Getting crafty with cuisine is a great way to experience the south-of-the-border good life.
By: Becca HensleyTaste of the Pacific in Riviera Nayarit
"They’re the difference between visiting a place — or really knowing it,” says Four Seasons’ Punta Mita cultural concierge, Enrique Alejos. The resort’s educational programs deliver hotel guests a fascinating entry into the heart of Mexico’s traditions, history and geography, and learning to cook (and eat) like the locals is just one of them.
The Four Seasons Punta Mita lies north of Puerta Vallarta on a peninsula with the unbridled Pacific Ocean on one side and calmer Banderas Bay on the other. Head out to sea with a Catch & Cook tour and learn the ways of the Nayarit fishermen.Begin with diving and fishing tutorials and then take a boat trip to Banderas Bay to practice free diving, spearfishing and angling techniques. Later, join the chef in the kitchen and help prepare your catch. Or take an indigenous cooking class in Iku Garden ($95 per person), a pre-Hispanic exploration that teaches guests to prepare dishes that incorporate grasshoppers, ant eggs, agave worms, cactus or epazote (a regional herb), using tools such as the molcajete (a traditional stone mortar and pestle). The end result? Dishes such as grilled octopus, marinated with grasshopper sea salt.
Photos courtesy of Four Seasons Punta Mita
Where to Stay: With tiled roofs and views of the Pacific, the Four Seasons Punta Mita has 50 villas and 173 rooms and suites (many with plunge pools, telescopes and outdoor showers) stretched across the point of the peninsula, reminiscent of a fantasy pueblo. Room rates start at $650 a night.
Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Punta Mita
