Puerto Vallarta Travel Guide

Bahía de Banderas is the largest bay on Mexico's Pacific coast, spanning the states of Jalisco and Nayarit with its mouth open to the Pacific. From December to March humpback whales come to breed here, and whale-watching by boat is the region's signature seasonal activity; within the bay are the Los Arcos reefs, many beaches and fishing villages.

The name sounds macabre, but this is Puerto Vallarta's liveliest and most cheerful beach. Playa de los Muertos means Beach of the Dead, and half a dozen competing legends explain it: a cemetery once stood here, pirates fought locals on the sand, a quarrel over buried treasure turned deadly, bones in ceramic vessels surfaced when the first hotels were built, or sailors from one of Hernan Cortes's ships wrecked in Banderas Bay washed ashore in the 16th century. A late-1950s attempt to rebrand it Playa del Sol, Beach of the Sun, never stuck. The reality today is golden sand, calm bay water, a line of restaurants and beach clubs, and the open, festive street life of the Zona Romantica, one of Mexico's leading LGBT-friendly districts. Its landmark is Los Muertos Pier, opened in January 2013: architect Jose de Jesus Torres Vega's white sail-like spiral ramp reaches about 100 metres into the bay, with entrance plaza, walkway, round viewing platform and boat landing covering 665 square metres. CNN en Espanol listed it among the world's nine most beautiful piers in 2014, and a carbon-fibre strengthening and lighting overhaul finished in late 2023. The pier is also where water taxis leave for Yelapa, Las Animas, Quimixto and other southern coves reachable only by boat.