Layout of Puerto Vallarta
The city runs as a narrow strip between the Sierra Madre Occidental and Banderas Bay, one of the largest bays in Mexico at roughly 42 km across the mouth and deep enough, close inshore, for humpback whales to winter in it. The Río Cuale cuts the old part of town in two and is the reference point for everything else.
South of the river is the Zona Romántica, formally the Emiliano Zapata neighbourhood and often called Old Town: a grid of cobbled streets on a hillside, most of the small hotels and restaurants, and Playa Los Muertos, the city beach, with the Los Muertos pier at its southern end. The pier was rebuilt in 2013 with a sail-shaped mast and is the departure point for water taxis to the southern beaches. North of the river is the Centro, with the parish church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and its crowned tower on the main plaza, and the Malecón, a seafront promenade of about 1 km lined with bronze sculptures and closed to traffic.
Beyond the Centro the coast road runs north through the Zona Hotelera, a line of larger resorts built from the 1970s onward, then Marina Vallarta, a planned district around a yacht harbour and a golf course. The cruise terminal and the long-distance bus station are on the same stretch. Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR) sits about 8 km north of the centre, on the highway rather than out of town. A few kilometres further north the Ameca River marks the boundary of Jalisco: everything past it, including Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerías and Punta de Mita, is in Nayarit and belongs to the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, which since 2010 has kept Central time (UTC−6) rather than the UTC−7 used by the rest of Nayarit.
Distances from Puerto Vallarta
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Vallarta airport (PVR) | 8 | 15 min | Taxi, city bus along the coast road |
| Mismaloya | 12 | 25 min | Highway 200 south |
| Boca de Tomatlán | 17 | 35 min | Highway 200 south; road ends here |
| Nuevo Vallarta (Nayarit) | 20 | 30 min | Highway 200 north, across the Ameca |
| Yelapa | 25 | 45 min | Water taxi only, from Boca de Tomatlán |
| Punta de Mita | 45 | 1 h | Highway 200, then the Punta Mita road |
| Sayulita | 50 | 1 h 10 | Highway 200 north |
| Tepic | 160 | 2 h 30 | Highway 200 north |
| Guadalajara | 340 | 5 h | Highway 200 and 15D via Compostela |
| Manzanillo | 350 | 5 h 30 | Highway 200 down the coast |
| Mazatlán | 450 | 6 h | Highway 200 to Tepic, then 15D |
Beaches and the southern shore
The bay changes character from north to south. The Nayarit side is flat and sandy, with the long open beaches of Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerías and the sheltered anchorage of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. In the city itself the beaches are narrow and backed by buildings: Los Muertos in the Zona Romántica, Playa Camarones and Playa de Oro along the Hotel Zone. South of the city the mountains meet the water and the beaches become small coves. Mismaloya, 12 km out, is where The Night of the Iguana was filmed in 1963, the production that turned the town into a resort; the rock islets of Los Arcos, a protected marine area, lie just offshore and are the main snorkelling site in the bay.
The coast road stops at Boca de Tomatlán, at the mouth of the Río Horcones. Everything beyond it is reached on foot or by boat: Las Ánimas, Quimixto with its waterfall, Majahuitas, and Yelapa, a village of a few hundred people at the far southern corner of the bay that had no road and no mains electricity until the 2000s. A hiking path links Boca de Tomatlán to Las Ánimas along the shore. Inland, the Sierra Madre rises to more than 1,500 m within 20 km of the sea, which is why the wet season here is heavy: most of the annual rainfall, around 1,400 mm, arrives between June and October, and the dry, clear months are December to April. See the Pacific Coast page for the wider shore, the beaches map for the rest of the coast, and the time zones map for the split across the Nayarit line.
Questions about Puerto Vallarta
Where is Puerto Vallarta on the map of Mexico?
On the Pacific coast of west-central Mexico, at 20.65° N, on the eastern shore of Banderas Bay in the state of Jalisco. It is about 340 km west of Guadalajara by road and roughly a three-hour flight from Los Angeles or Houston.
How far is Puerto Vallarta from Sayulita?
About 50 km from the town centre, or 40 km from the airport, and an hour or a little more by road up Highway 200. Sayulita is in Nayarit, but it keeps the same clock as Puerto Vallarta because the municipality of Bahía de Banderas uses Central time.
When can you see whales in Puerto Vallarta?
Humpback whales use Banderas Bay to calve and breed from roughly mid-December to late March, and the official watching season runs 8 December to 23 March. Permitted boats must stay 60 m away from the animals.
How do you get to Yelapa?
Only by water. Water taxis leave from Boca de Tomatlán, 17 km south of the centre where the coast road ends, and from the Los Muertos pier; the trip takes about 30 to 45 minutes. Las Ánimas, Quimixto and Majahuitas are stops on the same run.
Is Puerto Vallarta safe to visit?
Jalisco carries a US State Department Level 2 advisory, exercise increased caution, and the tourist areas of Puerto Vallarta are not among the parts of the state where US government employees are restricted from travelling. Check the current advisory before you go.