PUERTO VALLARTA: BAY AND MOUNTAINS

As a destination city, Puerto Vallarta is packed with all the services, food, and accommodations a quality resort can supply. What Puerto Vallarta sometimes cannot offer, however, is peace and quiet.

  But an out exists. The diadem of tranquil retreats—fishing villages, palm-shadowed beachfront resorts, and colonial-era mountain villages, nestled beneath the towering, pine-clad peaks—that ring the eastern and northwestern reaches of the Bay of Banderas are ripe and ready to provide day-, week-, or month-long respites from the citified tourist rush.

  The creamy northwestern beaches and plumy resorts of Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerías, and Punta Mita beckon within sight of downtown Puerto Vallarta. They decorate the long shoreline that curves north and west, to the Bay of Banderas’s far sunset extremity, at Punta Mita. At these mini-paradises, you could spend a month of Sundays surfing, swimmming, snorkeling and scuba diving, golfing, beachcombing, bird- and whale-watching, and sunning and snoozing under a shady beachfront palapa.

  On the other hand, the Sierra Cuale, which rise easterly from Puerto Vallarta’s downtown streets, offer unique opportunities for adventurous travelers. In and around the petite mountain-country towns of San Sebastián, Mascota, and Talpa you can explore old gold mines, picturesque hidden villages, camp or lodge at pine-shadowed lakes and streams, trek by foot or horseback through sylvan, wildlife-rich mountain valleys by day and relax in comfortable small hotels and luxurious haciendas by night—all these await travelers who venture into Puerto Vallarta’s backyard mountains.

Playa Anclote: Half the fun of Punta Mita is getting there. Along the way, pass Bucerías, Playa Manzanillo, Playa Destiladeras, and Restaurant Amapas, all worth an hour’s pause if time allows. Your main destination is the Restaurant El Dorado at Playa Anclote about two miles short of the Punta Mita lighthouse. Here, either spend the day on the beach, or if you’ve made a prior reservation, enjoy a surfing lesson or an excursion to the Marietas Islands for bird-, dolphin-, and whale-watching. (read more)

San Sebastián Plaza: The hidden mountain hamlet can be visited in a day by air tour. If you’re driving or busing, best plan on an overnight or two. Spend a few hours strolling the little plaza and the cobbled streets, enjoying the fresh air, and visiting the Hacienda Jalisco, a coffee farm, and perhaps an old gold mine. (read more)

Mascota Museum and Casa de Cultura: Stroll around town, visit the two museums, perhaps take a side trip to nearby Yerbabuena village, and have lunch or early dinner at Restaurant La Terraza at sylvan Corinches Reservoir a couple miles out of town. (read more)

Laguna Juanacatlán: Make this gem of an excursion out of Mascota by sturdy car. Ideally, enjoy an overnight at the Hotel Sierra Lago on the luscious spruce-tufted lakeshore. Best do this trip in the late spring, summer, or fall. Winter can be very cold at the Lake’s 7,000-foot elevation. (read more)

Virgin of Talpa Basilica: If you have time, continue from Mascota, for a third or fourth overnight in Talpa. Visit the Virgin of Talpa in her basilica. One of the “three sisters of Mexico,” the Virgin is visited by hundreds of thousands of Mexican pilgrims each year. If you can, attend one of Talpa’s four tumultuous annual festivals that honor the Virgin. Just be sure to make your hotel reservations far in advance. (read more)