When the sun goes down, the vibrant streets of Puerta Vallarta come alive. This city is home to the most epic nights on the planet…but the mornings can leave you feeling like you spent the night on the wrong side of a Tijuana donkey show. At PV Nightlife, we know a thing or two about the dreaded resaca (hangover). And lucky for your aching liver, our abuelas (grandmothers) taught us exactly how to refuel and recharge for another day of adventure.
Puerto Vallarta is a city made for fun. Start with cocktails by the pool, move on to drinks with dinner, and then hit the town for some of the best nightlife you will ever experience. As you might imagine, you wouldn’t be the first to fall prey to a Vallarta-induced headache the next morning. If you wake up from a night of partying in Puerto Vallarta with a wicked hangover, there’s no need to let it keep you in bed all day because we’ve got the ultimate list of the top 10 ways to cure a hangover in Puerto Vallarta. Our local remedies are kept close to the chest, but we love our city so much that we don’t want you to miss a second in paradise.
So, get out of bed, take a swig of last night’s Mezcal, and let’s get to it!
How to Cure a Hangover in Puerto Vallarta:
The Top 10 Local Remedies
1. Birria or Barbacoa Tacos
Forget about Wheaties. The breakfast of champions for anyone curing a hangover in Mexico is tacos, and Mexicans swear by the restorative power of both birria and barbacoa.
Birria is a stew made from goat or lamb that is a famous local dish in Puerto Vallarta. It’s seasoned with dried and roasted chilis, and it takes hours to marinate and prepare.
Load it up on some tortillas for a good dose of carbs to sop up that alcohol left in your stomach and squeeze on some lime for Vitamin C and potassium, and you’ll start feeling a lot better.
Or, go for some barbacoa tacos which are made with beef, pork, lamb or goat meat that is slow-roasted until tender and juicy. It’s got that bit of fatty richness your body is cravingand it’s served in a spicy sauce to help you sweat out the toxins.
You’ll have no problem finding Puerto Vallarta taco stands serving birria and barbacoa in the morning, complete with a long line of Mexicans nursing their hangovers, too.
2. Michelada
Proper accommodation can make or break your entire stay in Puerto Vallarta.
If you’re looking for a relaxing weekend with the girls, you may want to avoid a crowded resort full of young children and club-goers.
If, on the other hand, you’re into hitting the streets and staying up late, a quiet home on the shore may prove to be a hassle when it comes to transportation.
If you want to experience the best of both worlds, as most bachelorettes do, you’ll need to work out your accommodation and transportation in advance.
Luckily, this can all be easily arranged. A private seaside villa with a personal driver can often be cheaper than booking several rooms at a stuffy resort (especially if you book with locals who know the best and most affordable spots).
Besides the privacy, the best thing about booking a villa is the freedom to customize your stay to make it completely unique.
For example, you can hire a chef for the evening to prepare a feast of local favorites and fresh seafood, or book a private diving instructor to give you and your besties a look at the wild and colorful marine life in our crystal blue sea!
3. Relaxing in a Hotel Spa
A proven way to cure a hangover is to sweat out those toxins that are causing you to suffer.
Start off your spa day with a couple of plunges into the cold dip pool (nobody said the cure was going to be easy!), and then alternate between the steam room and the sauna to get your pores open and that alcohol out of your body fast.
Finish up by pampering your party-battered body in the Jacuzzi and maybe a nap in the relaxation room before showering up, fresh and ready to seize another day in paradise.
Your hotel doesn’t have a spa? No problem, most of the major chain resorts in Puerto Vallarta offer spa passes for purchase or will include access to all spa facilities when you book a treatment.
4. Pozole
Another proven food in Mexico to cure hangovers, pozole is the gold standard in hangover breakfasts in Puerto Vallarta.
A spicy soup made with either pork or chicken and lots of hominy (made from corn kernels) with some fresh lime juice squeezed in, pozole gets you rehydrated and carb-loaded.
It has enough heat to get you sweating out the alcohol as well as steam to help clear out a dry throat caused by a night of clubbing.
5. Light Exercise
This one takes some self-motivation, but if you can manage to pull your head out from under that pillow and roll out of bed, it is pretty much guaranteed to cure your Puerto Vallarta hangover.
Doctors recommend that the best exercise for curing a hangover is light cardio and stretching, as the dehydration from drinking the night before means a heavier workout can be counterproductive in making you feel better.
Check out one of the many yoga studios in Puerto Vallarta and walk over for a Hatha or Yin class to get you moving and working through that headache.
6. Menudo
Not for the faint of heart or stomach, menudo is absolutely an acquired taste, but if you can get manage it, Mexicans will tell you it is a sure-fire way to keep a hangover at bay.
Menudo is a traditional Mexican soup made of…brace yourself…tripe (the stomach of a cow) and red chili. It takes hours to prepare and has an admittedly potent smell to it, but if you can get through a bowl, your hangover will be gone.
7. Massage
Exercise and a bowl of cow stomach soup aren’t going to work for you? Ok, we have a gentler suggestion for curing your morning-after catastrophe.
Massage is a great way to naturally cure a hangover without medicine. It increases blood flow to the brain to reduce a headache, gets your circulation going, and helps you to relax and allow your body to heal itself.
Book yourself for a lymphatic or shiatsu massage focusing on the liver, a pericardium or stomach massage, cranial-sacral therapy, or foot reflexology for the best results in curing your hangover.
8. Aguachile
Wake up to an incredible variety of fresh seafood available straight from the waters of our own Banderas Bay. Aguachile is a very typical Puerto Vallarta hangover remedy and a delicious one, at that.
Like ceviche but with a spicier kick, aguachile is made with fresh shrimp tossed in lime juice, cucumber, onion and chili peppers. This dish provides a burst of protein, potassium from the lime juice, and heat from the chilies to help you sweat out the hangover.
For an extra boost to your hangover cure, pair your aguachile with fresh coconut water from a local street vendor. A freshly cracked coconut is full of electrolytes, and the tender inner pulp is scientifically proven to beat the dehydration caused by a night of drinking.
9. Te de Poléo
Known as Pennyroyal in English, this Mexican hangover cure originates from Oaxaca.
A slightly minty tea that can be drunk hot or cold, te de poléois said to calm the stomach, encourage sweating to get out those toxins and help with rehydrating your body.
10. IV Drip
There are hangovers and then there are nuclear bombs—catastrophic hangovers that leave you feeling like you’re on death’s door.
If you are struggling from a next-level hangover, an IV drip may be the solution. All the private hospitals in Puerto Vallarta can get you hooked up to a hydrating drip solution filled with vitamins, minerals and headache medication to get you on the mend.
If the thought of getting out of bed seems like a suicide mission, your hotel or rental villa concierge can also arrange for an on-call doctor to do an in-room visit to hook you up.
Don’t Miss a Second of Fun in the Sun
Of course, the best way to cure a hangover in Puerto Vallarta is to avoid getting one in the first place! Try not to mix different types of alcohol, drink plenty of water throughout the night, make sure to eat, and getting enough sleep. You can also try pre-gaming with prickly pear, the fruit of the Opuntia ficus-indica cactus (known locally as “tuna”).
This super food is native to Mexico and has magical hangover-blocking properties. PV prickly pears can be found locally and are served cut and ready to eat. You can also find them made into jams, spreads, and delicious pressed juice.
But sometimes those rough mornings are unavoidable. If you wake up with a bad case of the morning-after, our list of 10 ways to cure a hangover in Puerto Vallarta Nightlife will leave you ready for a full day and another great night (yep, when the nightlife calls in this city, you KNOW the answer is yes!).
For more advice from real locals on mornings, nights, and everything in between, get in touch with Puerto Vallarta nightclubs now. Our dedicated parties planners are ready to custom build you and your crew the adventure in paradise you’ve always dreamed of!