Donkeys and burros share the busy streets with cars, taxis and buses. Stores selling fine native crafts are sandwiched among the ubiquitous T-shirt shops. The whales then head back to Alaska, where they will feed heavily for four or five months before returning. About 300 whales normally winter in the bay, says biologist Astrid Frisch, who leads whale-watching tours and is involved in a humpback whale conservation and research program. The bay is also home to dolphins and a nesting ground for sea turtles, blue-footed boobies, brown boobies and frigate birds.
Locals frequently joke that pirates also still take refuge in the bay.
They refer to the time-share salesmen who offer free meals, tours and merchandise in hopes of seducing tourists with the idea of owning a piece of vacation paradise. Don Gallery, who leads tours of the former Burton-Taylor villa, says Puerto Vallarta hadn't seen the likes of that couple before. Taylor was married to Eddie Fisher at the time. Following their divorce, Burton and Taylor were married. It was her fifth marriage, his second.