The Most Secluded Beaches in Puerto Vallarta

Seclusion in Puerto Vallarta is a matter of geography, and the geography is generous. The town beaches along the Malecon and the hotel zone are busy, broad and lined with vendors, and they are made for a lively day rather than a quiet one. But the whole south side of Banderas Bay, where the Sierra Madre drops straight into the water, has no coast road at all. That single fact is what protects the string of small coves down there, because the only way in is by boat or on foot, and that keeps the crowds and the noise away.

The rhythm is simple and it is half the pleasure. You take a water taxi from the pier at Los Muertos in town, or more cheaply and quickly from the little fishing village of Boca de Tomatlan just south of the hotels, and twenty minutes later you step off onto a beach with jungle behind it and warm, usually calm water in front. Each cove has its own character, from a tiny hidden pocket of sand to a village with a waterfall, and the further from Boca you go the quieter it tends to be.

Let me be honest about the one that trips people up. Las Animas is often sold as a secluded beach, and by the standard of the town it is calm and pretty, but it is the busiest of the boat only coves, lined with seafood restaurants and water sports. It is a wonderful, easy day out. It is not solitude. If an empty beach and the sound of your own thoughts is what you are after, the move is to pass Las Animas and carry on to Colomitos, Majahuitas or Yelapa. We have ranked the coves below from the most genuinely secluded to the most serviced, so you can pick the exact kind of quiet you want.

The honest read is that the south shore coves are easy to reach and easy to get slightly wrong. The single mistake to avoid is arriving at midday on the same boat as everyone else, because the tour flotilla lands around then and even a hidden cove can fill for a couple of hours. Take the first water taxi from Boca de Tomatlan instead, walk the trail to Colomitos before the heat, and you will have the quiet version that the brochures promise and the day trippers miss.

Pack for a place with little behind it. Water, sun cover, cash in small notes, reef safe sunscreen and shoes for the trail or the rocky landings will cover most days, since shops and shade are limited and card machines rare. If you want to eat, Las Animas and Yelapa have kitchens on the sand, while Colomitos and Majahuitas may have only a stall or nothing at all, so plan around that rather than hope.

Above all, treat the sea and the boats as typical rather than guaranteed. Crossings are calmest in the drier months and can be bumpy in a summer swell, water taxi times are loose, and the last boat back matters, so confirm it before you settle in for the afternoon. Do that small bit of planning and the reward is one of the loveliest stretches of quiet coast in Mexico, a short ride from a busy town yet completely apart from it.

Because the south shore coves are boat only, most couples plan the day around a single beach and a good lunch rather than hopping about, and a few of the coves make that easy. Las Animas and Yelapa have beach clubs and seafood kitchens right on the sand, with loungers, shade and a cold drink behind you, which turns a quiet cove into a proper slow day. Operators, opening days and any minimum spend vary and shift with the season, so we keep the live picture on the directory. Tell us your dates and the kind of day you want and we pass the enquiry on to confirm what is open.