58 Best Sights in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Informal hotels and restaurants are interspersed among small businesses and modest houses along the town's main street. The bay is calm and beautiful. At the beach road's north end, gigantic, rubbery-looking crocodiles lie heaped together just out of harm's way in a mangrove swamp. The fishing here is excellent; boat owners on the beach can take you out for snapper and sea bass for $20 an hour. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee). Best for: sunset; swimming; walking.

This local beach is wide, busy, entertaining, and worth visiting if you’re here for a while. It's particularly crowded on Sundays as locals flock here to enjoy the ocean and the snacks at various food stalls. There's a big parking lot right in front, and if you want a somewhat quieter place to relax, just walk south for a few dozen meters. Amenities: food and drink; parking (free). Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

Near the north end of Playa Tenacatita, this pretty stretch of sand has a coral reef close to the beach, making it an excellent place to snorkel. Local fishermen take interested parties out on their boats, either fishing for tuna, dorado, or bonito or searching for wildlife such as dolphins and turtles. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee). Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.

There's lots to do besides sunbathe at this beach and town 15 minutes south of Boca de Tomatlán. The brown-sand beach is named "The Souls" because pirate graves were reportedly located here many years ago. Because of its very shallow waters, Las Ánimas is a favorite of families with kids. They come by water taxi or as part of bay cruises. Some seafood eateries line the sand. Amenities: food and drink; water sports. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking.

About 6 km (4 miles) south of Playa Borrego, at the northern edge of Bahía de Matanchén, Playa Las Islitas used to be legendary among surfers for its long wave, but this has diminished in recent years. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee). Best for: surfing; swimming; walking

Secluded and not as easy to reach, Playa Los Muertos is a great place to get away from it all and spend some quiet time in Sayulita. Watch out for the rip currents as they can be mean, and there are no lifeguards here. Amenities: water sports. Best for: swimming.

This long, coarse-white-sand beach is beautiful and has gentle waves. Restaurants, small hotels, homes, and tall palms line the beach, which slopes down to the water. Fishermen here will take anglers out in search of dorado, tuna, swordfish, and mackerel. The best swimming and boogie boarding are about half the length of town, in front of El Dorado restaurant. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); water sports. Best for: snorkeling; surfing; swimming.

It was in this cove that The Night of the Iguana was filmed. Unfortunately, construction of the big Hotel La Jolla de Mismaloya at the north end of the once-pristine bay has stolen its Shangri-La appeal. Nonetheless, the place retains a certain cachet. It also has views of the famous cove from two seafood restaurants on the south side of a bridge over the mouth of the Río Mismaloya. Amenities: food and drink; toilets; water sports. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

Several kilometers of pristine beach face the hotels of Playa Nuevo Vallarta. In the fall, a fenced-off turtle nesting area provides relief for the endangered ocean dwellers. Jet Skis whiz by, kids frolic in the roped-off water nearest the beach, and waiters attend to vacationers lounging in recliners in front of their respective hotels. The wide, flat sandy stretch is perfect for long walks. In fact, you could walk all the way to Bucerías, some 8 km (5 miles) to the north. Most of the hotels here are all-inclusives, so guests generally move between their hotel pool and the beach in front. All-inclusive programs mean that only hotel guests may enter the bars and restaurants on the property. This beach recently received certification by the Mexican government as a "Clean Beach." Amenities: parking (free); showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking.

The name means "high waves beach," but the only waves suitable for bodysurfing, boogie boarding, or, occasionally, surfing are near the Cuale River, at the north end of this small beach. Although "Olas Altas" more often refers to the neighborhood of bars and businesses near the ocean south of the Río Cuale, it is also the name of a few blocks of sand between Daiquiri Dick's restaurant and the Río Cuale. The beach attracts fewer sunbathers than Los Muertos but is otherwise an extension of that beach, and it gets lively during holidays with sunbathers and impromptu snack stands and shaded tables on the sand. There are good views of the recently renovated Los Muertos Pier and spectacular lighting at night. Facing Olas Altas Beach near Lázaro Cárdenas plaza are open-air stands selling beach accessories, small grocery stores, and beach-facing bar-restaurants. Amenities: food and drink; parking. Best for: sunset; swimming.

The handful of islands just off lovely Bahía de Chamela protects the beaches from strong surf. The best place on the bay for swimming is wide, flat Playa Punta Pérula. Fishermen here take visitors out to snorkel around the islands (about $40 for up to 10 people) or to fish ($20 per hour for one to four people); restaurants on the sand sell fresh fillets and ceviche. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); water sports. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

This small cozy beach is a favorite among frequent visitors of Costa Careyes. Its waters have a gorgeous emerald green color and almost no waves, making it perfect for families with kids. Playa Rosa has three little islands and a couple of caves can be visited by boat, offering something different from other beaches in the area. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee). Best for: swimming.

Playa Tehuamixtle is a small stretch of beach, especially when compared with other beaches of the region. What makes it interesting is the oceanfront restaurant and its dock, from where fishing boats take visitors on day trips to completely isolated beaches not reachable by car. Everything here is affordable, as locals are just happy to get visitors. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee). Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

Dozens of identical seafood shacks line the shore; birds cruise the miles of beach, searching for their own fish. The water is sparkling blue. There's camping for RVs and tents at Punta Hermanos, where the water is calm and good for snorkeling, and local men offer fishing excursions ($40–$50 for one to four people) and tours of the mangroves ($20). Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); water sports. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.

The Plaza de Armas, or Main Square, is a perfect spot to relax. Enjoy an ice cream by the gazebo or a Mexican snack sold by stall vendors in one of the many benches around. The city hall is on one side, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the other, and, in the background, the malecón. On Thursday and Sunday at 6 pm, everybody dances to the sound of danzón while listening to the Municipal Bands.

There's only one beach in San Pancho, aptly called Playa San Pancho. Roughly about a mile long, it has fine sand and clean blue water, but also a strong undertow and shorebreak that can be dangerous when the swell builds up. Swimming is fantastic when the sea is calm, but do be careful if the ocean is rough. You can rent surfboards and surf the break on the south side of the beach, which tends to get busy with locals when the waves are pumping. Amenities: food and drink; parking (free); toilets; water sports. Best for: sunset; surfing; swimming; walking.

This is the main beach in town. Nowadays it's usually very busy; there are tons of restaurants and shops within walking distance, and the main surf break is right there, too, meaning it's full of surfers and surf schools. Amenities: food and drink; toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; surfing; swimming.

Singayta is a typical Nayarit village that is attempting to support itself through simple and ungimmicky ecotours. The basic tour includes a look around the town, where original adobe structures compete with more practical but less picturesque structures with corrugated tin roofs. Take a short guided hike through the surrounding jungle and a boat ride around the estuary ($6 per person). This is primo birding territory. The townspeople are most geared up for tours on weekends and during school holidays and vacations: Christmas, Easter, July, and August. The easiest way to book a tour is to look for English-speaking Juan Bananas, who sells banana bread from a shop called Tumba de Yako (look for the sign on the unmarked road Avenida H. Batallón between Calles Comonfort and Canalizo, en route to Playa Borrego). He can set up a visit and/or guide you there. Groups of five or more can call ahead to make a reservation with Juan ( 323/285–0462  [email protected]) or with Santos ( 323/100–4191); call at least a day ahead if you want to have a meal.

The most accessible beach at Punta de Mita and considered to be surf central is El Anclote, whose name means "the big anchorage." Just a few minutes past the gated entrance to the tony Four Seasons and St. Regis hotels, the popular beach has a string of restaurants—once simple shacks but today of increasing sophistication and price. This is a primo spot for viewing a sunset. The surf is calmed by several rock jetties and is shallow for quite a way out, so it's a good spot for children and average to not-strong swimmers; however, the jetties have also robbed sand from the beach. There's a long, slow wave for beginning surfers; you can rent boards and take lessons from outfitters in town. Most of the jewelry and serape sellers and fishermen looking for customers have moved—or been moved—off the beach to more official digs in buildings along the same strip or facing the Four Seasons. Accessible from El Anclote (or the adjacent town of Corral del Risco), more than half a dozen great surf spots pump year-round; most are accessible only by boat. Punta de Mita is the northernmost point of Banderas Bay, about 40 km (25 mi) north of Puerto Vallarta. Facilities: Fishing, snorkeling, surfing, paddle surfing; food concessions, showers, parking. Best for: snorkeling; surfing; sunset.

Eight kilometers (5 miles) north of Nuevo Vallarta, the substantial town of Bucerías attracts flocks of snowbirds, and this has encouraged the establishment of rental apartments and good restaurants. The surf is usually gentle enough for swimming, and a small shore break is sometimes suitable for body surfing. Beginning surfers occasionally arrive with their longboards. It's Banderas Bay's chosen beach for kite surfing, and hosts the largest national tournament of this sport in May. Backed by a fringe of beautiful coconut palms, the long beach is wide enough that it remains viable even at high tide. There are beautiful views of the arms of blue Banderas Bay to the north and south. The town is divided by an arroyo (dry river bed). On the north side, small shops face the main street, Avenida del Pacífico, while restaurants face the beach; many have tables on the sand. As the bay curves north toward La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, these businesses soon give way to small hotels, condo complexes, and single-family homes. If you have a car, parking is easiest south of the arroyo, where streets off the main beach access road, Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas, dead-end at the beach. From the south end of Bucerías you can walk all the way south to the Nayarit–Jalisco state line, created by the Ameca River. This walk of several hours takes you past the high-rise hotel developments at Flamingos and Nuevo Vallarta. Bucerías beach has been recently certificated by the federal government as a "Clean Beach." Facilities: Food concessions, restrooms, lifeguard, trash bins. Best for: walking; swimming; windsurfing.

This beautiful, 2-km-long (1-mi-long) beach is little more than a kilometer (half a mile) in from the highway, near the southern edge of Bahía de Tenacatita, 193 km (120 mi) south of PV and 25 km (15½ mi) north of Barra de Navidad (at Km 14). Informal hotels and restaurants are interspersed with small businesses and modest houses along the town's main street. Rocks dot the gray-gold sands and edge both ends of the wide beach; facing the sand are attractive, unpretentious vacation homes favoring a Venetian palate of ochre and brick red. 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 mangrove swamp. The fishing here is excellent; boat owners on the beach can take you out for snapper, sea bass, and other pescado for $20–$25 an hour. Facilities: Fishing; food concessions. Best for: swimming; walking; sunset.

On this crescent of soft, gold sand half a mile long, kids play in the shallow water while their parents float in the calm green water without a care. Cold drinks and so-so food are served at several seafood shacks on the sand. Protected by the Piedra Blanca headland to the north, the beach is at the northernmost edge of the town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Named for a cross made of superresilient wood (huanacaxtle, which translates to "ear pod," "elephant ear," or "monkey ear tree"), most people simply call the town "La Cruz." What was a rough little fishing village now has a 400-slip private marina aptly named Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz (www.marinarivieranayarit.com). It was launched in 2008 as part of the Riviera Nayarit development plan. Like it or not, homey La Cruz is growing and becoming more sophisticated. Facilities: Beach umbrellas, boating, fishing, inner tubes; food concessions, parking. Best for: walking; sunset.

There's lots to do besides sunbathe at this beach and town 15 minutes south of Boca de Tomatlán. Framed in oak, coconut, and pink-flowering amapa trees, the brown-sand beach is named "The Souls" because pirate graves were reportedly located here many years ago. Along the 1-km-long (½-mi-long) beach are piles of smooth, strange rocks looking an awful lot like petrified elephant poo. Because of its very shallow waters, Las Animas is often referred to as la playa de los niños (children's beach), and it tends to fill up with families on weekends and holidays. They come by water taxi or as part of half- or full-day bay cruises. Five or six seafood eateries line the sand; a few will lend their clients volleyballs to use on sand courts out front. You can also rent Jet Skis, ride a banana boat, or soar up into the sky behind a speedboat while dangling from a colorful parachute. Facilities: Banana-boat rides, boating, Jet Skis, parasailing; food concessions. Best for: swimming; walking; sunset.

A little over a mile north of Los Ayala along the highway, Guayabitos bustles with legions of Mexican families on weekends and holidays; foreigners take up residence during the winter months. The main street, Avenida Nuevo Sol, has modest hotels, inexpensive restaurants, and scores of shops that all seem to sell the same cheap bathing suits and plastic beach toys. One block closer to the sea are more hotels along with some vacation homes right on the sand. Colorfully painted stands on the beach sell fresh chilled fruit and coconuts; others serve up fresh grilled fish on the cheap. This lovely beach bounded by headlands and the ocean is tranquil and perfectly suited for swimming. You can also arrange turtle and whale-watching excursions as well as boat rides to explore the coast or to Isla del Coral, just offshore. The boatmen who ferry passengers for a few hours' sunbathing on Isla del Coral may fail to mention that the restaurant there opens only in high season. Although there's usually a lady or two on the sand selling ceviche, bring a picnic lunch just in case. Facilities: Boating, fishing, snorkeling; food concessions. Best for: swimming; snorkeling; walking.

Just over 2 km (1 mile) from Mayto, Tehuamixtle is a sheltered cove with a few basic rooms to rent. The area is known for its oysters, which you can sample fresh from the sea at an open-air restaurant facing the fishing fleet. The surf here is very gentle and lacks currents, making it popular with local children. The pristine beach invites snorkeling and diving (bring your own equipment). Fishing boats bob at one end, below the restaurant; from here, the beach curves along in a sandy brown arch to a large green headland at the other end of the cove. Tehua, as locals call it, is about the same size as Mayto: 100 people. This fishing village has only had electricity since the turn of the 21st century. There's a beach road that connects Tehua with Cruz de Loreto, about 1½ hours to the south; otherwise go out through El Tuito. Facilities: Fishing; food concessions. Best for: swimming; surfing.