Yachts and boat tours in Puerto Vallarta
City in Banderas Bay on Banderas Bay
A resort city on the Jalisco shore of Banderas Bay, and a base for boat days to Los Arcos, Yelapa and the Marietas Islands.
Marinas
- Los Muertos Pier
- Marina Vallarta
- Opequimar Centro Marino
- Puerto Vallarta Cruise Terminal
Yacht rentals from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
35 min by road
Near Puerto Vallarta
- Snorkeling
- Scuba diving
- Fishing
Nuevo Vallarta
A planned resort town on the north shore of Banderas Bay, built around canals, golf and a long white-sand beach.
- Scuba diving
Princesa Vallarta Wreck
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.
- 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.
Wild Dolphins of Banderas Bay
Wild dolphins share Banderas Bay with the boats that cross it, and a morning spent looking for them is one of the quieter ways to see the bay. It is a search on open water, so a sighting is never certain.
- Whale watching
Banderas Bay Whale Grounds
The open water of Banderas Bay, where humpback whales spend the winter, a short run from Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta and La Cruz. It is an area, not a spot: the whales move every day, and a sighting is never certain.
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.
Bucerías
A beach town of about 16,000 people on the north shore of Banderas Bay, in Nayarit. Yacht days along its shore start from Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz, about 2.3 nautical miles away.
Maps © OpenStreetMap
About Puerto Vallarta
Where it is
Puerto Vallarta lies on the eastern shore of Banderas Bay, on the Pacific coast of the state of Jalisco. At the 2020 census the city held 224,166 people, close to three quarters of the 291,893 counted across its municipality. The city's airport is Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International (PVR), north of the centre at the end of the hotel zone. Not far from it, a planned resort district called Marina Vallarta has grown up around a yacht harbour and a golf course; it is one of the places guests board for a day on the bay.
The town
Downtown, the Malecón runs as a paved promenade beside the water, and Sunday evening, the time of the paseo, is when it is busiest. Across the Cuale River to the south, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, which some tourist brochures call the Zona Romántica, holds Playa de los Muertos, the city's largest public beach. The pier on that beach is a second place to step aboard for trips down the south shore.
Getting out on the water
Measured in a straight line from Marina Vallarta, Los Arcos de Mismaloya is about 7.6 nautical miles away, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle about 8.9, Yelapa about 15.3, Punta de Mita about 16.2 and the Marietas Islands about 18.8. At an assumed cruising speed of 8 knots, Los Arcos is under an hour out and the islands a little over two hours and twenty minutes. From the pier at Playa de los Muertos, Los Arcos is closer, about 4.4 nautical miles.
When to come
Plan around the weather: the wet season covers roughly mid June to mid October, July, August and September take the bulk of the rain, and winter is markedly dry. Each November the city's fishing club holds an international tournament for marlin and tuna, with activities set for 11 to 14 November 2026. A 2013 article already described it as held every November for more than fifty years.
What to know
Los Arcos, off Mismaloya about 12 km south of the city, has been a national marine park since 1984; its rules are on the Los Arcos page. A trip on to the Marietas Islands enters another park, set out on the park's page. For the wider bay, start from Banderas Bay.