Los Arcos National Marine Park is a national marine park in Mexico. It is located in the

Bahía de Banderas Bahía de Banderas (, Spanish for ''Bay of Flags'') is a bay on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, within the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. It is also the name of an administrative municipality, located on the bay in Nayarit state. The port ...

, near the settlements of

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...

and

Mismaloya Mismaloya comes from Nahuatl: ichmaloyan"place where they grab fish with their hands" is a small village, located on the coast of the Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco alixco"on the surface of the sand". Mismaloya lies on Highw ...

. The arches themselves are called Los Arcos de Mismaloya, "the Mismaloya Arches" in Spanish. The islets and below is home to many types of wildlife, from birds to sea turtles.

History

Before becoming islets, the arches were hills part of the Sierra Madre Occidental, near the coast. The ocean gradually eroded the hills with granite centers, exposing them while also dividing them from the mainland. The Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Development declared in 1975 that the area was to be a Refuge Area for the Protection of Marine Flora and Fauna, and in 1984 it was reclassified to be a National Marine Park. It was declared a Refuga Area due to the extensive reef damage and overfishing the area was suffering to.

Description

Los Arcos National Marine Park Arches April 2023 03

The islands are composed of granite. There are five islets, south of Puerto Vallarta. The three largest arches are named Roca de Los Arcos (The Rock of the Arches), Roca de la Tortuga (Turtle Rock), and Roca del Diablo (Devil's Rock). Devil's Rock is named so due to one of its cliffs' shadows looking similar to

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

. The waters around the park may be the deepest in the Bay of Banderas, going as deep as . They are not very far from the city, being able to be seen from the downtown district.

Wildlife

The park is an important breeding ground for birds such as osprey,

blue-footed boobies The blue-footed booby (''Sula nebouxii'') is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is one of six species of the genus '' Sula'' – known as boobies. It is easily recognizable by its distincti ...

, parakeets,

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

s, and

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

s. Marine life that can be found in the waters below include the king angelfish,

Pacific sergeant major ''Abudefduf troschelii'', the Pacific sergeant major or Panama sergeant major, is a species of damselfish belonging to the family Pomacentridae that can be identified by the pronounced black stripes on the lateral sides of the fish.Wibowo, K., Ko ...

, Cortez sea chub, giant damselfish, Moorish idol,

Cortez rainbow wrasse The Cortez rainbow wrasse (''Thalassoma lucasanum'') is a species of wrasse native to the eastern Pacific Ocean from Baja California to Peru, as well as around the Galapagos Islands. It is a reef inhabitant, occurring in small schools from the s ...

giant oceanic manta ray The giant oceanic manta ray, giant manta ray, or oceanic manta ray (''Mobula birostris'') is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae, and the largest type of ray in the world. It is circumglobal and is typically found in tropical and subtropica ...

, Mexican goatfish, blacknosed butterflyfish, yellowtail surgeonfish,

zebra moray The zebra moray (''Gymnomuraena zebra'') is a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Gymnomuraena'', though it sometimes has been included in ''Echidna'' instead. Description The zebra moray is co ...

, garden eels, eagle rays, octopuses, lobsters, seahorses, pufferfish, parrotfish, trumpetfish, cornetfish, clownfish, nudibranchs, anemones, and (rarely) sea turtles. From November to March, humpback whales, orcas, and dolphins are more common. Bioluminescent plankton can be found in the area at night and are a major attraction.

Activities

Tourists and locals from Puerto Vallarta commonly visit to swim,

dive Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, snorkel,

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

, and

paddleboard Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneel ...

. The larger arches are so big that a motorboat can be driven through them. A rocky wall on the western side of the islets allows divers to head deeper into the bay, with two dive sites.

References

{{reflist National parks of Mexico Marine parks of Mexico Protected areas of Jalisco Landforms of Jalisco Puerto Vallarta