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Yachts to Princesa Vallarta Wreck
Wreck in Banderas Bay off Banderas Bay
A sunken boat on the floor of Banderas Bay, a little under 200 metres off the Las Gemelas beaches south of Puerto Vallarta. It is a deep dive for certified divers, about 6 nautical miles by boat from the Puerto Vallarta marinas.
Marinas
- Marina Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta
Near Princesa Vallarta Wreck
- 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.
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.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fishing
Puerto Vallarta
A resort city on the Jalisco shore of Banderas Bay, and a base for boat days to Los Arcos, Yelapa and the Marietas Islands.
- 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
- Scuba diving
Las Caletas
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.
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About Princesa Vallarta Wreck
A sunken boat off the southern shore
The Princesa Vallarta is a boat that now lies on the seabed of Banderas Bay as a wreck. Dive guides describe it as a former snorkelling tour boat, give 2016 as the year it went down, and place it a little under 200 metres off the beaches known as Las Gemelas, on the southern shore of the bay below Puerto Vallarta.
Getting there by boat
The closest of our boarding points are Opequimar and Marina Vallarta, both in Puerto Vallarta. In a straight line the wreck is about 6.3 nautical miles from Opequimar and 6.7 nautical miles from Marina Vallarta, measured between published coordinates; the course along the shore is a little longer. At a cruising speed of 15 knots that is roughly half an hour each way. From Marina Nuevo Vallarta it is about 8.1 nautical miles, and from Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz about 13.1.
The dive
This is a deep site. The guide that describes it puts the top of the hull at about 70 feet (21 metres) and the bottom of the hull at about 90 feet (27 metres), with the deepest water around it near 125 feet (38 metres). Other listings give different ranges, so treat these figures as approximate and expect your dive leader to set the plan on the day. No advanced certificate is named as a requirement, but the same guide recommends some earlier experience of deep dives. Currents are usually mild, and divers report sea turtles and, at times, large groupers around the hull.
What to know
This is a site for certified divers rather than snorkellers. Bring your certification card and logbook, and be ready to say when you last dived this deep. Weather and sea state decide whether a boat goes out on a given morning. We'll confirm the dive plan, the boat and the boarding point when you book.