Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Beaches & Resorts
Enjoy swimming, windsurfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, jet skiing fishing or Bungee jumping over the Pacific. On the rugged Puerto Vallarta, Mexico beaches to the south, where the mountains tumble into the sea, you will discover hidden coves and intimate sandy stretches. The peaceful northern beaches on the road to Punta de Mita are lined with restaurants with fresh seafood and offer great surfing or relaxing.
Playa de Oro Beach -
Playa de Oro is a wide, sandy beach in Puerto Vallarta with a few rocky areas interspersed. This beautiful Puerto Vallarta beach is popular with tourists and locals because of its diversity of water sports.Los Muertos Beach -
Puerto Vallarta's most popular beach, Playa de los Muertos is a long sandy beach on the South Side. Located just south of the Rio Cuale in Old Town, this funky and wildly popular beach is great for parasailing and lined with shops, restaurants and bars where you can grab a chair and table.In the evenings, mariachi and musicians play along the beach. Many pangas depart from this Puerto Vallarta beach to spots further south. Weekends are bustling with sun worshipers by day and the dining and nightlife crowd after dark. Beachfront bars and restaurants are a fun places to catch one of the incredible Vallarta sunsets.
Marina Vallarta Beach -
Catering to those staying at the resort hotels, the wide, sandy beach of Marina Vallarta offers beautiful views of Puerto Vallarta and its mountain backdrop. Check out Nikki Beach, a sexy and cool restaurant/bar/beach club where you can eat and drink right in bed!
Nuevo Vallarta Beach -
Lined with sprawling resort hotels, this gorgeous, wide sandy beach hugs Banderas Bay for as far as the eye can see. This peaceful beach is a beautiful spot to soak up the sun, swim and relax. Nuevo Vallarta also offers a wealth of diversion from the sun and sand, including three professional golf courses, a water park, a yacht club, marinas, shopping and many excellent restaurants.Puerto Vallarta Hotel Zone Beach -
Lined with resort hotels, this beautiful, wide sandy beach stretching from Marina Vallarta to the Sheraton is a tourist playground. This Puerto Vallarta, Mexico beach offers every amenity and water sport - from parasailing to whale watching. It's easy to have an adventure on this beach, simply by strolling and stepping into the beach-front bar, restaurant or venue that catches your eye.Bucerias Beach -
Golden sands stretching for miles and gentle waves make this an ideal family beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to explore. Boasting the longest beach on the bay, "The Place of the Divers" is known for its freshly shucked giant oysters and sublime seafood. Catch some rays in front of the beach restaurants and enjoy the constant breeze that makes the beach feel fresher and cooler. The town offers many waterfront restaurants and a colorful outdoor market by the main plaza, which is a fun way to absorb the local flavor.
San Francisco/San Pancho Beach -
Just a few miles outside the bay, this pristine beach on open sea is gorgeous, windswept, primitive, long and wide, with deep creamy sand and rougher waters than inside the Bay. This adventure resort attracts outdoor enthusiasts from around the world, offering every activities like surfing, kayaking, sport fishing, horseback riding, mountain biking and hiking, and tours to Matachen Bay, which boasts the world's longest surfable wave. The town's main street is has an internet café and cool restaurants.Sayulita Beaches -
This picturesque village is dotted with coves and beaches where surfers hang ten. Riding the gentle breakers to shore, most of the action happens off the main town beach, with lessons and board rentals available. Well known in the surfing world, the long, wide beach boasts a women-only surfing school. Those looking for privacy will find it in one of the small coves, conveying the sense that it is yours alone. After a day of swimming and sunning on Sayulita's beaches, you'll find palapa restaurants on the beach, comida-corrida spots, and gourmet dining. A funky fishing village with wild beauty, Sayulita offers an quaint town square, trendy shops and businesses.Playa de Conchas Chinas Beach -
Located 3 minutes from downtown Puerto Vallarta - just south of Los Muertos Beach - Conchas Chinas starts at the water's edge and stretches up to the top of the Sierra Madre Mountains. This beautiful Puerto Vallarta beach community is one of the most prestigious in the area. Luxury homes and villas are nestled on the mountainside along Mexico's Pacific coast, offering tremendous views of the bay, the mountains and the town of Vallarta. Called Puerto Vallarta's ultimate luxury escape, Conchas Chinas offers peace, tranquility and enchanting vistas. Playa de Conchas Chinas offers gorgeous sandy strands for relaxing, ocean breezes and colorful sunsets.Destiladeras Beach -
This Puerto Vallarta area beach is a local favorite with families and surfers. Destiladeras offers a wide white sand beach, large waves and fresh seafood at outdoor palapa-shaded restaurants at the water's edge. Surfers and boogie boarders flock to its long, five-foot swells, while beachcombers enjoy strolling along the long, sandy stretch. This is a wonderful beach for relaxing and savoring beautiful sunsets. The large flat rocks at Destiladeras can be used as picnic tables.Boca de Tomates Beach -
A half hour north of Puerto Vallarta, Boca de Tomates is a peaceful, long sandy retreat where you'll see more crocodiles, sea turtles and exotic birds than sun worshippers. An ecologist's paradise, the Tomates estuary is one of this area's most important refuges for wildlife. The beach is popular with boogie boarders and offers funkypalapa restaurants.
Garza Blanca Beach -
Located off the Barra de Navidad road on the way to Mismaloya, this small, tranquil white sand, city beach is framed with palms and crystal clear water that laps the shoreline. Garza Blanca is popular with the locals on weekends and the perfect spot for a picnic and enjoying the sand and surf.Gemelas Beach -
"Twin" beach is comprised of two small crescent-shaped beaches at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains. At Gemelas the surf is gentle for swimming, surfing and all kinds of water sports. A nice restaurant is located at the beach hotel.
Mismaloya Beach -
A small sandy beach on a beautiful jungle-fringed cove south of Puerto Vallarta, where the Mismaloya creek meets the ocean, Mismaloya is the beautiful remote strand where the "The Night of the Iguana" was filmed in 1963.Mismaloya features a beautiful white sand beach, several restaurants, little palapa bars, and a major resort - a perfect place to relax. You can even walk around what remains of the old movie set.
Boca de Tomatlan Beach -
With a primitive feel, this small sandy cove at the edge of the jungle three miles south of Mismaloya is where the mouth of the Tomatlan River meets Banderas Bay. The last beach that is accessible by road, Boca de Tomatlan is very quiet and peaceful and is a great swimming beach. The beach offers Palapa restaurants, small seafood restaurants and taco stands that serve fresh-caught fish and Mexican fare. You can hire local pangas here to take you to Yepala, Las Animas or Quimixto.Punta de Mita Beach -
Punta de Mita beach is 40 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta on the northwest peninsula of Banderas Bay. Puerto Vallarta's point of simple pleasures, Punta de Mita offers an unrivaled Mexican vacation experience with magical islands and peaceful beaches. The pristine beaches of Punta de Mita are considered the most beautiful on the Bay and possibly all of Mexico. Punta de Mita Beach on the northern tip of the Bay is idyllic for strolling and absorbing the incredible beauty. The second public beach, El Anclote, is a bustling beach and seaside community with great swimming and surfing.Since the strong waves break in front of the beach, these beaches are excellent surfing and windsurfing spots. A favorite weekend getaway, this soft sand beach in the Puerto Vallarta area offers nice restaurants, activities such as kayaking, and snorkeling and kayak/boogie board rentals. Rent a boat to Las Marietas Islands, where snorkeling and diving are excellent, or hire a panga to take you whale watching in the Bay.
Photos by Mark Callanan http://www.callananphoto.com
