Rincón de Guayabitos (pop. about 3,000 permanent, maybe 8,000 in winter) lies an hour’s drive north of Puerto Vallarta [1], at the tiny south-end rincón (wrinkle) of the broad, mountain-rimmed Bay of Jaltemba. The full name of Rincón de Guayabitos’s sister town, La Peñita (Little Rock) de Jaltemba, comes from its perch on the sandy edge of the bay.
Once upon a time, Rincón de Guayabitos (or simply Guayabitos, meaning Little Guavas) lived up to its diminutive name. During the 1970s, however, the government decided Rincón de Guayabitos would become both a resort and one of three places in the Puerto Vallarta region where foreigners could own property.
Today Rincón de Guayabitos is a summer, Christmas, and Easter haven for Mexicans, and a winter retreat for U.S. and Canadian citizens weary of glitzy, pricey resorts.
Transportes Pacífico first- and second-class buses (southbound for Puerto Vallarta, and northbound for Tepic, Guadalajara, and Mazatlán) routinely stop (about twice every daylight hour, each direction) both at the main highway entrance to Guayabitos’s Avenida del Sol Nuevo and at La Peñita’s main Highway 200 crossing. The same is true of Estrella Blanca buses (Transportes Norte de Sonora), southbound to Puerto Vallarta and northbound to San Blas [2]; and Elite, southbound to Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, and Acapulco, and northbound to Tepic [3], Guadalajara, Mazatlan and the U.S. border.
The Guayabitos coast is easily accessible by taxi (about $60 for four) from the Puerto Vallarta International Airport. Buses (which you must board at the Puerto Vallarta bus station, north of the airport) and taxis cover the 39-mile (62 km) distance to Guayabitos in around an hour.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/puerto-vallarta/puerto-vallarta
[2] http://www.moon.com/destinations/puerto-vallarta/the-nayarit-coast/san-blas-and-vicinity
[3] http://www.moon.com/destinations/puerto-vallarta/the-nayarit-coast/tepic