Puerto Vallarta

Introduction to Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - While every destination in Mexico has something to offer the visitor, romantic Puerto Vallarta has everything: beaches on a beautiful bay, great dining, accommodations for every budget, a variety of entertainment, art galleries, excellent shopping, world class golf and tennis, activities and excursions galore, and fun, fun, fun! And all of this in the atmosphere of a traditional Mexican village with cobblestone streets and friendly people against a background of exuberant tropical vegetation and the majestic Sierra Madre mountains.

Dozens of restaurants, many with internationally-recognized chefs, feature cuisine from around the globe. It's a shoppers' paradise with traditional market stalls as well as designer boutiques, fine art galleries and handicrafts from every corner of Mexico.

Vallarta offers championship golf, tennis tournaments, mountain biking, snorkeling, scuba diving, horseback riding, hot air ballooning and more for the active traveler! Day trips range from a flight to a mountain silver mining village to a cruise to the island preserve of many endangered species, from booze cruises to dolphin and whale watching.

Easily accessible by air, land or sea, Puerto Vallarta has won awards for its handling of tourism and its clean water supply. Safety and sanitation receive high priority and world class hotels provide facilities for meetings and conventions.

The second most popular destination in Mexico, Puerto Vallarta occupies a nice niche between the other big resort cities - it's more sophisticated than Cancun, but more laid-back than Acapulco. Part of its popularity is owed to the fact that development has left its Old Town unscathed, so there are cobblestone streets and graceful churches in the city center instead of glass and concrete towers. Moreover, the city has the best dining and shopping on the coast.

Although Puerto Vallarta has spread north and south over the years, every attempt has been made to keep its character intact. City ordinances prohibit neon signs, require houses to be painted white, and dictate other architectural details downtown, where pack mules still occasionally clomp along the streets. Above downtown, steep roads twist through jungles of pines and palms, and rivers rush down to meet fine sand beaches and rocky coves.

The beautiful Bahia de Banderas (Banderas, or Flags, Bay) provides shelter from storms at sea and has been attracting outsiders since the 16th century. Pirates and explorers paused here to relax - or maybe plunder and pillage - during long trips. Sir Francis Drake apparently stopped here. In the mid-1850s, Don Guadalupe Sanchez Carrillo developed the bay as a port for the silver mines by the Rio Cuale. Then it was known as Puerto de Peñas (Rocky Port) and had about 1,500 inhabitants. In 1918 it was made a municipality and renamed for Ignacio L. Vallarta, a governor of Jalisco State.

In the 1950s Puerto Vallarta was essentially a hideaway for those in the know - the wealthy and a few hardy escapists. When it first entered the general public's consciousness, with John Huston's 1964 movie The Night of the Iguana, it was a quiet fishing and farming community. After the movie was released, tourism boomed, and today PV has some 300,000 residents. Airports, hotels, and highways have supplanted palm groves and fishing shacks. About 2 million people visit each year, and from November through April the cobblestone streets are clogged with pedestrians and cars.

When to Go to Puerto Vallarta

Mexico's Pacific Coast is at its best in winter, with temperatures of 70anddeg;F-80anddeg;F. The off-season brings humidity, mosquitoes, and heat, but also emptier beaches, warmer water, and less-crowded streets.

Brides who want to glow but not sweat like a sumo wrestler should avoid a June wedding. The rainy season here is June to October, and the heat just before and during it can be stifling.

Surfers, on the other hand, will love the turbulent waters at this time of year. What's more, the countryside, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the Sierra Madre del Sur turn a brilliant green. Note, though, that hurricane season runs from late September to early November.

Many of the art galleries in Marina Vallarta and downtown participate in Artwalk between November and April. Serious buyers wander from shop to shop, often with a cocktail in hand, each Wednesday evening. Puerto Vallarta hosts Mexico's boat show each November as well as sailing regattas in winter. The billfish tournament in November draws dedicated fishermen from all over the world. During early November's weeklong Puerto Vallarta's Film Festival, dozens of films from around the world are shown. Mid-November sees the 10-day Gourmet Festival. International chefs work with host restaurants to create custom menus, and there are cooking classes, tequila and wine tastings, and lectures.

Beaches

Bucerias
Twelve kilometers (7 mi) north of Nuevo Vallarta is the substantial town of Bucerias, where a loyal flock of snowbirds has encouraged the establishment of small hotels and good restaurants. The beach here is endless: you could easily walk along its soft sands all the way to Nuevo Vallarta. The surf is gentle enough for swimming, but also has body-surfable waves. Just north of Bucerias, Cruz de Huanacaxtle has a fishing fleet but not much of a beach. On the north side of town, La Manzanilla is a crescent of soft, gold sand where kids play in the shallow water while their parents sip cold drinks at one of several seafood shacks. It's somewhat protected by the Piedra Blanca headland, which frames it to the north. A few miles north of Piedra Blanca, Destiladeras is a long, semirocky beach with white sand and good waves for bodysurfers and surfers.

Punta de Mita/El Anclote
About 40 km (25 mi) north of Puerto Vallarta is Punta de Mita, home to the posh Four Seasons and the boutique resort Casa Las Brisas, with more developments on the way. Just a few minutes beyond the Four Seasons, the popular beach at El Anclote has half a dozen simple restaurants, including El Dorado and Tino's. This is a primo spot for viewing a sunset. Artificially calmed by several rock jetties and shallow for quite a ways out, it's also a good spot for children and average to not-strong swimmers to paddle and play. Under an improvised palm-thatch shelter, jewelry and sarape sellers play cards with fishermen as both wait patiently for customers.

Divers like the fairly clear waters and abundance of fish and coral on the bay side of the Islas Marietas, about a half-hour offshore. In winter, especially January through March, these same islands are also a good place to spot orcas and humpback whales, which come to mate and give birth.

Sayulita and San Francisco
The increasingly popular town of Sayulita is above El Anclote beach and about 45 minutes north of PV on Carretera 200. Some say it's like PV was 40 years ago, but the sound of building now rings through the sandy streets. It's growing fast, as jaded gringos and speculators snatch up available properties in town and out. In addition to hotels and restaurants, Sayulita has heavenly beaches. Long waves make the waters here good for learning to surf. Fifteen minutes farther north is San Francisco, unofficially known as San Pancho, with modest rental bungalows and eateries, a 1½-km-long (1-mi-long) barely developed stretch of sand, and more great surfing spots.

Playa los Muertos and Playa Olas Altas
Playa Olas Altas begins just south of the Rio Cuale and runs for only a few blocks, ending at around Daiquiri Dick's restaurant. After that is Playa Los Muertos, which runs to a rocky point called El Pulpito. Strolling vendors sell kites and jewelry. Strapping young men occassionally occupy the lifeguard tower, and people fish from the small wooden pier. Jet Skis are common beach toys, and operators offer banana-boat and parasailing rides. The steps (more than 100) at the east end of Calle Pulpito lead to a lookout with a great view of the beach and the bay.

Las Animas
There's lots to do besides sunbathe on this large beach a 15-minute boat ride south of Boca de Tomatlan, so it tends to fill up with families on weekends and holidays. Simple seafood eateries line the sand, and you can also rent Jet Skis, ride a banana boat, or soar up into the sky on a colorful parachute.

Boca de Tomatlan
At the mouth of the Rio Tomatlan and about 17 km (10½ mi) south of PV are this small village and namesake rocky cove. Water taxis leave from Boca to Los Arcos, an offshore rock formation popular with skin and scuba divers, and to the southern beaches. Chee Chee's, a massive, terraced restaurant and swimming-pool complex, sprawls down a steep hillside from atop the northern headland. Next door, similarly terraced Le Kliff restaurant is a great spot for a sunset cocktail. Just south of Boca is Chico's Paradise, and a bit farther on, Las Orquidias. Both are riverfront restaurants where you can swim in clear pools formed by rocks in the river.

Conchas Chinas
Frequented mainly by visitors staying in the area, Conchas Chinas is a series of rocky coves lapped lazily by crystalline water about 4 km (6 mi) south of Centro. The beaches here are made up of millions of tiny white shells broken and polished by the waves. There aren't any services here, save a few portable toilets. These individual coves are perfect for reclusive sunbathing, lazy bathing, and when conditions are clear, for snorkeling 'round the rocks.

Majahuitas
Majahuitas - between the beaches of Quimixto and Yelapa and about 35 minutes by boat from Boca de Tomatlan - is the playground of people on day tours and guests of the exclusive Majahuitas Resort. The beach has no services for the average José; the lounge chairs and bathrooms are for hotel guests only. Palm trees shade the white beach of broken, sea-buffed shells. The water is clear, but it tends to break right on shore and a steep drop-off might make less-than-strong swimmers nervous about venturing deeper.

Mismaloya
Playa Mismaloya is the cove where the movie was made. La Jolla de Mismaloya hotel fills a prime spot here, meaning (to put a positive spin on things) that you can avail yourself of the hotel services while enjoying the public beach. There are also half a dozen seafood palapas on the sand, and fishing boats pull ashore near the mouth of the Rio Mismaloya. Beyond the palapas are the ruins of accommodations used during the filming of The Night of the Iguana. Offshore is Los Arcos, a protected rock formation great for snorkeling and diving. From Mismaloya you can drive or catch a cab (about a 25-minute ride) on the dirt road to El Edén: a jungle restaurant-bar where you can sip Don Crispin, a regional tequila, and swim in the river or the pool.

Quimixto
Between the sandy stretches of Las Animas and Majahuitas, and about 20 minutes by boat from Boca de Tomatlan, is rocky Quimixto, whose calm, clear waters attract boatloads of snorkelers. There's just a narrow beach here, with the usual seafood eateries. Day-trippers routinely rent horses (ask at the restaurants) for the 25-minute ride - or only slightly longer walk - to a large, clear pool under a waterfall. You can bathe at the fall's base, and then have cool drink at one of the two casual restaurants.

Yelapa
The secluded fishing village and half-kilometer-long beach of Yelapa is about an hour southeast of downtown. It has a town attached to it, and several seafood enramadas (the local word for palapas or thatch-roof huts) edge its fine, clean sand. Parasailors float high above it all ($35 for a 10-minute ride). From here you can hike 20 minutes into the jungle to see the small Cascada Cola del Caballo (Horse's Tail Waterfall), though note that these falls are often dry in winter. A more ambitious expedition of several hours will bring you to less-visited Cascada del Catedral (Cathedral Falls). To get to Yelapa, hire a water taxi at the pier on Los Muertos (next to the Hotel Rosita), or take a day excursion from Marina Vallarta's cruise-ship terminal. You can also hire a motor launch from Boca de Tomatlan ($6 one way, on the hour 9 AM through noon). For slightly more, get a launch from the small pier next to Hotel Rosita or from the pier at Los Muertos. If you can't tear yourself away at the end of the day (or miss the last water taxi), there are several rustic accommodations overlooking the beach. Just bring all the money you'll need as there are no banks or ATMs.

La Manzanilla
It's less than a kilometer (0.5 mi) in from the highway to the beach at La Manzanilla, on the southern edge of large Bahia de Tenacatita, 78 km (47 mi) north of Manzanillo. Informal hotels and restaurants line the main street of the town. Rocks dot the gray-gold sands and edge both ends of the wide beach. The bay is calm. At the beach road's north end, gigantic, rubbery-looking crocodiles lie heaped together just out of harm's way in a protected mangrove swamp.

Playa Tenacatita
Named for the bay on which it is lies, Tenacatita is a lovely beach of soft sand about 30 km north of San Patricio Melaque (which is, in turn, 95 km/57 mi north of Manzanillo). Dozens of identical seafood shacks line the shore; birds cruise the mile-long beach, searching for their own fish. Waves crash against clumps of jagged rocks at the north end of beach, which curves gracefully around to a headland. The water is sparkling blue. There's camping for RVs and tents at Punta Hermanos, where the water is calm, and local men offer fishing excursions.

Puerto Vallarta Hotels and Resorts