Puerto Vallarta resorts from $40/night

The fanciest resorts in Mexico’s beach playground of Puerto Vallarta are in the midst of offering the deepest discounts of the year.

Not only can you stay in a five-star all-inclusive resort from rates of $79 per person, per night (Barcelo La Jolla De Mismaloya), but I’ve dug up a gem of an airfare deal to make this DIY vacation package extra sweet.

The place to book your resort stay (many of the best deals expire at midnight, July 4) is at Bookit.com.

Samples of the bargains include the all-inclusive Hotel Riu Vallarta, a top family-friendly resort with a Kids Club, day to night activities, all meals, drinks and more at per person, per night rates from $69.

The Associated Press: Tropical Storm Blanca forms off Mexico

MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters say Tropical Storm Blanca has formed in the Pacific off Mexico's western coast.

Blanca was located about 410 miles south of the southern tip of Baja California and was moving to the west-northwest at around 10 mph. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami expect it to continue in that general direction, away from land, for the next couple of days.

The storm's maximum winds were near 45 mph, and some strengthening was expected in the next 24 hours. After that, Blanca is forecast to move into colder waters that should sap its energy.

The Associated Press: Mexico wins praise for swine flu response

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — As swine flu runs rampant in the Southern Hemisphere winter, world health experts are concerned that some hard-hit countries have been reluctant to take forceful measures to protect public health.

Only Friday did Argentina's new health minister, Juan Manzur, raise the country's official death toll to 44. He now estimates that as many as 320,000 people have been stricken with influenza, including about 100,000 with swine flu — a huge jump in what the government acknowledged previously, and an indication that Argentina's hospitals will remain overwhelmed for months.

The Truth about Mexico

Sometimes I’ve been called a maverick because I don’t always agree with my colleagues, but then, only dead fish swim with the stream all the time. The stream here is Mexico. You would have to be living on another planet to avoid hearing how dangerous Mexico has become, and, yes, it’s true drug wars have escalated violence in Mexico , causing collateral damage, a phrase I hate. Collateral damage is a cheap way of saying that innocent people, some of them tourists, have been robbed, hurt or killed. But that’s not the whole story.

Neither is this. This is my story. I’m a journalist who lives in New York City , but has spent considerable time in Mexico, specifically Puerto Vallarta, for the last four years. I’m inVallarta now. And despite what I’m getting from the U.S. media, the 24-hour news networks in particular, I feel as safe here as I do at home in New York, possibly safer. I walk the streets of my Vallarta neighborhood alone day or night.

Jalisco en Vivo, the Biggest Show ever

In a noble gesture a great friend of Vallarta, Alejandro Fernández, owner of a beautiful voice and a charming personality, invited twenty of his famous colleagues to Vallarta and organized what I would call the Biggest Show Ever seen by our city, and I have lived here for over thirty years.

Biggest ShowThe event’s shockwaves rumbled through time and space, as people from all over Mexico started to gather in Vallarta since days before the show, giving a welcome break to hotels, restaurants and shops that had been very quiet during the first half of the month of June.

The Associated Press: Andres weakens to depression, back out to sea

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — The remnants of Tropical Storm Andres were dissipating over the Pacific on Wednesday after flooding homes and killing at least one person on Mexico's southwestern coast.

Andres briefly flared up into the Eastern Pacific season's first hurricane Tuesday, skirting the coast south of the tourist resort of Puerto Vallarta.

The storm had wind strength of near 30 mph (45 kph) and was expected to dissipate by Wednesday night as it moves further out to sea, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

At 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT, 1800 GMT), the storm was centered about 145 miles (230 kilometers) northwest of Cabo Corrientes and 175 miles (285 kilometers) southeast of the tip of Baja California, and moving to the northwest about 15 mph (24 kmh).

The Associated Press: Andres weakens to tropical storm, back out to sea

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — A weakening Tropical Storm Andres was heading out to sea Wednesday after flooding homes and killing at least one person on Mexico's southwestern coast, but forecasters warned the storm could still brush the tip of Baja California.

The storm skirted the coast south of the tourist resort of Puerta Vallarta on Tuesday, but by early Wednesday the Mexican government canceled a tropical storm watch stretching from Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes.

Andres briefly flared up into the Eastern Pacific season's first hurricane on Tuesday.

At 2 a.m. PDT (5 a.m. EDT, 0900 GMT), the center of the storm was located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Cabo Corrientes and 315 miles (505 km) southeast of the tip of Baja California, and moving to the northwest about 9 mph (15 kmh).

Its winds weakened to 60 mph (95 kph) early Wednesday and it was expected to weaken even more over the next two days as it headed back out to sea, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasting models predicted the storm would pass just south of the Los Cabos resorts at the tip of the Baja California peninsula Thursday morning.

The Associated Press: Tropical Storm Andres brushes Mexico; 1 killed

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Andres flooded homes and knocked down trees along Mexico's Pacific coast, killing at least one person as it headed toward a likely hurricane-force scrape with land on Tuesday.

Mexico issued a hurricane warning for the strip of coast from just south of Manzanillo to near Puerto Vallarta. To the south, the storm dumped heavy rains on Acapulco, where flooding forced about 200 people to evacuate their homes on Monday.

A fisherman drowned when choppy currents overturned his boat in a lagoon Monday in Tecpan de Galeana, between Acapulco and Zihuatanejo, a state police report said. The sun peeked through cloudy skies in Acapulco on Tuesday, but the government closed all schools.

Andres sped up as it headed on a course to graze the port city of Manzanillo at hurricane strength late Tuesday, then push along shore past towns such as Barra de Navidad that are home to some American and Canadian expatriates.

Rain poured down on Manzanillo, where authorities opened 14 shelters.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Andres could bring coastal storm surge as much as 3 feet (nearly 1 meter) above normal while dumping as much as 8 inches (200 millimeters) of rain in a few spots.

Alejandro Fernandez Stages Free Mexican Show

Mexican star Alejandro Fernandez hosted the first of two free mega concerts he financed and produced in Mexico to entice tourism back into the country following the breakout of swine flu.

The first "Jalisco En Vivo" (Jalisco Live), titled after the state of Jalisco, took place June 20 in Puerto Vallarta, and featured Fernández along with a slew of "friends," including Puerto Rican star Luis Fonsi, superstar Enrique Iglesias, electro poppers Belanova, regional Mexican icon Joan Sebastian, singer/songwriter Coti and Peru's Gian Marco. Some 60,000 people were present.

A second show is scheduled for Guadalajara on June 27, featuring Gloria Estefan, Paulina Rubio, Belanova and Aleks Syntek, among many others.

The Associated Press: Tropical Storm Andres strengthens off SW Mexico

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Andres strengthened off the southwestern coast of Mexico on Monday, prompting emergency preparations for a storm that forecasters said might become a hurricane in coming days.

It was too soon to tell if Andres' center would make landfall, but forecasters said tropical storm force winds were likely to hit the coast within a day somewhere along the coast from Lazaro Cardenas to Manzanillo.

A hurricane watch was declared from Lazaro Cardenas to Cabo Corrientes, meaning hurricane conditions were possible within 36 hours.

The Acapulco city government prepared 120 shelters and warned residents to stay indoors, especially some 15,000 people in 20 zones most at risk for flooding. Heavy rains late Sunday downed a few trees in the resort city.