The name Punta Mita (actually Punta de Mita) encompasses the entire northwestern headland of the Bay of Banderas. Important sections include the Emiliano Zapata village (pop. about 1,000) on the bluff above the beach; Nuevo Corral de Riscos (pop. about 500), the new town that the government built for the ejido people it displaced with hotel development, west of Emiliano Zapata; and the boat harbor and beachfront palapa restaurant strip, called Playa Anclote, or simply “Anclote,” by local folks.

The hotel people are trying to erase Corral de Riscos, the lovely west-side fishing inlet and location of the original ejido village, from memory. “Corral de Riscos doesn’t exist,” they claim.

Getting There

Autotransportes Medina (1410 Brasil, tel. 322/212-4732 or 322/222-7279) buses complete a flood of daily round-trips between the shoreline communities northwest of Puerto Vallarta and the Puerto Vallarta station, north of the Malecón.

In Puerto Vallarta, walk or hire a taxi to the terminal, or catch the bus as it heads north along the airport boulevard through the Zona Hotelera.