Puerto Vallarta: a town that kept its center
Puerto Vallarta is the rare Mexican beach destination where the old town is still the good part. Cobbled streets running up the hill, a church with a crown on it, a seafront promenade with sculptures on it, and a bay big enough that whales come into it every winter. The resorts came later and mostly went north, which is why the center survived.
North to south, the bay in order
The airport sits about 6 km north of the center, with the hotel zone between the two.
Nuevo Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit
North of the airport, across the state line. Large all-inclusives on a long flat beach, marina, golf. A different holiday from the town.
Marina Vallarta
Right by the airport: a marina district with hotels and a golf course. Convenient, and not the town.
Hotel Zone
Between marina and center, the older strip of high-rise hotels on Playa Camarones and Playa Las Glorias.
El Centro
The old town: the malecón, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Cuale river island and the steep cobbled streets behind.
Zona Romántica
South of the river. Playa de los Muertos, the most restaurants per block in Vallarta, and the heart of a long-established LGBTQ+ scene.
The south shore
Beyond the last road: Las Ánimas, Quimixto, Yelapa — villages reachable only by boat.
The malecón and the old town
The malecón is a kilometer of seafront promenade, pedestrian, with bronze sculptures along it and the Pacific on one side. At sunset the whole town walks it. Behind it the streets climb: the church with its filigree crown, the Cuale island with its market, and the steps that give the Zona Romántica its view.
It is all walkable. From a hotel in the center or Zona Romántica you will use a taxi only to get to the airport.
The beaches you cannot drive to
South of Boca de Tomatlán the road stops. The villages beyond it — Las Ánimas, Quimixto, Majahuitas, Yelapa — are reached by water taxi from Boca or from the pier at Los Muertos, and they are the best beach day in Vallarta. Yelapa has a waterfall and stayed off the grid for years.
Check the last boat back before you settle in with a beer. It is the same mistake everywhere, and here it means staying the night.
Whales, December to March
Humpbacks come into Banderas Bay to calve, roughly December to March, and the bay is deep enough that they come close. Trips are regulated: licensed operators, minimum distances, no chasing. It is the single best thing about coming here in winter.
Practicalities
From the airport
About 6 km to the center. Marina Vallarta is minutes; Nuevo Vallarta is north and in another state.
Getting around
Buses run the coast road constantly and cost very little. The center and Zona Romántica are walkable, steeply.
Rain
June to October is the wet season, warm, green and much cheaper. It rains hard in the afternoon, not all day.
The beach
Playa de los Muertos in town is swimmable. The bay is generally calmer than the open Pacific coast further out.
Keep planning
Puerto Vallarta · Puerto Vallarta Airport · Puerto Vallarta
Traveler questions
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Sources
- Puerto Vallarta Tourism Boardvisitpuertovallarta.com · checked 2026-09-25
