Hurricane Patricia’s aftermath at Mexico’s resorts: Mostly sunny with a sigh of relief

Puerto Vallarta got lucky with Hurricane Patricia. The strongest hurricane ever recorded at sea hit Mexico's Pacific Coast on Friday but weakened to a tropical depression as it moved across the country.

By Saturday, the Mexican resort town was back to normal, and the airport, cruise port and all hotels were open. No deaths or damage had been reported in the area either.

"Puerto Vallarta weather is back to its typical clear skies and sunshine," officials reported Saturday on the city's tourism blog. They took to social media to post photos of sunny beaches and swimmers in the ocean to reassure anyone planning to visit.

Still, that doesn't mean travelers weren't unnerved in the run-up to Patricia.

Fearing the worst from the storm packing 165 mph winds, Mexican officials on Thursday began evacuating tourists from Puerto Vallarta to safe places away from the resort and bused some to Guadalajara. They also closed the airport.

Hundreds of flights in Mexico and the United States were canceled Friday for storm-related weather, prompting airlines to allow passengers to change flights or postpone their vacation without penalty.

At least one cruise line was affected by the storm. Princess Cruises' Princess Ruby left Los Angeles bound for Mexico but skipped a port call to Cabo San Lucas on Friday because of the storm. The cruise instead spent a day at sea and was expected to return to L.A. on Sunday as scheduled.

The hurricane did, however, slam small coastal towns, uprooting trees and tearing metal roofs off buildings. Reuters reported that many homes in a town called Chamela were destroyed.

The hurricane also hit hard in Cuixmala, an exclusive luxury resort between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta. Reuters said "it was unclear how bad the damage was there."

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