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Puerto Vallarta Profile
Provided by: Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board - Photos by: Jesus De Avila

Introduction:

Puerto Vallarta is considered by many to be Mexico’s premier seaside resort by offering a montage of modern facilities and services combined  with the ambiance of traditional Mexican village. Great care has been taken to preserve the architectural style of  “Viejo Vallarta” (or Old Town)  while creating an overall exceptional  vacation experience.

Tourism is the hear of the local economy and  residents, along  with their government, take great pride in presenting  a friendly, welcoming  world-class destination. Puerto Vallarta’s popularity is affirmed by the high percentage of repeat visitors from North America, many of whom come back year after year and,  long  with many Mexican nationals, have homes here. It is the combination of Viejo Vallarta with its cobblestone streets, red tile roofs and white-washed walls, with its welcoming people that has positioned Puerto Vallarta as a modest retirement community.

Facts:

Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, lies along 25 miles of fine beaches all  within the sheltered de Bahía de Banderas (bay of Flags), one the largest  protected  bodies  of  water on the West Coast of the American continent. The town is bordered by the Sierra Madre mountains to the south and east and by the bountiful Valle de Las Banderas (Valley of Flags)  to the  north. Hawaii and Puerto Vallarta are on the same global parallel at 20 degrees north latitude.

The climate is semi-tropical  with an average temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months and 85 degrees in summer, with sea breezes year around. The months of November through May are practically free of  rainfall providing day after day of sunshine, while later afternoon showers of short duration are typical June through October.  

The official “high season” for the tourist industry runs from December 15 through May 15, in recent years, the summer months- especially August, have become increasingly popular with Mexican national  tourists.  

Greater  Puerto Vallarta (the town proper and its surrounding lands and  villages) includes some 670 square miles with a resident population of over 250,000. The resort area extends into the State of Nayarit to the north, of  which beaches along the Bahía de Banderas form an integral part of the total Vallarta resort complex with such seaside resort developments as Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerias. Not to be forgotten is Jalisco’s Costa Alegre, south of Puerto Vallarta, which includes the beach resorts of Careyes, Melaque and Barra de Navidad.  

Daily air service is available from most major cities in the United States and Canada with flights provided by Aeromexico, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, America West, TWA, TAESA, and Mexicana Airlines. Domestic service, as  well as daily international service, is provided by  Aeromexico, TAESA, and Mexicana. In addition, numerous charter flights are operated on a frequent basis from several cities in North America (as well as within Mexico)  including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Chicago and Los Angeles.  A simple tourist card, obtainable from any airline serving Mexico, and proof of citizenship (also required for re-entering the US or Canada) is the only documentation required to visit Puerto Vallarta.  

Cruise ships find Puerto Vallarta a highly popular port of call and liners arrive several times weekly,  mostly from Los Angeles, with calls at Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo and Acapulco on the itinerary depending on the cruise line.  

A surprising  number of North Americans drive their cars to Puerto Vallarta, entering Mexico mainly from  Texas and Arizona. License plates from as far away as Alaska and Canada are not uncommon sights.

Trains may be taken from Nogales, south of Tucson, to Tepic or Guadalajara, each a few hours bus ride from Puerto Vallarta. Direct bus service is available from Tijuana and Nogales with connections from other border towns. Local transportation is provided by taxis and city buses; jeeps, VW “bugs” and “Safari” auto rentals are very popular. 

Services abound in Puerto Vallarta with scores of lodging establishments, several hundred restaurants and dozens of smart shops and art galleries. Medical, banking, money exchange and worldwide telephone communication facilities are excellent. The United States and Canada maintain consular offices in Vallarta primarily to assist visitors.

Resort centers invariably attract petty thieves, but Puerto Vallarta is remarkably crime-free. Good security is provided by and alert police force and a unit of special tourist police (those dressed in the white safari outfits) has recently been established. The city’s water system is one of only two in Mexico that has been certified potable. Hotels usually have their own in-house purification systems while all licensed restaurants and food and beverage service outlets use only purified water.

Orientation:

Puerto Vallarta consists of five unofficial hotel zones running north to south: Marina Vallarta, Northern Hotel Zone, Old Town, South of the Rio Cuale and the South Shore. Marina Vallarta, adjacent to the airport, is a new and magnificent development of resort hotels, condominium apartments, shops and restaurants centering around a 550-slip marina.

The Northern Hotel Zone is a mix of resort hotels with fine beaches, restaurants and shopping complexes in the area. Viejo Vallarta (Old Town) is the core of Puerto Vallarta that best represents the traditional, or typical, Mexico focused around the town  plaza and the landmark crown-topped church, Parroquia de Santa María de Guadalupe . The area teems with shops, galleries, restaurants and cantinas, local business and homes for residents. South of the Rio Cuale  features Olas Altas, or Los Muertos Beach, perhaps the most popular of the local beach areas, with a number of excellent budget hotels, popular dining establishments and small shops and residential sections. The South Shore squeezes elegant villas, condominium apartment building and a few luxury hotels between the hills and sea going past the “Los Arcos” landmark rocks, and ending at Mismaloya, a small resort settlement built over a beautiful cove. The Bay drive continues south to the picturesque Boca de Tomatlán cove and village.

History:

Unlike several major resort destinations in México, Puerto Vallarta was not created for 20th century tourism, but enjoys a definite history of its own. Puerto Vallarta was never a “sleepy little fishing village” as many stories relater. It was part of the pre-Columbian indigenous kingdom of Xalisco where the people took advantage of the fertile fields of the Valle de Banderas rather than looking to the sea for their main sustenance. Neither is Puerto Vallarta a bustling shipping port. Unlike Mazatlán, Manzanillo and Acapulco, Vallarta’s port facilities serve only cruise ships and recreational craft.

Valle de Banderas was named by the Spanish when a nephew of Hernan Cortez, Francisco Cortez de San Buenaventura assigned to colonize the Nayar empire of Xalisco in 1524, was returning from his explorations along the northern coast and encountered several thousand native warriors with brightly colored cloths flying from their bows. The day ended without a battle, but the confrontation remains a key part of local history.  

The village which is now Puerto Vallarta first began when the enterprising Guadalupe Sanchez established a trading post on the banks of Rio Cuale to supply salt to the gold and silver mines in the mountains toward Guadalajara. The ore was brought down the rives and loaded into ships waiting in the bay “Las Peñas” or Los Arcos”, the three offshore rock formations south of town, were navigational landmark from earlier times.The original name of the early municipality was Puerto de las Peñas, named for the prominent rocks. Puerto Vallarta, as the named of the town, was nor conferred until 1918, after a well-known governor of the State of Jalisco, Don Ignacio Luis Vallarta.  

The tale that john Huston put Puerto Vallarta on the tourism map with the filming of “Night of the Iguana” in 1963 starring Ava Gardner and Richard Burton is essentially true. (The sensation of the time was the presence of Elizabeth Taylor as Burton’s companion during the filming.) Actually, Canadians were among the first to “discover” Puerto Vallarta for tourism and they continue to come in large numbers year after year.  

Puerto Vallarta has been somewhat isolated by the surrounding Sierra Madre mountains and the lack of bridges over the rivers. There were no roads of consequence leading into town until 1967. Access was primarily by air and sea. Ground was broken for an international airport in 1966. Not until 1970 was Puerto Vallarta fully accessible by land, sea and air and Puerto Vallarta’s future as a leading tourism destination was assured.

Accommodations:

>PuertoVallarta has an inventory of over 14,000
visitors rooms, With this wide selection, where to stay may present a challenging for visitors  (or their travel agents) who have yet to find their favorite. The selection is amazingly abundant and the range encompasses economy inns to five star grand tourism resort hotels, hundreds of rental apartments in condominium buildings and time share complex, and a good selection of family owned and operated guest rooms and apartments for rent.  

The key consideration in selecting an accommodation, apart form price, which can run from $20 US to $200 US per night, is whether to recommend a large resort hotel with all its amenities, or whether to suggest a smaller hotel  and let the main attraction be the town itself. For those who wish to experience “the difference of México”, the latter may be more suitable.

Accommodations areas may be described as: Marina Vallarta- adjoining the airport and about 20 minutes from Viejo Vallarta, definitely up-market (the entire complex is only a few years old) and offers the beach-front grand tourism Westin Regina, Marriott Casa Grande and  Maeva, and five star Bel Air, Vidafel, Plaza Iguana, Nautilus and Velas Vallarta. Fully-furnished apartment rentals are readily available around the Marina AT half a dozen condominium developments. The Northern Hotels Zone- is a ten minute drive from Viejo Vallarta and is comprised of some the five star hotels with the Sheraton Buganvilias, Continental Plaza, Fiesta Americana and Krystal among the leading properties. Los Tules, an all-suite facility, is a good choice for those seeking a quieter  atmosphere  than the normal  energetic resort hotel. Viejo Vallarta -  offer called El Centro or Old Town, is the government, business and commercial center with only a few mid-market hotels with home and some apartments for rent. Here  is where the action is and where tourist arriving by land and sea congregate (when not on a beach, a boat or exploring the hinterland) to enjoy the shops and restaurants or stroll along the Malecon (seaside promenade) and taking in the scene. South of Rio Cuale – just over a bridge from Viejo Vallarta – and similar to it in many ways- has several dozen budget inns and three star hotels. Some of these are somewhat spartan, but a number are truly charming and enjoy consistently high occupancies. As noted above , Los Muertos beach is located here and attracts scores of people daily. The South Shore – begins only a five minute drive from Viejo Vallarta, is populated primarily by luxury villas (some are vacation rentals) and a number of higher-end condominiums apartments. Three leading hotels on this area are the leant Camino Real, the Presidente Intercontinental and the Holiday Inn Sun Spree (all-inclusive). Father to the South is the expansive La Jolla de Mismaloya.  Nuevo Vallarta – is an interesting, quiet resort development in Nayarit about thirty minutes from Puerto Vallarta. Paradise Village, the Sierra Raddisson, jack Tar Village and the Diamond Resort are the key properties along with various condominium apartment units, luxury private villas and a marina. 

Rrestaurants:

It would be impossible to provide information on Puerto Vallarta’s over 400 food and beverage outlets, cantinas (ladies welcome) and after-dark disco and music lounges. They take in fine dining to street stall and are found in abundance in each of the hotel zones. It is important to note there need be little concern for health problems in connection with food and beverage services. Such service establishments take car to use only purified water and ice (actually required by city regulations) and incidence of “turista” is practically non-existent. (As are, incidentally, mosquitoes and flies.)

To see and do:

Activities in Puerto Vallarta, as at any  seaside resort. Focus on the beach and the sea. Each hotel zone fronts one or more beaches and there are a number of isolated, undeveloped, easily accessible beaches all along the  shores of the Bahía de Banderas.

While board and sail surfing are not prime, parasailing, fishing, jet skiing, “banana’ tube rides and boating are extremely popular with plenty of services including boat rentals and snorkel/scuba outlets. Half a dozen dive shops offer certification training and excursions to off-shore islands. 

Blue water  fishing is outstanding and some reports state that Puerto Vallarta provides more  billfish than  other west coast locations in México. The annual November Sailfish Tournament (Torneo de Pez Vela) celebrated its 43th year in 1998. Year around, trolling and bottom fishing offer opportunities for catching your own lunch or dinner. Sightseeing-by-sea is liable to offer cavorting dolphins year around and, with luck, manta rays. Humpback whales mate in the bay in winter months and provide memorable experience indeed.

Excursions by sightseeing boats are among the real treats and include day cruses and sunset sails. A very popular experience is a day cruise to one of the tree beaches at the south end of the bay and not accessible by land: Yelapa, Quimixto and Las Animas – with lunch ashore in palm-thatched shelters called “palapas”. Land trips include a drive to villages and beaches along the north shore of the bay, horseback rides into Puerto Vallarta’s hinterland (day trips are the rule, but overnights can also be arranged), mountain bike rentals and general sightseeing tours. All are offered by tour and concierge desks. Another unique day trip centers around luncheon at one of three jungle restaurants overlooking cascading streams at the far en of the South Shore.

Golf and tennis? Most certainly. One fine 18 hole course is located at Marina Vallarta and another near Nuevo Vallarta in Nayarit. Tennis courts are part of every resort hotel, and three tennis centers exist – a championship complex is part of the Continental Plaza Hotel with some courts under roof, one at Isla Iguana near the Marina and the Vallarta Doral Racquet Club. Most major hotels feature a weekly “Mexican Fiesta” dinner and show extravaganza, all open to the public for the price of admission.

After dark, Puerto Vallarta remains in business but, after a long day of touring, shopping, sunning or sailing, to town is fairly quiet by midnight – with the exception of a variety of lively discotheques around town and at the leading hotels which are more willing to greet the dawn.

A highlight of every visit to Vallarta is the shopping. Boutiques abound, but specialize in general beach and sportswear; no one is overwhelmed by a barrage of expansive designer outlets. Puerto Vallarta is well suited for the modest budget. Jewelry, paintings an handicrafts by resident Mexican and foreign artist are easily found. The local Artisans Market (sometime called the Flea Market, which it isn’t has dozens of stalls selling local handicrafts, clothing and souvenirs.

Art galleries deserve special mention as Puerto Vallarta’s ambiance and the town’s interest in culture have created a leading artistic center of painters and sculptors.

Destination companies in Puerto Vallarta coordinate arrivals, transfers, sightseeing, meetings and conventions, incentive company and travel and tour agency needs.

A summing up

While every destination in México has something to offer the visitor, Puerto Vallarta has everything: beaches, traditional Mexican village atmosphere, great dining, good entertainment, excellent shopping, activities galore, and fun! All at moderate to low prices.

A new pre-Colombian site has been discovered and excavations begun in Ixtapa, a few miles north of Vallarta in Jalisco.  

Importantly, Vallarta is committed to improvement. An Airport terminal expansion has recently been completed, and the four lane boulevard all the way from the airport into town has been lined with tall palms. A new sewer and  water distribution system has been installed and the famed cobblestone streets have been reset in concrete for permanence.

Ecotourism, and indeed ecology in general, takes a very high priority in Puerto Vallarta . Regular beach and bay cleanups are schedule and a very serious turtle protection program in place are among the active ecological efforts.

The people of Puerto Vallarta sincerely believe that their town delivers the a higher degree of over-all visitor satisfaction than any other destination in México. Surveys find that few visitors are nothing less than enthusiastic about Vallarta’s unique ambiance and well developed (and still developing) tourism attractions.