The Regions

PUERTO VALLARTA TOWN

Although reconnoitered by a Spanish expedition in 1524 and established as a trading post in 1851, Puerto Vallarta did not acquire its present name and identity as an official municipality until 1918. With no roads to the outside world, Puerto Vallarta subsisted for generations as an isolated fruit and produce shipping port. The little town was jolted from its slumber in 1963, when celebrated director John Huston arrived to make the film The Night of the Iguana, starring Ava Gardner and Richard Burton—who breezed in with his lover, actress Elizabeth Taylor.

  Skyrocketed to fame by the accompanying Hollywood hullabaloo, Puerto Vallarta tourism mushroomed. By 2000, it had become the Mexican Pacific destination of choice for international travelers, with an abundance of comfortable hotels, good restaurants, nightlife, a growing local art colony, and a trove of handicrafts imported from all over Mexico.

  Situated at the very heart of the broad Bay of Banderas, Puerto Vallarta (pop. 350,000, about 1,000 miles due south of El Paso, Texas) serves as an ideal base for local explorations. The Río Cuale, which ripples from a foothill canyon, divides the old part of town into south-of-Cuale and north-of-Cuale halves. Stretching a few blocks south from the river, the cobbled avenue Olas Altas (High Waves), a major south-of-Cuale visitor destination, is dotted with restaurants, coffee houses, hotels, nightclubs, and curio and handicrafts shops. A block farther west bordering the bay, stretches Playa los Muertos, once Puerto Vallarta’s only beach and now the most popular, enjoyed by a year-round stream of beachgoers both Mexican and foreign.

  South of town, tropical havens and scenic gems adorn the coastline like pearls in a necklace. Offshore, near Mismaloya beach, rise the mottled green Los Arcos sea rocks and snorkeling sanctuary. Inland from Mismaloya a jungle river cascades into crystalline, sandy-bottomed natural swimming pools at Chino’s Paradise and El Eden. Also adjacent to Mismaloya is the fascinating movie set of The Night of the Iguana and the neighboring panoramic view from John Huston Café. Travel a few miles farther south to intimate Boca de Tomatlán beach village, the water-taxi departure point for the more remote, automobile-free Quimixto and Yelapa jungle village paradises.

  Back in town, north of the Río Cuale at the upstream bridge, visitors peruse the Municipal Crafts Market, stuffed with a small mountain of fetching handicrafts. Stroll north uphill and explore the Gringo Gulch neighborhood of winding cobbled lanes and the rustic-chic homes of Puerto Vallarta’s well-to-do. Downhill, by the town plaza, are Los Arcos (the Arches) amphitheater, enlivened by evening entertainments, taco stands, crafts stalls, and a squad of spray-can artists. North of that, join the strollers along the shorefront malecón promenade, lined with a treasury of good restaurants, lively nightclubs, and a rich collection of art galleries and fine handicrafts shops.

PUERTO VALLARTA: BAY AND MOUNTAINS

Quieter country delights beckon Puerto Vallarta travelers hankering for a leisurely out-of-town exploration. The Bay of Banderas northern arc is especially accessible by tour, rental car, or local bus. First stop should be Bucerías (Place of the Divers), with good restaurants, hotels, trailer parks, and the creamiest beach on the bay. Continue along the scenic northern shoreline to Punta Mita and coral-strewn Playa Anclote, named for the crusty galleon anchor that still decorates the beachfront by the Restaurant el Dorado. Here, surfing, beachcombing, and snorkeling are at their best, and whale-, dolphin-, and bird-watching are near-ideal, via an excursion to offshore Islas Marietas de facto wildlife sanctuary.

  On the adjacent side of the Bay of Banderas, the Sierra Cuale mountains (elev. 4,500–8,500 ft.), not far east of Puerto Vallarta, hide a host of untouristed old-Mexico delights. A trio of uniquely fascinating colonial-era (c. 1600) towns, San Sebastían, Mascota, and Talpa, each tucked in its own lush highland valley, make exceptional destinations for adventurous travelers. San Sebastián (pop. 1,000), curled around a precious little plaza, offers lots of fresh, cool air, old gold mines to investigate, and panoramic views of Cerro la Bufa (elev. 8,400 ft.). Accommodations include several comfortable small hotels, notably the Hacienda Jalisco bed-and-breakfast. Mascota (pop. 13,000) also offers plenty of charming old-Mexico ambience, plus a pair of fascinating museums, restored colonial-era inns, a sylvan reservoir-lake for RVing or tent camping, and rustic-chic Sierra Lago Resort and Spa, set beside the jewellike alpine crater lake Laguna Juanacatlán.

  Visitors can continue nearby to charmingly picturesque Talpa (pop. 7,000), home of the beloved Virgin of Talpa. Amazing but true, every year hundreds of thousands of folks journey to this remote village to pay their respects to a humble corn-paste figurine. A fine museum documents the Virgin’s miraculous history and a platoon of restaurants and hotels, notably Hacienda Jacarandas, is ready to serve visitors.

THE NAYARIT COAST

The Nayarit Coast has for years been one of Puerto Vallarta’s best-kept secrets. It stretches a good hundred miles north from Puerto Vallarta, past a diadem of resort hamlets popular with an increasing trickle of visitors. They come to enjoy the gorgeous beaches, charming country-Mexico atmosphere, good fishing, RV parks, and comfortable small hotels. Furthermore, many of these spots afford good surfing, snorkeling, scuba-diving and wildife-watching. Moving north from Puerto Vallarta, you’ll first find Sayulita, (pop. 3,000) a once-quiet fishing village (still that in the summer and fall), now a popular winter destination for an international crowd of youthful sunbathers and middle-aged North Americans.

  Continue a few miles north to Playa San Francisco (pop. 2,000), “San Pancho” for short. This is a quieter version of Sayulita, but with a spectacularly wild beach and coastline, replete with squadrons of pelicans and frigate birds overhead, dolphins and whales beyond the waves, and egg-laying turtles on the beach. Farther on, about an hour’s drive from Puerto Vallarta, find Lo de Marco (pop. 4,000) and Rincón de Guayabitos and La Peñita (pop. 10,000), family- and RV-friendly beach resorts popular with Mexicans on holidays and North Americans fleeing winter snow.

  Next, past idyllic Playa el Naranjo camping and surfing beach and Alta Vista sacred archaeological site, comes precious Playa Chacala. Perched on Chacala’s picture-perfect half-moon bay, is Mar de Jade holistic-style resort and spa, a majestic beachfront palm grove, excellent seafood palapa restaurants, and a mix of several homey, local-style guesthouses.

  Continuing north along the coast, curve around the Bay of Matanchén, past petite Casa Mañana beach resort and hallowed surfing ground Playa Matanchén, to San Blas. Here, relics of the crumbling old Contaduria (treasure house) and Virgin of the Rosary church, and the newly restored former German consulate, now Hotel Hacienda Flamingos testify to San Blas’s 18th-century glory days. Visitors customarily spend their San Blas days surfing, snorkeling, sunning on the beach, or viewing wildlife in San Blas’s lush mangrove-jungle hinterland.

  From San Blas, roads lead an hour (25 mi.) north to Mexcaltitán, an idyllic automobile-free island fishing village accessible only by boat. It’s believed to be the legendary Aztlán homeland from which the Aztecs migrated around a.d. 1100. An excellent museum tells the story and a hotel accommodates overnighters.

  Finally, on the way south back toward Puerto Vallarta is Tepic (pop. 200,000, elev. 3,000 ft.) the cooler, upland Nayarit state capital. Highlights are its Regional History and Anthropology Museum, the Church and ex-Convent of the Cross of Grass, and excellent shopping opportunities at Huichol Handicrafts. On the return to Puerto Vallarta, enjoy an overnight at Koala Bungalows and Trailer Park at the spectacularly sylvan mountain crater Lake Santa María, about an hour by road southeast of Tepic.

THE JALISCO COAST

For travelers yearning to follow the path less traveled, the Jalisco Coast may be just the ticket. The Puerto Vallarta region’s least populous but geographically most diverse region, the Jalisco Coast (sometimes known as the Costa Alegre, the Happy Coast) stretches more than 100 miles south, traversing a range of gentle, pine-tufted mountains; semi-arid savannah; lush tropical deciduous forest; and dozens of miles of pristine golden beaches.

  One continuous road, national Highway 200, is the sole paved route through this pioneer country. And pioneer country it is indeed; Barra de Navidad, the Jalisco coast’s most venerable settlement, was founded more than three hundred years before Puerto Vallarta, on Christmas Day (Navidad) in 1540. The occasion was the landing of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza on a sandbar in a wide, blue bay that he christened the Bahía de Navidad, thus the lowly sandbar became the Barra de Navidad.

  For adventurous travelers heading south from Puerto Vallarta, the fun can begin nearly immediately, with an off-highway excursion into the Bay of Banderas’s rustic hinterland, named Cabo Corrientes (Cape Currents), for the Bay of Banderas’s far southern cape.

  A bit farther south, Jalisco Coast travelers can also enjoy freshwater bass fishing and lakeside camping, at sky-blue Cañon de Peñas reservoir, the bountiful depository of irrigation water for the thirsty farms of the northern Costa Alegre.

  Spread along the coast farther south, three sparkling bays define the Jalisco Coast: Bahía Chamela, Bahía Tenacatita, and Bahía Navidad. On these bays, a sprinkling of small resort villages, such as Tehualmixtle, Pérula, Chamela, and La Manzanilla, provide a modicum of services—hotels, restaurants, bus stations, car repairs—for the growing trickle of southward-bound travelers seeking a Mexican south-seas paradise.

  Many travelers’ Jalisco Coast journeys climax at the drowsy (and popular for that reason) country-Mexico twin beach resorts of Melaque and Barra de Navidad at the border of the southern state of Colima. Here, visitors have it all: budget to moderate lodgings; plenty of good food, both local and nouvelle; colorful village Mexico ambience; and lots of sun, golden sand, and sparkling Pacific sunsets.

INLAND TO GUADALAJARA AND LAKE CHAPALA

Guadalajara (pop. 3,000,000, elev. 5215 ft.), known as the “Most Mexican of Cities” for its treasury of old-Mexico delights, is so temptingly accessible from Puerto Vallarta that it’s a shame not to pay a visit. A half-day bus or car ride or a short flight is all that separates Puerto Vallarta visitors from Guadalajara’s venerable monuments, fascinating museums, vibrant dance and music performances, colorful markets, fine food, and irresistible art and handicrafts.

  Downtown Guadalajara centers around the yellow-tile-roofed cathedral. Nearby, find the Regional Museum of Guadalajara and the magnificent classic facade of the Teatro Degollado. A short walk farther is the visionary Plaza Tapatía, with the adjacent grand Libertad Market and its neighbor, the petite Plaza of the Mariachis. The climax is at the 1810 Hospicio Cabañas, Latin America’s largest colonial building, housing precious works in its José Clemente Orozco Art Museum.

  A few miles northwest of the city center in Zapopan is the Basilica of the Virgin of Zapopan. Besides the Virgin, beloved by Guadalajara people for miracles, be sure to visit the adjacent museum-shop Artesanias Huichola Wirrarica, decorated with fascinating displays of Huichol culture and for-sale handicrafts. Five miles east of the city center, visit Tlaquepaque handicrafts village.

  If time allows, visit the equally renowned Tonalá handicrafts village five miles farther east of Tlaquepaque. Spend a few hours admiring and choosing from the the bright stoneware, glistening papier-mâché, rustic furniture, shiny brass, vivid glassware, and fetching ceramic figurines offered by the many exceptional shops and factory stores.

  With a day or two more, head south for a stay in a comfortable Lake Chapala bed-and-breakfast, such as Quinta Quetzalcoatl in Chapala or Los Artistas in Ajijic. While in Chapala, visit the newly restored railroad museum and the lighthouse and pier, and take a boat tour to historic mid-lake Isla de la Mezcala. Continue to Ajijic, for a stroll around the town plaza and the flowery Neill James Library and Garden. Peruse the many art and handicrafts galleries, and pause to enjoy a shimmering Lake Chapala sunset from the Ajijic Pier.