PUERTO VALLARTA · MEXICO
Where the mountains meet the Pacific.
The Marietas Hidden Beach and the Los Arcos snorkel, Sierra Madre ziplines and jungle ATVs, downtown taco tours, the winter whales, and the sunset sail across Banderas Bay.
Only here
Three places that are only here.
Snorkel trips and beach days exist on every coast in Mexico. A sand-floored crater you swim into, the bay’s own drilled-through arches, and a village with no road to it — those three belong to Banderas Bay alone.
The Hidden Beach
Playa del Amor
A crater in the open Pacific, blasted open a century ago and now a perfect ring of sand roofed by stone. You swim in through a low sea cave when the tide allows. The islands around it are a protected boobie and frigate sanctuary, so daily numbers are capped — this is one beach you cannot simply turn up to.
- 1 Islas Marietas & BBQ lunch at Majahuitas
- 2 Marietas Islands Snorkel Tour & Hidden Beach
- 3 Marietas Islands snorkeling & Hidden beach (w/ restrictions)
The bay’s marine park
The Los Arcos Arches
Off the south shore, a cluster of granite islets the sea has drilled clean through — arches, tunnels and an 1,800-foot wall that falls away off the back. It is one of Mexico’s oldest marine sanctuaries, full of rays, turtles and tropical fish, and after dark the plankton lights the water electric blue.
- 1 Boat and Snorkel Tour to 5 Islands of Los Arcos
- 2 Bioluminescence by kayak or SUP to Los Arcos Puerto Vallarta
- 3 Bioluminescence & sunset local boat tour to Los Arcos Sanctuary
No road in
Yelapa
A fishing village at the foot of the bay with no road to it — you arrive by panga from the pier. A path behind the beach climbs to a waterfall, palapas serve the morning’s catch, and the pie ladies walk the sand. It runs on its own time, twenty minutes by boat from a city of a quarter-million.
- 1 Mega Yacht ALL INCLUSIVE Yelapa Waterfall & Snorkeling Adventure
- 2 Islas Marietas & BBQ lunch at Majahuitas
- 3 Yelapa Waterfall, BBQ at Exclusive Majahuitas Beach & Open bar
Start with the standout
The one experience everyone books first.
More travellers build their Vallarta trip around this one than anything else on the bay.
The classics
Puerto Vallarta’s Most Popular Tours
The Marietas, Los Arcos, the Sierra ATVs and the downtown food tours. The days most travellers come to the bay for.
Where to begin
The days a Vallarta trip is built around.
The Marietas Islands, the Los Arcos snorkel, the bay cruises, the Sierra Madre off-road runs, the old-town food tours and the winter whales. The handful of days most trips are planned around — and the best way to do each.
The big day trip
How to do the Marietas Islands.
The islands sit an hour offshore inside a national park, and the Hidden Beach is a capped, swim-in-only permit — so how you go decides what you actually get to see. Three ways out to the Marietas, by budget and by crowd.
The Sierra Madre
The jungle starts behind the beach.
Behind the bay the mountains go straight up into cloud forest. Quads and RZRs grind up the riverbeds to Las Palmas and the Jorullo Bridge, zip lines run the canopy over the gorge, and trails climb to waterfalls you can swim under. Tequila and raicilla ranches sit at the top of the road.
Read the guide: the best Sierra Madre tours →Eat & drink
A taco town with a tequila habit.
Puerto Vallarta eats well. Evening street-food walks through the old town, market tastings and ceviche on the sand, cooking classes over a comal, and tasting rooms pouring tequila, mezcal and the local Sierra spirit, raicilla. Come hungry.
Find a food or drink tour →The bay
One of the biggest bays in Mexico.
Banderas Bay curves forty-two kilometres from Punta Mita to Cabo Corrientes, deep enough that humpback whales winter here and wide enough to swallow the horizon. Cross it by catamaran, sail it at sunset, or ride a panga to a beach with no road in.
Cruises & boat trips →December to March
The bay is a humpback nursery.
Every winter humpback whales swim down from Alaska to calve in the warm water of Banderas Bay, and from December to March you ride out to watch them breach. Licensed boats keep their distance, and the biologist crews drop a hydrophone so you hear the song under the hull.
- 1 Watch and Swim with Dolphins in the Wild
- 2 Whale and Dolphin Watching with a Biologist in Puerto Vallarta
- 3 Sunsets and Whales Mega Yachts ALL INCLUSIVE: Puerto Vallarta
By intensity
Pick your day, by pulse rate.
The bay runs the whole range. Slow it down with a sunset sail, take the classic snorkel-and-boat day, or throw yourself off the canopy bridge — whatever speed you came for.
Take it slow
Sunsets and slow water.A catamaran sunset sail across the bay, a downtown taco crawl, or a panga out to a quiet south-shore beach for the afternoon.
Classic adventure
In the water, on the bay.Snorkelling the Los Arcos arches, the all-day boat to the Marietas, a horseback ride to a ranch, and the dolphins offshore.
Full throttle
Off the bridge, into the canopy.The Jorullo Bridge canopy lines, RZRs through the riverbeds, parasailing over the bay and scuba down on the reef.
Up the coast
The coast road north to Sayulita.
Cross the state line into Nayarit and the bay opens into surf towns and headlands — Buceriás and its Sunday market, the millionaires’ point at Punta Mita, San Pancho’s one long beach, and Sayulita, the cobblestoned surf town strung with bunting and boards. An easy day trip, a different state of mind.
See all 72 Riviera Nayarit day trips →Golden hour
The whole bay faces the sunset.
Vallarta points due west into open ocean, which is why the sunsets are the thing people remember. Sail out on a catamaran as the sky turns copper, and on a moonless night the wake lights up with bioluminescence the whole way back in.
Sunset & bioluminescence cruises →By place
The bay, and the coast either side.
Puerto Vallarta for the old town and the Malecón. The Marietas for the Hidden Beach. Yelapa and the south shore by boat. Sayulita up the coast for the surf. San Sebastián in the mountains. Buceriás across the bay in Nayarit.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
Snorkel the arches, sail the bay, ride a quad into the Sierra or zip the canopy. Eat your way through the old town, taste the tequila and mezcal, or head out for the whales.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time on the bay? Here is a long weekend that hits the bay, the Sierra and the old town without a wasted hour.
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