Puerto Vallarta
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Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city on the Pacific Ocean's
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 ...
in the
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
state of
Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the
Guadalajara Metropolitan Area The Guadalajara metropolitan area (officially, in es, Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara) is the most populous metropolitan area of the Mexican state of Jalisco and the third largest in the country after Greater Mexico City and Monterrey. It incl ...
. The City of Puerto Vallarta is the government seat of the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta, which comprises the city as well as population centers outside of the city extending from
Boca de Tomatlán Boca de Tomatlán, colloquially shortened to Boca, is a small fishing village in the state of Jalisco in Mexico. It is popular with Tourism in Mexico, tourists visiting the nearby city of Puerto Vallarta due to its beaches. Geography Boca de T ...
to the Nayarit border (the Ameca River). The city is located at . The municipality has an area of . To the north, it borders the southwest of the state of Nayarit. To the east, it borders the municipality of Mascota and San Sebastián del Oeste, and to the south, it borders the municipalities of Talpa de Allende and Cabo Corrientes. Puerto Vallarta is named after Ignacio Vallarta, a former governor of Jalisco. In Spanish, ''Puerto Vallarta'' is frequently shortened to "Vallarta", while English speakers call the city P.V. for short. In Internet shorthand, the city is often referred to as PVR, after the International Air Transport Association airport code for its Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport.


History


Playa Los Muertos (Beach of the Dead)

In the 16th century,
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
explored the Pacific side of Mexico by ship. Cortés used the established port of
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
to resupply and anchor his ships along the journey. During the early 1500s, he sent two of his ships North to explore the coastline without him. One of his ships wrecked in Banderas Bay and all but three men were reportedly killed. It is believed the corpses of the lost sailors washed ashore. Native villagers encountered numerous corpses on the beach for days after the wreck.


Bahía de Banderas (Bay of Flags)

Pirates were known to attack ships along the Pacific Coast of Mexico as early as the 16th century. In the early 1500s the famous explorer
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
set out to establish a
safe harbor A safe harbor or harbour is literally a "place of shelter and safety, esp. for ships". It is used in many contexts: Film and television * Safe harbor (broadcasting), established in 1978 in the US, the time period in a television schedule during wh ...
, north of Acapulco, to provide protection for cargo ships sailing the planned Manila galleon trade route to the Philippines. Just several hundred miles north, he discovered a large bay at the village of Tintoque. According to local legend, pirates were already anchoring in this bay and regularly pillaged local villagers while burying treasure in the hills. When Cortes and his crew set foot on the beach, a mob of angry villagers believed he and his crew were pirates and surrounded them with native weapons in hand. According to his journal, a Catholic friar accompanying the crew began praying to the Lord for help. Villagers were mesmerized by the red flags the crew carried and suddenly lowered their weapons, allowing the explorers to pass peacefully. It's likely the villagers had seen the flags before when they floated ashore with the dead crew from a Cortés ship that wrecked earlier in the bay. This is how the Bahía de Banderas was named. Francisco Cortés de Buenaventura, the nephew of
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
, is said to have formalized the bay's name during his own conquering of the region in 1525. In the following years, Tintoque became a major port and safe harbor for ships traveling the Manila galleon.


Pre-Hispanic times to the 19th century

Few details are known about the history of the area prior to the 19th century. There is archaeological evidence to suggest continuous human habitation from 580 BC, and similar evidence (from sites near Ixtapa and in Col. Lázaro Cárdenas) that the area belonged to the Aztlán culture which dominated
Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
, Nayarit and
Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
from . The limited evidence in occidental Mexican archeology have limited the current knowledge about pre-historic life in the area.


El Carrizal and Las Peñas – 19th century

The official founding story of Las Peñas and thus of Puerto Vallarta is that it was founded by Guadalupe Sánchez Torres, his wife Ambrosia Carrillo and some friends such as Cenobio Joya, Apolonio de Robles, Cleofas Peña and Martín Andrade, among others, on December 12, 1851, and was given the name of Las Peñas de Santa María de Guadalupe since it was the day dedicated to the virgin of Guadalupe. Although the purchase record of the property by Guadalupe Sanchez is dated 1859, his family lived there prior to the purchase year. There is however no doubt the development of Las Peñas into a self-sustaining village of any significant size happened in the 1860s as the mouth of the Cuale area was exploited to support the operations of the newly enfranchised Union en Cuale company. As such 1859 marks the beginning of Puerto Vallarta as a village. Twenty years later, by 1885, the village comprised about 250 homes and about 800 residents.


The modern resort – 20th century to present

The Mexican government invested significantly in transportation improvements, making Puerto Vallarta an easy travel destination. To make Puerto Vallarta accessible by jet aircraft the government developed the city's
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
. Ground transportation significantly improved. Government invested heavily in the development of highway and utility infrastructure. Another vital improvement for the city was the El Salado wharf (where the current cruise terminal is), inaugurated on June 1, 1970, making Puerto Vallarta Jalisco's first harbor town. During the mid-1980s, Puerto Vallarta experienced a rapid expansion of impromptu communities poorly served by even basic public services. This very low standard of living leveled out Puerto Vallarta's resort boom. In the late 1980s Puerto Vallarta's government worked to alleviate the situation by developing housing and infrastructure. But the legacy of the 1980s boom remains, as the outlying areas of Puerto Vallarta suffer from poor provision of basic services (i.e. water, sewage, roads).


Geography

Puerto Vallarta lies on a narrow coastal plain at the foot of the Sierras Cuale and San Sebastián, parts of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The plain widens to the north, reaching its widest point along the Ameca river. Three rivers flow from the Sierra through the area. From south to north they are the Cuale, the Pitillal, and the Ameca. A number of arroyos also run from the Sierra to the coastal plain. Many of the valleys of these rivers and arroyos are inhabited. Also development has to some extent spread up the hillsides from the coastal plain. The city proper comprises four main areas: the hotel zone along the shore to the north, Olas Altas – Colonia Emiliano Zapata to the south of the Cuale river (recently named '' Zona Romántica'' in some tourist brochures), the ''Centro'' along the shore between these two areas, and a number of residential areas to the east of the hotel zone. The oldest section of the town is the area of Col. Centro near the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially Hidalgo street.


Seismic history

Puerto Vallarta, like much of the west coast of North America, is prone to earthquakes, though Puerto Vallarta tends to experience only peripheral effects of earthquakes centered farther south. On 9 October 1995, an earthquake located off the Colima coast shook the crown from the top of the Roman Catholic Church.


Climate

Puerto Vallarta has a Tropical wet and dry climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Aw''), with dry winters and rainy summers. The average daily high temperature is ; average daily low temperature is ; average daily humidity is 75%. The rainy season extends from mid June through mid October, with most of the rain between July and September. August is the city's wettest month, with an average of 14 days with significant precipitation. Even during the rainy season precipitation tends to be concentrated in large rainstorms. Occasional tropical storms will bring thunderstorms to the city in November, though the month is typically dry. There is a marked dry season in the winter. February, March and April are the months with the least cloud cover. Hurricanes seldom strike Puerto Vallarta. In 2002, Hurricane Kenna, a category 5 hurricane, made landfall about northwest of Puerto Vallarta, and the city suffered some damage from the resulting storm surge. In 1971,
Hurricane Lily The name Lily or Lilly has been used for six tropical cyclones worldwide. In the Eastern Pacific Ocean: * Hurricane Lily (1967) * Hurricane Lily (1971) Hurricane Lily was a short-lived Category 1 hurricane of August 1971 that devastated th ...
, a category 1 hurricane, caused serious flooding on the Isla Cuale, prompting the city to relocate all of its residents to the new Colonia Palo Seco.


Hurricane Patricia

Hurricane Patricia, a Category 5 storm, became the most powerful
cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...
ever measured in the Western Hemisphere with sustained wind speeds up to . Hurricane Patricia was forecast to make landfall at Puerto Vallarta on the evening of October 23, 2015, with catastrophic damage predicted for the town and surrounding areas and the potential for mud slides. The storm changed from a Category 1 to a Category 5 in just 24 hours, thus catching some vacationers off guard and leaving many trapped in the town. The Jalisco state government put together 30 buses to evacuate tourists from the coast to
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
, a 5-hour ride inland. Manzanillo, Colima was also near the forecast catastrophic damage zone. Ultimately, Patricia weakened and made landfall south of Puerto Vallarta, sparing the city from any significant damage.


Economy

Nearly 80% of the workforce is employed in tourist related industries: hotels, restaurants, personal services, and transportation.


Tourism trends

Tourism in Puerto Vallarta has increased steadily over the years and makes up 80% of the city's economic activity in 2020. The high season for international tourism in Puerto Vallarta is from late November through March (or later, depending on the timing of the college spring break period in the U.S.) The city is especially popular with U.S. residents from the southern and western U.S. because of the number of direct flights between Puerto Vallarta and Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Minneapolis/St Paul and Chicago.


Real estate tourism

Puerto Vallarta has become a popular retirement destination for U.S. and Canadian retirees. This has created a number of neighborhoods within the Puerto Vallarta region that cater primarily to real estate tourism, such as the Hotel Zone, which stretches from downtown Vallarta to the airport and Marina Vallarta (near the airport), and Amapas and
Conchas Chinas Conchas Chinas is an affluent colonia directly south of Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The term Conchas Chinas means "Curled Shells" referring to the type of shell found only on the beaches of Conchas ...
, which are built into the mountain slightly south and behind Puerto Vallarta, and overlook the city and bay. Most recently the downtown area, especially in Emiliano Zapata (also known as the Romantic Zone), has seen a somewhat controversial trend of traditional homes being razed for the construction of condominium buildings. This region in recent years has been the most popular for Vallarta real estate tourism, with nearly 25% of all real estate sales for the region taking place there in 2019. The Vallarta tourism real estate tourism market is made up of both full-time retirees and a second-home owners, primarily from the United States. On average about 40% of buyers are American, with Mexican nationals consisting of 30% and Canadians and other foreign buyers making up the remaining 20%. Mexicans favor destinations such as Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Cancún not just for the sun and beach, but also as real estate investment to hedge their pesos as real estate in these regions is priced in USD, rather than in pesos like the rest of the country. Puerto Vallarta can be classified as a medium-ranged real estate market with a market consisting mostly of condominiums with the average price around US$320,000 in 2019. Any foreigner wishing to buy real estate in Puerto Vallarta (or anywhere along the coast of Mexico), can't own real estate there outright, but needs to establish a '' fideicommissum'' or beneficial trust which is held with a Mexican bank on the owner's behalf. It is not the same as holding the title. The trust is good for 50 years and can be renewed for another 50-year period.


LGBT tourism

Puerto Vallarta has developed into Mexico's premier
resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...
as a sort of satellite gay space for its big sister Guadalajara, much as Fire Island is to New York City and Palm Springs is to Los Angeles. It is now considered the most welcoming and gay-friendly destination in the country, dubbed the " San Francisco of Mexico."Howard L. Hughes. ''Pink tourism: holidays of gay men and lesbians''. CABI, 2006. 234 p. (110 p.) . Previously quite conservative, the municipal government has become increasingly supportive in recognising and accepting the LGBT tourism segment and supporting LGBT events such as Vallarta gay pride celebrations, which launched in 2013 and are now held annually to coincide with U.S. Memorial Day weekend. It boasts a gay scene, centered in the city's south-side '' Zona Romántica'', of hotels and
resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...
s as well as many bars, nightclubs and a gay beach on the main shore. Puerto Vallarta has been cited as the number one gay beach destination in Latin America, with city officials claiming a 5% tourism increase in 2013.


Population and growth rate for Puerto Vallarta

The major ''suburb'' is Bahia de Banderas in Nayarit across state lines, in which Nuevo Vallarta and Sayulita are localities. Ixtapa is a locality in PV, not to be confused with the municipality of Ixtapa in Guerrero state. sources: (locality & 2015 municipal) (municipal to 2010) sources: ''Cuaderno Estadistico Municipal'' Censo de Poblacion y Vivienda 2010.


Growth-related problems

Poverty remains a problem, fueled by the constant influx of persons seeking employment. Many areas of the city are still poorly served by roads and sewers. For example, Colonia Ramblases is served by roads in generally poor condition only 10% of which are paved, and Ramblases has been a populated neighborhood since the 1940s. The Municipality of Puerto Vallarta comprises about 45,000 regular dwellings. Of those, 10% do not have a potable water supply (carrying their water from a public tap), 8% do not have connections to a sewer system or septic system (using instead crude septic pits or dumping sewage directly into waterways), and 4% do not have electricity. There have been improvements in 2005 to 2007, such as new
IMSS IMSS may refer to: * Mexican Social Security Institute, (''Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social'', ''IMSS'', its Spanish acronym) * ''Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza Museo Galileo, the former ''Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza'' (I ...
facilities in Col. Versalles, improvements to several recreation facilities, improved communal beach access policies, etc. Still efforts seem to aim more at quick and visible infrastructure improvements than at solving the more pressing and enduring problem of insufficient infrastructure for basic services. One positive result of recent growth has been that in relative terms a smaller percentage of the population lives in older and poorly served neighborhoods. A growing number of residents live in housing projects and low-income housing developments which provide at least adequate basic services.


Transportation

The Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport comprises a commercial international section and a general aviation section. Puerto Vallarta currently has no passenger rail service. Historically, buses connected with nearby Tepic, where there was a passenger rail service on the main north–south trunk of Ferromex. Heading north, trains continued to Nogales, opposite its namesake in Arizona. A spur headed northwest to Mexicali, opposite Calexico, California. Service to the east went to
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
and then to Mexico City. As of June 2017, Uber began operating in Puerto Vallarta. Their arrival has not been without conflict, as there have been confrontations between them due to their much lower rates.


Government


Film and television

*'' The Night of the Iguana'' (1963) was filmed on location at Mismaloya and other minor locations in the Puerto Vallarta area. The filming brought Richard Burton, Ava Gardner,
Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...
, Tennessee Williams, and
Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
(who was not in the film). The off-screen activities of Burton and Taylor were reported in the tabloids and tabloid newsreels of the day. After filming was completed, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton bought a house in Puerto Vallarta and visited the city regularly while they were married. John Huston decided to build a home in the vicinity, a home on remote Las Caletas beach and a house in town. John Huston's children
Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as no ...
and Danny Huston are founders and supporters of the Puerto Vallarta Film Festival (In the film, children are shown selling iguana meat by the roadside). *'' The Love Boat'', regularly featured Puerto Vallarta as a port of call for the fictional version of the ''Pacific Princess'' cruise ship. *''
The Amazing Race 36 ''The Amazing Race 36'' is the thirty-sixth season of the American reality competition show ''The Amazing Race (American TV series), The Amazing Race''. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it features thirteen teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationsh ...
'' (2024), the starting line was located at a Westin Hotels & Resorts


Landmarks, sights, activities


Landmarks in Puerto Vallarta

*
Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
– Colonia Centro *Púlpito and Pilitas (Pulpit and Baptismal Font) – Colonia Emiliano Zapata – two rock formations at the South end of Los Muertos Beach. ''El Púlpito'' is the tall headland and ''Las Pilitas'' are the formation of rocks beneath it. ''Las Pilitas'' was the original location of the Boy on a Seahorse sculpture (''El Caballito'') now located on the Malecón, an identical sculpture is also located on Los Muertos Beach. There are two streets in the Olas Altas area named after the rock formations. *
Playa Conchas Chinas Playa Conchas Chinas is a beach in Puerto Vallarta, in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History E ...
(Curly Shells Beach) – Fraccionamiento Amapas – the city's most secluded beach, located to the south of the headland which forms the boundary of Los Muertos beach. * The Malecón – paved walkway along the seashore in Colonia Centro – especially popular during the Sunday evening ''paseo''. It features a collection of contemporary sculptures by Sergio Bustamante,
Alejandro Colunga Alejandro Colunga Marín is a Mexican artist, painter and sculptor. Early life He was born in Guadalajara on 11 December 1948 and studied architecture between 1967 and 1971 and music and hospitality in 1971–1973 at Conservatorio del Estado d ...
, Ramiz Barquet and others. The Malecon was extensively rebuilt in 2002–2003 following damage from hurricane Kenna. It was also greatly renovated, having new walkways and iconic sculptures in 2010. *Mercado Isle Cuale and Mercado Municipal Río Cuale – there are two large public markets in the Centro (Downtown) along the banks of the Cuale selling a variety of artisanal and souvenir goods, and the Isla Cuale has a number of souvenir vendor shops as well. The Isla Cuale was also famous for its cat population. The Island was a lower class suburb until flooding during Hurricane Lily (1971) forced residents to be relocated. They were moved to Palo Seco (which means "dry stick") and the Island was converted into a site for restaurants, shops and a cultural center. *Cuale Archaeological Museum – on the West side of the ''Isla Cuale'', the museum presents a significant collection of local and regional pre-Hispanic art in a number of informative displays. The museum also houses a small gallery for showing contemporary art. *
Statue of John Huston A statue of John Huston was installed in Isla Cuale, Zona Romántica, Puerto Vallarta, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, in 1988. The sculpture commemorated Huston's film ''Night of the Iguana ''The Night of the Iguana'' is a stage play written ...
on ''Isla Cuale'' – dedicated on the 25th anniversary of the film's release and honoring Huston's contributions to the city. John's son Danny was married in a ceremony that took place at the statue in 2002. * Plaza de Armas (Ignacio Vallarta) / Aquiles Serdán Amphitheater (Los Arcos) – the city's main plaza – site of public concerts both at the bandstand in the Plaza de Armas and on the stage in front of the arches across the street. *City Hall – a modern city hall laid out using a traditional courtyard plan. There is a tourist office in the SW corner, and on the landing of the main (West off the courtyard) stairwell there is a modest naive style mural by local artist Manuel Lepe. *Saucedo Theatre Building (Juárez and Iturbide) – Built in 1922 in a Belle Époque style reminiscent of architecture of the Porfirato. The theater presented live shows and films on its first floor, and the second floor housed a ballroom. The building has been converted to retail use.


Landmarks south of Puerto Vallarta

*
Los Arcos National Marine Park Los Arcos National Marine Park is a national marine park in Mexico. It is located in the Bahía de Banderas, near the settlements of Puerto Vallarta and Mismaloya. The arches themselves are called Los Arcos de Mismaloya, "the Mismaloya Arches" i ...
– offshore of Mismaloya 12 km south of Puerto Vallarta. The area has been a National Marine Park since 1984. The area is protected as a breeding ground for pelicans, boobies and other sea birds. The park is a popular snorkeling destination both for the rocks themselves and for the fossilized coral beds that surround them. *
Vallarta Botanical Gardens The Vallarta Botanical Garden is a botanical garden at 1,300 ft (400 m) above sea level, near Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Of which are dedicated to preserve. The garden was founded in 2004 and has been open to the public since 2005. The ...
– A popular showcase of orchids, agaves, cactus, palms, and other native plants. A restaurant and river swimming is also available to visitors. The gardens are located South of Puerto Vallarta on Highway 200. Buses for the Vallarta Botanical Gardens depart from the corner of Carranzas and Aguacate Streets in the Zona Romantica and are labeled as both "El Tuito" and "Botanical Gardens". *Puerto Vallarta Zoo – with 350 animals, and located in a forested setting in Mismaloya.


Landmarks east of Puerto Vallarta

*Terra Noble Art and Healing Center – a New Age spa, meditation center and artist retreat on the hills east of Puerto Vallarta along the edge of the
Agua Azul Nature Reserve Agua means water in Spanish. Agua may also refer to: Places * ''Agua de Dios'' (God's water), a municipality in Colombia * Volcán de Agua, a stratovolcano located in Guatemala Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Agua'' (film), a 2006 Argentin ...
overlooking Bahía de Banderas. The complex, built to resemble an early Mexican wattle and daub home was created by architect Jorge Rubio in conjunction with American sculptor Suzy Odom.


Beaches and beach towns


Beaches in Puerto Vallarta

* Playa Camarones (Shrimp Beach) – Colonia 5 de Diciembre (vicinity of Av. Paragua – Hotel Buenaventura. This is the northernmost public beach in the City of Puerto Vallarta proper. It is named after the shrimp fishermen that once landed their launches on the beach to unload their catch. *
Playa Olas Altas Playa Olas Altas (English: High Waves Beach) is a beach in Puerto Vallarta's Zona Romántica, in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Description South of the Cuale River, Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in A ...
(High Waves Beach) – Colonia Emiliano Zapata – the beach extends from the Cuale River South to the fishing pier. In spite of the name, the waves offshore are not particularly high, and the beach is a popular place to swim, especially for locals and national tourists. The beach is lined with outdoor restaurants.Harris – ''Hidden'' p. 175 * Playa de los Muertos (Beach of the Dead) – Colonia Emiliano Zapata – the city's largest public beach. Legend has it the beach's name (Dead Men's Beach) stems from a battle between pirates and local miners after which bodies remained strewn on the beach, but it's a legend, since there were never any miners in Vallarta. The South Side of the beach is a popular gathering spot for gay and lesbian tourists. The North end is frequented mostly by locals, and national tourists. The city has recently tried to change the name of the beach to Playa del Sol.


Local festivals

*Beef Dip Bear Week – annual gay event for bears and their admirers at end of January and beginning of February. *Flower and Garden Festival (last week of February) – week of tours, classes, and workshops at the
Vallarta Botanical Gardens The Vallarta Botanical Garden is a botanical garden at 1,300 ft (400 m) above sea level, near Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Of which are dedicated to preserve. The garden was founded in 2004 and has been open to the public since 2005. The ...
. Dozens of plant, garden, flower, and local craft vendors feature their products and knowledge. *Electro Beach Puerto Vallarta (42-day festival starting in the beginning of March) – electronic dance music (EDM) festival *May Festival (last week of May and first week of June) – commemorating the anniversary of the municipality. The festival features outdoor concerts, artistic expositions, sporting events and a parade. * Día de MuertosDay of the Dead (November 2) – A day of honoring the dead in full Mexican Tradition held at the Vallarta Botanical Gardens. Workshops on making catrina skeleton dolls and cempasúchil ( Tagetes erecta) flower arrangements are followed by celebrations in the Garden of Memories and a bonfire dance. * Las Posadas (20 December) – An evening of candlelight caroling & processions to handmade nativities is hosted by the Vallarta Botanical Gardens. Poinsettias and native Mexican pines are also featured during the celebrations. *1 to 12 December – Festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe.


Neighborhoods

Puerto Vallarta comprises numerous neighborhoods (''colonias''). Notable neighborhoods include (from South to North) *Res.
Conchas Chinas Conchas Chinas is an affluent colonia directly south of Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The term Conchas Chinas means "Curled Shells" referring to the type of shell found only on the beaches of Conchas ...
– hillside Southeast from Los Muertos beach. *Col. Alta Vista. *Amapas – on the hillside behind Los Muertos beach overlooking the bay. *Col. Emiliano Zapata – South of the Cuale (called '' Zona Romántica'' or "Old Town" in tourist brochures). *Cols. Caloso and Canoas – east of Col. Emiliano Zapata and up the Rio Cuale. * Col. Centro – the oldest section of town and its current center – North of the Cuale river to Parque Hidalgo. * Col. 5 Diciembre – just north of the Centro, and with Col. Zapata among the first neighborhoods beyond the Centro to be developed. *Col. Lázaro Cardenas – which houses a large recreation complex and the city's largest fish market – Parque Hidalgo to the Libramiento. *Col. Versalles – the old Zona Rosa, prior to the development of the North Hotel Zone. *Hotel Zone – Follows the coastline into down Vallarta  from the airport. Lined with hotels, timeshare resorts and residential towers. *Cols. Bugambillas and Ramblases – located on the NW slopes of the hills East of the city and relatively poor areas serviced mostly by dirt roads except for the hillside areas which have good views and thus attract residents with more resources. *Marina Vallarta – a large planned real estate tourism development near the airport with a marina, golf course, hotels, timeshare resorts and residential areas of homes and condominiums. *Del. Pitillal – once a small town and now a populous neighborhood, a separate ''delegación'' but now part of the City of Puerto Vallarta proper. *Col. Bobadilla – just north of Pitillal and also an important residential area. The city also includes numerous ''fraccionamientos'', densely built residential blocks that provide affordable housing for the city's workforce. Additionally the municipality of Puerto Vallarta comprises a few other significant population centers (from South to North): *
Boca de Tomatlán Boca de Tomatlán, colloquially shortened to Boca, is a small fishing village in the state of Jalisco in Mexico. It is popular with Tourism in Mexico, tourists visiting the nearby city of Puerto Vallarta due to its beaches. Geography Boca de T ...
(pop. 570) * Mismaloya (pop. 970) *Las Juntas *Ixtapa (pop. 25,700) (n.b. there is a more well known Ixtapa in Guerrero – a resort development near the village of Zihuatanejo) *La Desembocada *El Ranchito (El Colesio) *El Colorado *Las Palmas de Arriba


Sister cities

* Highland Park, Illinois, United States * Santa Barbara, California, United States * McAllen, Texas, United States


Notable people

*
Francisco Javier Bravo Francisco Javier Bravo Carbajal (born 18 February 1967) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party. He served as Deputy of the LIX Legislature of the Mexican Congress representing Jalisco, and previously served ...
(born 1967), politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (born in Puerto Vallarta) * Aarón Díaz (born 1982),
Mexican American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
actor, singer, and model (born in Puerto Vallarta, raised in Palo Alto, California, in U.S.) * Ariadne Díaz (born 1985), actress and former model (born in Puerto Vallarta) *
Rodolfo Dickson Rodolfo "Rudy" Roberto Dickson Sommers (born 11 July 1997) is a male Mexican Canadians, Mexican Canadian alpine skier representing Mexico. He was the first Mexican to win an international ski race, winning in Super-G in January 2015. Personal ...
(born 1997), Mexican Canadian alpine skier (originally from Puerto Vallarta, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) *
Al and Barbara Garvey Al and Barbara Garvey are an American artist and tango dancing couple known for catalyzing hot tub culture in California in 1966. While living in Fairfax in Marin County, California, the Garveys built their own hot tub in which they could soak w ...
(Albert Garvey, born 1932, Chicago, Illinois/Barbara Sue Harman, born 1934, Champaign, Illinois), American artist and tango dancing couple (originally from Illinois, U.S., currently based in Puerto Vallarta) * Rafael González Reséndiz (born 1979), politician affiliated with the
PRI PRI may refer to: Entertainment and media * '' Performance Racing Industry'', a magazine * PRI Records, in Los Angeles, US * Public Radio International, Minneapolis, US Measurements and codes * Perceptual Reasoning Index, in the WAIS-IV intelli ...
(born in Puerto Vallarta) *
Anjulí Ladrón de Guevara Anjulí Mariana Ladrón de Guevara Guereña (born 7 October 1986) is a Mexican former professional football goalkeeper who last played for Tigres UANL of the Liga MX Femenil. She played for the Mexico U20 at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World C ...
(born 1986), professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
Goalkeeper (born in Puerto Vallarta) *
Manuel Lepe Macedo Manuel Lepe Macedo (April 17, 1936 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco – September 9, 1984 in Guadalajara, Jalisco) Manuel Lepe was a Mexican artist who painted in a Naïve style, painting mostly themes based on the landscape and townscape of his nati ...
(19361984), artist and painter (originally from Puerto Vallarta, lived until his death in
Guadalajara, Jalisco Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...
) * Gerardo López Villaseñor (born 1995), tennis player (born in Puerto Vallarta) * Natasha Moraga, American-born Mexican tile artist (originally from La Mirada, California in U.S., currently based in Puerto Vallarta) * Marco Antonio Nazareth (19862009), professional boxer (born and lived until his death in Puerto Vallarta) * Alberto Ramírez (born 1986), footballer (born in Puerto Vallarta)


See also

*
List of public art in Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, has an extensive public art collection. Works include: * ''Ándale Bernardo'' by Jim Demetro, Lázaro Cárdenas Park * ''The Boy on the Seahorse'' ( es, "El niño sobre el caballito de mar") by R ...
*
Marieta Islands The Marieta Islands ( es, Islas Marietas) are a group of small uninhabited islands a few miles off the coast of the state of Nayarit, Mexico, located in federal waters approximately southwest of the peninsula known as Punta de Mita, in the muni ...
*
Mirador de la Cruz Mirador de la Cruz (English: ''Lookout on Cross Hill'') is a popular scenic viewpoint and tourist attraction in Puerto Vallarta, in the Mexican state of Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jal ...


Notes


References


Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
Jalisco
''Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México'' *Munguía Fregoso, Carlos – ''Panorama Histórico de Puerto Vallarta y de la Bahía de Banderas''. Guadalajara (2003) Secretaría Cultura Jalisco *Montes de Oca de Contreras, Catalina – ''Puerto Vallarta en mis recuerdos''. Guadalajara (1982) Gobierno de Jalisco, Secretaria General, Unidad Editorial *Guia Roji – ''Ciudad de Puerto Vallarta – Area Metropolitana Map'' 2005–6 *Moon Handbooks – ''Puerto Vallarta'' Emeryville, California (2003) Avalon Travel Publishing *Martínez Campos, Gabriel – ''Recetario colimense de la iguana'' – Mexico DF (2004) Conaculta *Mantilla, Lucia – ''Los barrios pobres en 31 ciudades Mexicanas: Barrio Ramblases, Puerto Vallarta'' – Mexico (2004) Secretaria de Desarollo Social *Harris, Richard – ''Hidden Puerto Vallarta'' Berkeley (2006) Ulysses Press

''Children of the Dump Vallarta, Feed the Children Vallarta & the School of Champions Vallarta''


External links


Puerto Vallarta official government sitePuerto Vallarta Tourism Official Website
{{Authority control Puerto Vallarta, Beaches of Jalisco Cities in Mexico Municipalities of Jalisco Port cities and towns on the Mexican Pacific coast Seaside resorts in Mexico