The Best Beaches
in Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta sits on Banderas Bay, one of the largest bays in Mexico, a long curve of the Pacific with the green Sierra Madre falling straight into the sea at its southern end. That geography is the whole story for a beach trip. The town beaches are urban and sociable, a place to feel the city rather than find clear water, while the real coast begins where the road runs out. South of the village of Boca de Tomatlan the shoreline turns roadless and wild, a string of coves reached only by boat or on foot, hung with jungle and fed by waterfalls, and this is the Vallarta that people remember.

The honest read is that the bay rewards patience and gently punishes anyone who never leaves the Malecon. The central sand at Los Muertos and Camarones is warm, easy and full of life, but the water is busier and less clear, especially after the summer rains stir the river mouths. The beaches that actually deliver, the quiet southern coves and the clear rocky pockets just south of town, ask a little more of you, a short panga ride or a low tide scramble. Below we rank the bay honestly, clear about which beaches are easy, which are a small expedition, and which are best loved at the right hour.

Who should skip what? If your idea of a beach holiday is a five minute walk from a big hotel to a wide flat strand, the resort sands north of town and the central beaches will serve you, but they are urban and the water is rarely clear. Puerto Vallarta rewards the traveller who will take a boat, agree a fare and ride twenty minutes south to a cove with jungle behind it, and who would rather eat fresh fish under a palapa than queue for a lounger. The bay is a working sea, not a flat lagoon, so the joy is in moving with it.

The most overrated idea here is that the Malecon waterfront is the beach experience. It is a wonderful promenade for an evening, full of sculpture and life, but the sand beside it is for the scene rather than the swim. Spend a sunset there, then point a panga at the south shore the next morning, where Las Animas, Quimixto, Majahuitas and Yelapa hold the clear water and quiet that the brochures promise and the town cannot deliver. Plan your swimming around the boats and the tide and the bay opens up.

Puerto Vallarta has a clear split between a dry winter and a green, humid summer. The dry season from November to April is the prime time, with warm calm bay water, reliable sun and the comfortable evenings that fill the Romantic Zone. Humpback whales move through Banderas Bay from about mid December to late March, and a morning boat south doubles as a chance to see them breach. The rainy months from June to October are hot and lush, with dramatic afternoon storms that clear to bright mornings, lower prices and far fewer people. For an unhurried trip with warm water and thinner crowds, the shoulder weeks of November and early May are the sweet spot. Conditions are typical rather than guaranteed, so check the forecast and the bay before you set out by boat.

Vallarta keeps its beach club scene relaxed rather than flashy, which suits the bay. On Los Muertos, Mantamar runs the liveliest daybed and pool day in the Romantic Zone, while a cluster of easygoing beach clubs and seafood kitchens spreads along Camarones near the old town. On the south shore the palapa restaurants at Las Animas and Quimixto act as informal beach clubs, where a table, a shade and a long lunch come as one. We can pass your details to a club so they can confirm a daybed, any minimum spend and the day that suits, with the booking form below. Conditions are typical and any minimum spend is for the club to confirm.