Yelapa Beach

Yelapa is less a beach you visit than a day you commit to, and that is exactly its charm. There is no road in, so you reach it by boat around the headland from Boca de Tomatlan or on a longer crossing from the Los Muertos pier, and the ride itself is part of the trip. What waits is a small car free village wrapped around a sheltered cove, jungle rising straight behind the houses, and a pace that the resort strip of Puerto Vallarta lost long ago. For a traveller who cares about the town behind the sand, this is the best day out from Vallarta.

As a food and culture wanderer, this is my kind of beach. You take a palapa table on the sand, order whatever came off the boats that morning, and before long a pie lady works down the beach with a tray of coconut and lime pie that has been a Yelapa tradition for decades. When you have eaten, the village opens up on foot, a short walk up past homes and small shops to a waterfall with a pool you can slip into. The honest caveats are simple. There is no lifeguard, pangas share the bay so you mind the boat traffic near shore, and card machines are unreliable, so you bring cash for the whole day.

Play it as a full unhurried day. Take a morning boat while the water is calm, eat long and slow, walk to the waterfall in the cooler part of the day, and swim in the sheltered cove between. The one thing to watch is the clock, because the last water taxi back leaves in the late afternoon, often around 5pm, and missing it means staying the night. Plenty of travellers plan exactly that, booking a simple room to have the village to themselves once the day boats have gone, which is when Yelapa is at its quiet best.