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While Puerto Vallarta may forever conjure up the heated romance it inspired between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, this sun-drenched locale offers plenty of attractions for families, as well.  You can:

1) Go whale watching in Banderas Bay, the second-largest natural bay in North America.  Its warm waters are a sanctuary for pods of humpbacks as well as other marine-life, including dolphins, sea turtles and giant manta rays.

2) Explore the undersea world at Los Arcos National Marine Park, renowned for its dramatic caves, coves and grottoes.  Named a federal underwater park and eco-reserve, Los Arcos claims some of the best snorkeling and scuba waters along the coast.

3) Spend a day in Yelapa, a remote beach community accessible only by boat.  This tiny, laid-back village with no telephones is an artists' haven.  Play on the beach, take a hike or go horseback riding through the jungle to the dramatic, 150-foot cascading falls.

4) Visit El Eden, a lush, jungle park that served as the movie set of Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Predator"; you can see the helicopter that crashed in the film still stuck in the trees.

5) Expereience the secret world of the Huichol Indians in the Sierra Madre Mountains.  One of the world's last remaining indigenous cultures - and believed to be direct descendants of the ancient Aztecs - the Huichol still adhere to their long-held traditionas.  You can join a tour to some of their small settlements scattered throughout the mountains.