Puerto Vallarta is very accessible on foot, it is easy to walk everywhere in Old Town Puerto Vallarta, also called "Viejo Vallarta". The Malecon sea wall, Main Plaza and Cathedral of Guadalupe downtown are located in the heart of the city; this area offers a wide variety of upscale boutiques, world class restaurants and high end art galleries. The main public beach, Los Muertos, is in the "Romantic Zone" and runs parallel to Olas Altas street, just a 10 minute walk south of downtown, a quaint area with sidewalk cafes, resort clothing stores, coffee shops and internet cafes. Basilio Badillo or "Restaurant Row" is also in the Romantic Zone and is lined with unique jewelry and clothing stores such as Viva, art galleries and of course, restaurants.

The famous Gringo Gulch area downtown is quite picturesque with winding cobblestone streets and unique old world charm. The exclusive neighborhood was named for the influx of North Americans that invaded the narrow river road and created an artistic and happening scene after the wild publicity generated from the filming of “Night of the Iguana" in 1963. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton owned a vacation home in this area until his death in 1984. Casa Kimberley is now a museum and gives daily tours. While filming “Night of the Iguana", Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, John Huston, Burton and Taylor all stayed in these villas on the hillside behind the Cathedral of Guadalupe, fabulous homes where the celebrities and their jet set friends hung out, properties such as Villa Leonarda, Casa Tabachin and Casa de la Luna, homes that can still be rented to this day.

Conchas Chinas is a beautiful residential area on the edge of town as you head south along the scenic coastal highway to Mismaloya. Developed in the 1970’s when the affluent crowd from Gringo Gulch expanded south, multi million dollar villas line the highway that divides this prestigious neighborhood. The beach side of the highway is Lower Conchas Chinas; villas perched along the mountainside pertain to Upper Conchas Chinas.
The beaches in Conchas Chinas are exquisite; a series of white sandy beaches set between volcanic rock reefs. It makes a pleasant walk and you will find the protected coves perfect for swimming and snorkeling. There is a beautiful white sand beach below Club Alexandra and a great beach front restaurant called Lindo Mar, below El Set Restaurant.

The rugged, jungle covered terrain along the south shore is impressive and is well worth a trip down the curvy mountain highway that hugs the coastline. The bus stop for Mismaloya and Boca de Tomatlan orginates at Basilio Badillo and Constitución in the Romantic Zone. Buses leave every 10 minutes and cost $4.50 pesos, stopping at all the beaches, hotels and condos as you travel south along the shore. The last stop is Boca de Tomatlan, the last cove you can get to by car on the south part of the bay. At Boca the bus turns around and heads back to town.

Experiencing the bay from the water is a must; you can catch a water taxi south every morning at the Los Muertos Beach pier at 10:00 and 11:00 am. You can also take the bus to Boca de Tomatlan, then take a water taxi from there, a much shorter boat ride. There are many secluded and pristine beaches on the bay only accessible by boat. Some have small villages with beachfront palapa restaurants. The water taxi will take you to these jungle communities: Las Animas, Quimixto (where you can ride horseback up to a jungle waterfall) and Yelapa, a bohemian artist's enclave, the last village on the south part of the bay.

For private excursions on the bay, we work with a very reliable captain that has a 23 foot Boston Whaler with outboard motor and canopy. Chato, and his brother Chipol, have a dive shop in Mismaloya ; Chato will take you snorkeling, fishing or just to have lunch on the beach in Yelapa for about $120 usd for half a day, tip not included, boat seats up to 6-8 persons comfortably. For a jungle getaway, Yelapa has a great beach front hotel, La Lagunita, with private bungalows for about $40 usd/night. It is said the best way to see Yelapa is at night and don’t forget to try the potent agave liquor Raicilla, distilled in the mountains above the beach.

We can also set you up with sunset cruises or day trips on sail boats. The Eleganz is a fabulous state of the art catamaran with an attentive professional crew that can arrange anything from box lunches to catered cocktail parties and oceanfront dining with grilled fish and white wine on a secluded beach for your outing.

The Bay of Banderas is teeming with wildlife. Humpback whales and orcas swim these protected waters with their young; spinner dolphin and porpoises cruise the bay by the hundreds, putting on spectacular shows in the wild. You can also swim with the dolphins in a controlled environment with Vallarta Adventures. Whale watching tours take place November through March, peak viewing times are January and February.

Fishing is unsurpassed in this part of the Pacific, particularly in the warm weather months. There are many experienced sport fishing charters specializing in sail fish, marlin and tuna. These are large boats with deck hands and fighting chairs that go outside the bay, cost anywhere from $400 to $1200 usd depending on the size and condition of the boat and amount of time spent on the water. We work with Charter Dreams, an outfit that has been featured in Western Outdoor News. There signature vessel is the "Anticipation", a 38 ft Bertram with an American captain, salon with A/C and fly bridge that seats 8 persons. Mahi Mahi/Dolphin (called "Dorado" in Spanish), smaller tuna, Bonita, Rooster Fish and Wahoo can be caught inside the bay. Every November, the Puerto Vallarta Club de Pesca hosts the International Sailfish Tournament, a popular event with local and international sports fisherman for over 50 years.

The north side of Puerto Vallarta features the Hotel zone and Marina. The Marina is home to fabulous yachts and ocean going ships from all over the world. The area has a very North American feel; landscaped boulevards with condominium complexes, luxury hotels, upscale home decorative stores, a golf course and an array of highly acclaimed restaurants overlooking the docks. Nuevo Vallarta is about 10 minutes past the Marina, an area with residential and exclusive membership projects and a long stretch of white sandy beach with a great beachfront restaurant called Etc . You might want to rent a car to take a trip even farther north to Sayulita or San Pancho, quaint surfing towns on the Pacifico coast outside the bay, the new hotspot for real estate development and also very popular with Americans.

Puerto Vallarta has become a major golf destination in the last few years with 7 golf courses in the area. Several are Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf designed, including the Marina Club de Golf, Vista Vallarta, which hosted the World Cup in 2002, and the fabulous Four Seasons Resort in Punta de Mita.

Canopy rides are the new trend: take a ride harnessed to cables suspended from rainforest trees, whizzing across river gorges in the mountains south of Boca de Tomatlan. Horseback riding is available at beautiful ranches with guides that take you on tours through the jungle.

One of our local magazines, Vallarta Lifestyles, is a great source of information on things to do in the area, and includes an extensive review of our top restaurants. There will be several copies at your vacation home, along with maps and an information book. Your rental agent will provide you with extra information upon your arrival and be happy to set you up on any tours, fishing charters or dolphin adventures. Please call our office at 221-5434; also feel free to contact us to make restaurant reservations or call taxis for you.

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