Las Caletas snorkeling tours
Beach in Banderas Bay on Banderas Bay
A small boat-only cove on the southern shore of Banderas Bay, below a nature preserve, where the film director John Huston once lived. One tour company runs the beach and grounds as its own day trip, and the sources do not settle whether a charter yacht's guests may go ashore.
Marinas
- Marina Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta
Near Las Caletas
- Snorkeling
- Scuba diving
Majahuitas
Majahuitas is a small cove on the southern shore of Banderas Bay, between Quimixto and Yelapa. No road reaches it, so guests arrive by boat.
- Snorkeling
- Swimming
Quimixto
A small village on the southern shore of Banderas Bay that has no road and is reached only by boat. Palapa restaurants face the water on its beach, and a trail up the river valley behind it leads to a seasonal waterfall.
- Snorkeling
- Swimming
Las Ánimas Beach
A broad stretch of sand south-west of Puerto Vallarta, on the far side of Banderas Bay from the marinas, that works well as a lunch and swim stop on a day out by boat.
- Snorkeling
- Swimming
Playa Caballo
On the south shore of Banderas Bay, Playa Caballo sits just north-east of Las Ánimas, on the Boca de Tomatlán side. No road reaches the sand, so it is a swimming and snorkelling stop that guests land at from the boat or walk to on a trail.
Yelapa
A village in the southernmost cove of Banderas Bay, in Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco, with no road fit for ordinary vehicles.
Boca de Tomatlán
A small fishing village at the mouth of the Horcones River, about 17 km south of downtown Puerto Vallarta. Its pier is the main departure point for the public water taxis to the beaches and villages of the southern shore.
Mismaloya
A small village and beach on the southern shore of Banderas Bay, south of Puerto Vallarta, looking out to the Los Arcos rocks. The Night of the Iguana was filmed here in 1963.
- Snorkeling
- Swimming
- Paddleboarding
- Scuba diving
Los Arcos de Mismaloya
Five granite islets just off Mismaloya, about 12 km south of Puerto Vallarta in Banderas Bay, with arches cut through the larger rocks and reef walls below.
Maps © OpenStreetMap
About Las Caletas
A cove with no road
Las Caletas is a small beach on the southern shore of Banderas Bay, in Jalisco, south-west of Puerto Vallarta. No road reaches it: the slope behind the sand is set aside as a nature preserve, so every visitor comes by sea. Before it became a day-trip stop, the cove was where the film director John Huston kept a house.
Who can land
The beach and the grounds behind it are run by a single tour company as its own day trip, and no public ferries call here. The pages we have read do not agree on what that means for a chartered yacht: one says visitors need the company's ticket to set foot on the beach, while another suggests other boats do call. Whether a yacht's guests may land, anchor or swim close to the beach is therefore not settled. We'll confirm with the captain what is allowed on the day before you plan around it.
Distance from the marinas
In a straight line, the cove is about 12 nautical miles from Opequimar, about 12.2 from Marina Vallarta and about 12.2 from Marina Nuevo Vallarta. From Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz it is about 14.6. A motor yacht holding 20 knots covers the run from Marina Vallarta in under forty minutes; a sailing yacht at 8 knots needs about an hour and a half. The real route follows the coast, so allow a little more.
Under the water
The rocks around the cove are a known stop for snorkelling. Dive centres in the bay list it as a dive site too. One describes two trails starting from the south end of the beach: one follows rocks it calls full of marine life, the other runs down a sandy slope past the remains of small fishing boats. Diving here is sold as part of organised trips, so a yacht's guests should not expect to dive the cove on their own.
Worth knowing
For a day of beach time and swimming from a yacht, the open beaches nearby, such as Majahuitas, Quimixto and Yelapa, are the usual choices. Until that is settled, Las Caletas is best treated as a sight on the way along the southern shore.