Puerto Vallarta’s best beaches are not the long stretch in front of the hotels north of town. They are the ones south of the Romantic Zone, where the Sierra Madre drops straight into Banderas Bay and the road gives way to small coves, and eventually to beaches you can only reach by boat. This guide runs from town southward, and notes which of our Puerto Vallarta villas are closest to each.
The short answer
For a lively town beach: Los Muertos, in the Romantic Zone. For calm water and rock pools with children: Conchas Chinas. For snorkelling: Conchas Chinas and the Los Arcos rocks off Mismaloya. For a beach club day: the boat-access beaches past Boca de Tomatlán, such as Las Ánimas. For a jungle village and a waterfall: Quimixto or Yelapa, both by boat.
Los Muertos and the Romantic Zone
Playa Los Muertos is the town beach of the Romantic Zone (Zona Romántica), the old neighbourhood south of the Cuale River. It is busy, social and walkable, with beach clubs, restaurants and the Los Muertos pier, where water taxis leave for the south shore beaches. It is the beach for people-watching and sunset drinks rather than for a quiet swim.
Two of our villas put Los Muertos within walking distance. Villa Estrella Mar, an eight-bedroom estate on the waterfront in Amapas, has direct access to a secluded beach and to Los Muertos, and the Romantic Zone is about a 10-minute walk away. Casa Yvonneka, a 14-bedroom villa for large groups, sits on the hillside above Old Town, about a 10-minute walk from the beach.
Conchas Chinas
Conchas Chinas is the first beach south of town, about ten minutes by car from the Romantic Zone, down a short cobblestone road from the coastal highway. Rock formations break the water into natural pools over pale sand, which makes it one of the calmest places in Vallarta for small children and one of the easiest for snorkelling straight off the beach. There are no restaurants on the sand, and parking is limited, so a taxi is simpler than driving.
This is also where the largest group of our villas is. Villa Verde, six bedrooms, sits directly on Conchas Chinas beach. Casa Buena Vida has easy access to the beach and to downtown. Most of the others in Conchas Chinas sit on the hillside above it, with bay views rather than sand at the door, among them Villa Castillo, Villa Divina and Hacienda de los Santos. Villa Amapas South is oceanfront rather than beachfront: its terrace sits right above the water.
Punta Negra, Palmares and Garza Blanca
A few minutes further south, Punta Negra and Palmares are small, quiet beaches tucked below the highway between condo buildings, good for a late afternoon and the sunset over the bay. Just beyond them is Garza Blanca, named after the white rock offshore and home to the resort of the same name. Casa Peregrina, a ten-bedroom oceanfront villa, is just past the Garza Blanca resort.
Mismaloya and Los Arcos
Mismaloya, under 20 minutes from downtown, is the best-known beach on the south shore: it is where John Huston filmed The Night of the Iguana in 1963. It is livelier than the coves to the north, with restaurants and boat operators, and it gets crowded at weekends and in high season, so a weekday is better. Offshore are Los Arcos, granite islands with natural arches that are a protected area and the most popular snorkelling and diving spot in the bay.
Villa Padre (seven bedrooms) and Villa Magnifico (ten bedrooms, on the mountainside about 20 minutes from downtown) are both in Mismaloya, and Casa Peña del Mar is an oceanfront villa in the gated community of Sierra del Mar at Los Arcos.
Boca de Tomatlán and the boat-only beaches
The coastal road turns inland at Boca de Tomatlán, a fishing village where the river meets the sea, about 30 minutes from downtown. From its dock, water taxis run to the beaches that have no road at all:
- Las Ánimas: about ten minutes by boat, a family beach lined with restaurants, with banana boats and other water activities.
- Quimixto: a small village with a walk inland to a waterfall.
- Yelapa: the furthest of the regular stops, a village in a deep cove with its own waterfalls and a slower pace.
Water taxis also leave from the Los Muertos pier. They run in daylight, so agree a pickup time before you leave.
Villa Mixto is on the beach in Quimixto itself and is reachable only by boat: a six-bedroom villa with a yoga studio, kayaks and paddleboards, for a group that wants to be away from roads entirely.
When the water is best
The dry season, from November to May, brings the calmest seas and the clearest water for snorkelling, and from December to March humpback whales are in the bay, often visible from the south shore beaches and villa terraces. The summer rainy season, from June to October, brings heavy afternoon storms and murkier water near river mouths. See our month-by-month guide to the best time to visit Puerto Vallarta for the detail.
Choosing a villa by beach
If walking to a beach matters, look at Amapas and the lower part of Conchas Chinas. If you would rather have the view and drive or take a boat to the beach, the hillside villas of upper Conchas Chinas and the South Shore give you more space and more privacy for the same group size. For the neighbourhoods themselves, see where to stay in Puerto Vallarta, and if you are deciding between this coast and the quieter Costalegre to the south, read Costa Careyes vs Puerto Vallarta.
Tell us your dates, your group and how you want to spend your days, and we will tell you which villas fit and how close each one really is to the water.
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