Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City Guide

For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Travel Guide has been your connection to Puerto Vallarta's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.

Attractions

Puerto Vallarta is one of the friendliest and most diverse beach destinations in the world. Once a tiny fishing village, Puerto Vallarta is now a world class resort that has retained all of the quaint charms of the original village yet embodies all of the characteristics you've come to expect in a modern resort.

When you think of the Mexican Riviera, with its palm-fringed beaches, luxuriant jungle vegetation and posh resorts, many places come to mind. But no resort typifies better the classic Mexican beach vacation than Puerto Vallarta does. It has come to be the sixth most popular travel destination in the world.

As you arrive in Puerto Vallarta, romance and captivating beauty are all encompassing. It’s setting, a blanket of lush tropical jungle surrounding the quaint colonial city, as it climbs away from the blue Pacific into the Sierra Madre mountains. Puerto Vallarta is nestled in the shores of Bahia de Banderas, Mexico's largest bay and second largest in North America.

Offering an extremely wide variety of attractions and entertainment options, Puerto Vallarta has something special for everyone, regardless of your personal preferences. There are many cultural events and exhibits, exciting day trips to the jungle, relaxing days at the beach and countless romantic hideaways.

A modern marina and cruise ship port attract visitors on ships and yachts from all over the world. The city's clean and modern infrastructure, friendly atmosphere, unique Old Mexico ambiance and incredibly diverse shopping possibilities, including local crafts, attract International and Mexican tourists in droves.

Night life fills the evening air with excitement. Many popular night clubs and an array of quality restaurants are lavishly presented to please even the most discriminating palate. A wide variety of lodging options are available from budget inns to world class beach front resorts. All this variety all but guarantees your Puerto Vallarta vacation will be the best it can possibly be.

Puerto Vallarta is a haven for anyone who enjoys any type of beach activity, from whale watching to parasailing. Bungee jumping over the Pacific, windsurfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, jet skiing or fishing are also available. The surf at most beaches is normally calm and safe for swimming year around.

Playa de Oro is a wide, sandy beach with a few rocky patches is popular because of its water sports. Further north, the beaches of Banderas Bay are pristine and quiet as they reach up toward Punta de Mita. In winter many tours are available to view the magnificent Humpback Whales.

Puerto Vallarta's most popular beach, Playa de los Muertos, is located just south of the malecon and the River Cuale. It is lined with beachfront hotels and restaurants and is usually bustling with activity, sun worshipers by day, the dining and nightlife crowd after dark. The beachfront bars and restaurants in this area are a great place to catch one of the incredible Vallarta sunsets.

South of town, you'll find Playa de Mismaloya and Boca de Tomatlan, the last two beaches accessible by road, great for repose and swimming. Local pangas can be hired for Yelapa, Las Animas or Quimixto excursions.

Snorkeling, wind surfing and bird watching at Destiladeras, one of the most enjoyable northern beaches paralleled in enjoyment only by the Las Marietas Islands Bird Sanctury.

Puerto Vallarta attractions and entertainment options are diverse. Puerto Vallarta’s surrounding geography is simply extraordinary. The largest bay in North America finds its way through islands, islets, rocks and cliffs all the way to the beautiful beaches on the eastern end, where the terrain raises abruptly to create the Sierra Madre Occidental, with its eternal emerald jungle.

A landscape so fascinating with incredible scenery that can be explored through incredible adventures. Underwater, on the surface, on the beach, in the mountains, in the jungle and in the city even, Puerto Vallarta offers something for every taste.

A very important part of Puerto Vallarta sightseeing, it's visiting its downtown. This is the focus of the town's main action, sandwiched between a steep hill and the sea. Red-tiled houses along the central streets are now smart galleries, clothes or craft shops and the palm-lined seafront drive is lined with the liveliest bars and discos.

The modernized main square, Plaza de Armas, is flanked by the curiously crowned Nuestra Seora de Guadalupe church and the modern Palacio Municipal.

Beyond the old town centre the highway crosses the hotel zone and ends at Marina Vallarta. This self-contained commercial and residential area, which includes a golf course, lies just before the bold pink forms of the airport. Yet Vallarta and Banderas Bay do not end here, more coastal developments are mushrooming in an area to the north named Nuevo Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta nightlife starts at dusk, on the terraces of the restaurants and bars bordering the sea walk. Puerto Vallarta nightclubs are diverse and very lively. But Puerto Vallarta nightlife offers more options for those who love to stay awake till early morning. Options are varied from popular cantinas with traditional Mexican live music to modern lounges with the latest European electronics, strolling through well known rock and roll bars.
There are two sophisticated clubs at Marina Vallarta with where pop music makes it impossible for you to sit, and where a visit is practically obligatory. Another option for the night is inside most hotels, they usually offer fun night shows and Mexican parties every week should not be missed.
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