though there were a few hundred people enjoying the performance, the seats were all staggered perfectly and the actors moved around the set to give everyone a great view.

There were numerous acts depicting various stories of the ancient Hispanic civilization and Mexican folklore. Live music was played the entire show, which added to the authenticity of the performance. We watched in awe as the dancers leaped, cringed as the contortionists bent their bodies in ways we could never even imagine, and were mesmerized by the glow of the fire-twirling.

The talent of this group of people was amazing! The dancing, singing, acrobatics and acting was all top-notch and after about an hour, the lights came back on and we were all ready for some food.

A massive, all-you-can-eat buffet greeted us and we ate way more than we should have. The options for food were great – fresh fish, steak, chicken, salads, breads and desserts were on offer. Again, every detail of the tour was taken care of and no one had to wait more than 10 minutes to eat. Located right on the water’s edge, with sand squishing between our toes, the setting for the meal was superb. The tiki torches and various live Mexican music added to the ambiance of the meal.

We ate way too much and drank loads of red wine! Since it was Nick’s birthday, one of the waiters even arranged for a piece of cake with “Happy Birthday” written on it, complete with singing. It was the perfect end to a perfect evening…

But, the night wasn’t over yet.

We made our way back to the boat to return us to the pier, which was again, an hour away. To keep everyone entertained and awake, the crew were playing music, dancing and performing for us! Where they found the energy at 11:00 at night was beyond us. As we sat in our chairs, overly full and very tired, the rest of the boat was loving the show put on by the professional crew members.

From the moment we took off to the minute we returned, the crew took excellent care of us and kept us interested and excited – something that can be difficult to accomplish.

With a smile on our faces and very full stomachs, Nick’s 30th birthday came to a close – although we would do some more celebrating throughout the week! Stay tuned for that.

Tour Information:

Website: Book online here. 

Pros:

• Professional and attentive crew members
• A great boat ride over to the cove – perfect time to see sunset on the water
• Everything ran smoothly
• The buffet had many food options and was delicious
• Loved the live, traditional music during dinner
• Beautiful setting for a show and for dinner
• A great performance
• Excellent value for money

Cons:

• Not a lot of Mexican food in the buffet!
• Every act the crew members performed on the boat ride to and from the cove was great, except for a random AC/DC impersonation! Although the crowd liked it, we wanted more authentic, Mexican music and dance.
• We loved the performance so much that we felt like it could have been longer!

Do you like to see shows or performances while travelling? Does this one sound like something you’d like to see? Share with us below in the comments!