15 Best Sights in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

If you have visited Puerto Vallarta before, maybe you remember that its malecón used to have cars between the boardwalk and the shops and nightclubs. But in 2012 Puerto Vallarta's beloved walkway underwent a huge renovation that closed it to traffic and transformed it into a highly enjoyable (and quiet) pedestrian walkway. The scene now takes in runners, skaters, and bicyclists, as well as traditional bronze sculptures. There is talk of reopening it to cars to cater to local businesses negatively affected by the loss of traffic, but for now you can enjoy it as a lovely pedestrian promenade.

You know how in New York they reserved a huge piece of much-coveted land for Central Park? Well, something like that happened in Puerto Vallarta with the Estero El Salado. This estuary right in the middle of the city has been declared a protected area featuring spectacular examples of biodiversity. Boat tours go deep into El Salado from Tuesday to Saturday at 11 am and 3 pm. Get ready to see plenty of crocodiles up close and personal in their natural habitat, as well as a variety of birds and impressive vegetation. There is a museum and a tower offering stunning views of the estuary and the city. Call or write ahead (via the website) to book a tour.

There was a time when Los Muertos Pier was a sad piece of concrete extending a few meters into the sea, but that changed in 2013 when it was replaced by a beautifully designed pier that underwent years of renovations. The new pier was an instant hit and has become one of the most recognizable landmarks in Puerto Vallarta. It's perfect for a romantic walk, for reading a book while listening to the sound of the waves, and for viewing at night when it lights up the buzzing Los Muertos Beach. Oh, and it also serves as a pier! You can get a boat from here to visit the amazing beaches south of Puerto Vallarta, such as Yelapa, Quimixto, Las Animas, and many more.

South of Playa Mora on Tenacatita Bay, this beach (whose name means "Mouth of the Iguanas") of fine gray-blond sand is wide and flat, and it stretches for several kilometers. Gentle waves make it great for swimming, boogie boarding, and snorkeling, but beware the undertow. Some enthusiasts fish from shore. It's a great place for jogging or walking on the beach, as there's no slope. There are a couple of beach restaurants and an RV park here. The entrance is at Km 17. The place goes completely bananas every year during one weekend in August when the International Beach Festival Boca de Iguanas takes place. Facilities: Snorkeling; camping facilities, restrooms, showers, food concessions. Best for: swimming; snorkeling; surfing.

About 11 km (6½ mi) south of Bahía Chamela, this beach is named for the careyes (hawksbill) turtles that lay eggs here. It's a lovely soft-sand beach framed by headlands. When the water's not too rough, snorkeling is good around the rocks, where you can also fish. There's a small restaurant at the north end of the beach, and often you can arrange to go out with a local fisherman (about $25 per hour). Water-loving birds can be spotted around the lagoon that forms at the south end of the bay. Facilities: Birding, fishing, snorkeling; food concessions. Best for: swimming; snorkeling.

A sylvan beach with no services lies down a rutted dirt road about 82 km (50 miles) south of El Tuito and 115 km (70 miles) south of PV. The road is negotiable only by high-clearance passenger cars and smallish RVs. The reward for 8 km (5 miles) of bone-jarring travel is a beautiful rocky point, Punta Chalacatepec, with a sweep of protected white-sand beach to the north that's perfect for swimming and bodysurfing. There's a fish camp here, so you may find some rather scraggly-looking dudes on this isolated beach. Admire the tidal pools at the point during low tide. Take a walk along the open-ocean beach south of the point, where waves crash more dramatically and discourage swimming. To get here, turn toward the beach at the town of José María Morelos (at Km 88). Just after 8 km (5 miles), leave the main road (which bears right) and head to the beach over a smaller track. From here it's less than 1½ km (1 mile) to the beach. At this writing, an airport was being built near the county seat, Tomatlán, and the beach was slated for hotels not yet named. Facilities: None. Best for: swimming; surfing; walking.

This beautiful, 2-km-long (1-mi-long) beach is little more than a kilometer (half a mile) in from the highway, near the southern edge of Bahía de Tenacatita, 193 km (120 mi) south of PV and 25 km (15½ mi) north of Barra de Navidad (at Km 14). Informal hotels and restaurants are interspersed with small businesses and modest houses along the town's main street. Rocks dot the gray-gold sands and edge both ends of the wide beach; facing the sand are attractive, unpretentious vacation homes favoring a Venetian palate of ochre and brick red. The bay is calm. At the beach road's north end, gigantic, rubbery-looking crocodiles lie heaped together just out of harm's way in a mangrove swamp. The fishing here is excellent; boat owners on the beach can take you out for snapper, sea bass, and other pescado for $20–$25 an hour. Facilities: Fishing; food concessions. Best for: swimming; walking; sunset.

Twenty-one kilometers (13 mi) south of La Manzanilla, Bahía de Navidad represents the end of the Costalegre at the border with Colima State. First up (from north to south) is San Patricio–Melaque, the coast's most populous town, with about 12,000 people. (It's actually two towns that have now met in the middle.) While parts of town look dilapidated or abandoned, its long, coarse-white-sand beach is beautiful and has gentle waves. Restaurants, small hotels, homes, and tall palms line the beach, which slopes down to the water. About 5 km (3½ mi) east of Barra de Navidad, which shares Navidad Bay, Melaque's beach curves around for several kilometers to end in a series of jagged rocks poking from the water. If you plop down in a seat under a shade umbrella its owner will soon show up. Pay about $5 and stay as long as you like. Fishermen here will take anglers out in search of dorado, tuna, wahoo, swordfish, mackerel, and others. The best swimming and boogie boarding are about half the length of town, in front of El Dorado restaurant.Facilities: Banana-boat rides, boogie boarding, fishing, Jet Skis, kayaking, snorkeling, beach umbrellas. Best for: surfing; swimming; snorkeling.

Near the north end of Playa Tenacatita, this pretty stretch of sand has a coral reef close to the beach, making it an excellent place to snorkel. Local fishermen take interested parties out on their boats, either fishing for tuna, dorado, or bonita or searching for wildlife such as dolphins and turtles. Facilities: Fishing, snorkeling; food concessions. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.

Also on Bahía de Chamela, this lovely beach is fringed in lanky coconut palms and backed by blue foothills. There are camping and RV accommodations and plenty of opportunities for shore fishing, swimming, and snorkeling. Almost every pretty beach in Mexico has its own humble restaurant; this one is no exception. Facilities: Fishing, snorkeling; camping facilities, food concessions. Best for: swimming; snorkeling; walking.

The handful of islands just off lovely Bahía de Chamela, about 131 km (81 mi) south of PV, protects the beaches from strong surf. The best place on the bay for swimming is wide, flat Playa Perula (turnoff at Km 76, then 3 km [2 mi] on dirt road), in the protective embrace of a cove just below the Punta Perula headland. Fishermen there take visitors out to snorkel around the islands (about $45 for up to 10 people) or to hunt for dorado, tuna, and mackerel (about $23 per hour for one to four people); restaurants on the soft beige sand sell the same as fresh fillets and ceviche. Facilities: Fishing, snorkeling; food concessions. Best for: swimming; snorkeling.

Named for the bay on which it lies, Tenacatita is a lovely beach of soft sand about 34 km (20 mi) north of San Patricio–Melaque and 172 km (106 mi) south of PV. Dozens of identical seafood shacks line the shore; birds cruise the miles of beach, searching for their own fish. Waves crash against clumps of jagged rocks at the north end of the beach, which curves gracefully around to a headland. The water is sparkling blue. There's camping for RVs and tents at Punta Hermanos, where the water is calm and good for snorkeling, and local men offer fishing excursions ($50–$60 for one to four people) and tours of the mangroves ($27). Of the string of restaurants on the beach, we recommend La Fiesta Mexicana.Facilities: Fishing, snorkeling; camping facilities, food concessions. Best for: swimming; snorkeling; walking.

Here, you can walk south from Playa Careyes along the dunes, although guards protect sea turtle nests by barring visitors during the summer and fall nesting seasons. A road from the highway at Km 49.5 gains access to Playa Teopa by car; ask the guard for permission to enter this way, as you'll need to pass through private property to gain access to the beach. Facilities: None. Best for: swimming; walking.

On 20 acres of land 19 km (12 miles) south of town, the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens features more than 3,000 species of plants. Set within the tropical dry forest at 1,300 feet above sea level, its trails lead to a stream where you can swim. You can also see palm, agave, and rose gardens; a tree fern grotto; an orchid house; and displays of Mexican wildflowers and carnivorous plants. There is free parking and a free guided tour daily at 1 pm, from December through Easter. The lovely, open-sided Hacienda de Oro restaurant serves an array of starters as well as pizza and Mexican dishes. Beverages include wine and a full bar. Visit the website to arrange a four-hour birding (via ATV) or hiking tour with lunch, for $85 per person. A taxi here will cost about $20, but for less than a dollar, you can take the "El Tuito" bus from the corner of Aguacate and Venustiano Carranza streets. Slather on insect repellent before you go, and take some with you. This is the jungle, and jejenes (no-see-ums), mosquitoes, and other biting bugs will definitely attack.

On the nine-hour Tequila Express train ride, blue agave fields zip by as you sip tequila and listen to roving mariachis. After a distillery tour, there's lunch, folk dancing, and charro (cowboy) demonstrations. Make reservations up to a month ahead; from outside Mexico you'll need to use Ticketmaster, which adds an 8% surcharge.