The Malecon was a disaster, but the extent of the damage seemed even worse in the area surrounding the Los Glorias hotel zone.  Coppel, a department store on the main street was hit by a wave that smashed the glass in the rear of the building and sent tons of furniture out the front windows onto the avenue.  It was reported that passerby's just helped themselves to whatever they could carry.  We saw half a dozen jet skis on the highway and even beyond, and there was a boat at the gas station in El Centro, several blocks from the ocean. 

Venturing on to Los Muertos beach to check on the El Dorado Restaurant, we found the owner sitting on a salvaged chair beneath the collapsed palapa surveying the damage.  All of the furniture was in the kitchen and the foundation was partially washed away.  He assured us that they should be open for business within 2 weeks. 

The small restaurant next door was being shoveled out by a crew of beach boys taking advantage of the Corona on hand and when the job was done, a cheer went up.  (and this was just hours after the end of the hurricane)  With all of the reports of total disaster, please don't forget that Puerto Vallarta is a close knit town of people who are always willing to help friends and even strangers.  The clean-up effort will be over with record speed and our Paradise will be back to normal in no time. 

And what was the reaction of the tourists who found themselves here during Hurricane Kenna?  Of course we cannot speak for all of our visitors, but the ones that we were in contact with were positive and felt that they had experienced a once in a lifetime phenomena.  Some were apprehensive but had confidence in the hotel staff and the precautions that they took to keep the tourist population safe. One young group from Colorado were actually washed out of their ground floor hotel room, they gathered their belongings and headed up to the third floor where they could view the storm and enjoy a box of Corona in safety.  This same party had reserved a fishing charter the next day and not realizing that the port was closed, arrived at 5:30 am to head out to El Banco!  Fortunately, Marina Vallarta is a safe port and none of the fishing fleet suffered any damage.   In the days following Hurricane Kenna, we received dozens of telephone calls from people who had reservations in the next few weeks and were desperate to know if Puerto Vallarta was still worth visiting.  Unless one has actually lived in a seaside tropical destination it is impossible to comprehend the urgency of repair and reconstruction.  All we could truthfully reply was that Paradise is impossible to destroy.