Puerto Vallarta
(English: Vallarta Port) is a Mexican resort city situated on
the Pacific Ocean's
Bahía de Banderas. The 2005
census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 177,830 making
it the fifth-largest city in the
state of
Jalisco. 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 to the
Nayarit border (the
Ameca River). The
municipality's population in the 2005 census was 220,368.
The city is located at
20°40′N
105°16′W
/ 20.667°N
105.267°W
/
20.667;
-105.267. The municipality has an area
of 502.19 square miles (1,300.67 km²). To the North it borders
the SW part of the state of
Nayarit. To the East it
borders the municipality of Mascota and San Sebastián, and to
the South it borders the municipalities of Talpa de Allende and
Cabo Corriente.
Puerto Vallarta is named
after
Ignacio Vallarta, a former
governor of Jalisco. In
Spanish, Puerto Vallarta
is often shortened to "Vallarta", while English speakers call
the city P.V. for short. The city occasionally is spelled
or pronounced as Porto Vallarta. In
Internet shorthand the city is often referred to as PVR, after
the
IATA code (ICAO MMPR) for
its international airport.
Climate
Puerto Vallarta has a
typical tropical climate, with temperature and variations in
humidity that can make July through September nearly
intolerable. It a pronounced wet and dry seasonal variation,
with sudden monsoon like rains from July through September that
occur normally for a few hours in the evenings.
The average daily high
temperature is 86 °F (30 °C); average daily low temperature is
70 °F (21 °C); average daily humidity is 75%. The rainy season
extends from mid June through mid October, with most of the rain
falling 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. February, March and April are the months
with the least cloud cover.
Prevailing winds are from
the southwest, and most weather systems approaching Puerto
Vallarta are consequently weakened as they pass over Cabo
Corriente. Thus even during the rainy season Puerto Vallarta's
weather tends to be mild compared to other areas along the
Mexican Pacific coast.
Hurricanes seldom strike
Puerto Vallarta. In
2002
Hurricane Kenna, a category
5 hurricane, made landfall about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of
Puerto Vallarta, and the city suffered some damage from the
resulting storm surge. In 1971
Hurricane Lily, 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.
Geography, geology and
ecology
Geographical
characteristics
Puerto Vallarta lays 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, 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 - Col Zapata to the South of the Cuale river (named
Zona Romantica recently in some tourist brochures), the
Centro along the shore in 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 further south. In 1995 an
earthquake located off the Colima coast shook the crown from the
top of the Roman Catholic Church.
Economy
Nearly 50% of the workforce
is employed in tourist related industries: hotels, restaurants,
personal services, and transportation. The municipality does
however continue to have strong agricultural, industrial and
commercial sectors.
Industries
Agriculture is especially
important in the Ameca valley to the northeast of the city
center. Principal crops there include flour corn, sweet corn,
dry beans, fresh chile, watermelon and tobacco. Fruit growing
operations are more dispersed, with banana farms in the Ameca
valley, Mango orchards in the low hills, and avocado farms on
some of the higher ground above the city.
There are also significant
livestock operations located in the Ameca valley, and of course
fishing in the Bay of Banderas is also a significant industry.
Industrial production
includes food and beverage production, furniture production, and
construction supplies. Thirty years of consistent development
have given Puerto Vallarta a very strong construction sector
which employs nearly 10% of the Puerto Vallarta workforce.
The commercial sector
comprises nearly 17% of the workforce, including shipping,
trucking, wholesale and retail operations (though the retail
sector is probably understated because of the large underground
economy in the sector).[4]
Shipping traffic consists
of
cruise ships, which arrive
almost daily, and occasional visits by
U.S. Navy frigates. The
Mexican Navy maintains a
base at the port, as well as a former naval hospital in the city
center, which is now a Naval Museum. Puerto Vallarta is not
however very active as a commercial port. Most goods arrive in
Puerto Vallarta by truck along the Compostela highway from
Guadalajara.
Tourism and travel
represent a large part of Puerto Vallarta, with many rental and
accommodations available. While the U.S. economy has created a
downturn in overall tourism business, the other markets
including Canada and Europe are still quite strong.
Tourism trends
Tourism makes up roughly
50% of all economic activity in Puerto Vallarta according to
puertovallarta.net. The high season for international tourism in
Puerto Vallarta extends from late November through March (or
later depending on the timing of the College
Spring Break period in the
USA.) The city is especially popular with US residents from the
West Coast because of the number of convenient flights that
exist between Puerto Vallarta and Los Angeles, San Francisco and
Seattle. The air routes between Puerto Vallarta and Los Angeles
and Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco are by far the most
heavily traveled of all air routes into the city.
Vallarta is also a popular
destination for domestic tourists: a popular weekend destination
for residents of
Guadalajara (tapatíos),
and a popular national destination for vacations such as Semana Santa (the week preceding Easter) and Christmas. Also
in recent years
Acapulco has experienced a
rise in drug related violence and Puerto Vallarta has absorbed
some of the Mexico City resort vacation business (Acapulco is a
very common destination for tourists from Mexico City).
Puerto Vallarta has become
a popular retirement destination for US and Canadian retirees.
This trend has spawned a condominium development boom in the
city.
Puerto Vallarta was once
named as "La Ciudad Mas Amigable en el Mindo" ("The Friendliest
City in the World"), as the sign reads when entering from
Nayatrit. Most believe this hold true today.
Also over the past decade,
Puerto Vallarta has become a popular gay vacation destination,
and consequently the Olas Altas area now boasts about a
dozen clubs, several hotels, and numerous specialty shops
catering to a gay clientele.
Rapid growth in tourist
volume in Puerto Vallarta has given rise to rapid growth in
hotel and rental apartment construction. This growth has spilled
over from the city limits into
Nuevo Vallarta in the
neighboring state of Nayarit. The area is one of the fastest
growing regions in the Americas.
Population and growth rate
for the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta
|
|
1950 |
1960 |
1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
|
Total |
10,801 |
15,462 |
35,911 |
57,028 |
111,457 |
184,728 |
|
Annual growth
prior ten years |
--- |
3.6% |
9.1% |
4.6% |
7.1% |
5.2% |
source: Cuaderno
Estadistico Municipal[
History
Puerto Vallarta's proximity to the
Bay of Banderas, the agricultural valley of the Ameca River, and
the important mining centers in the Sierra have given the town a
more interesting past than most Mexican tourist destinations.
Puerto Vallarta was a thriving Mexican village long before it
became an international tourist destination.
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 of continuous human habitation from 580
B.C., and there is archeological evidence (from sites near
Ixtapa and in Col. Lázaro Cardenas) that the area belonged to
the Aztatlán culture which dominated
Jalisco,
Nayarit and
Michoacán from approx.
900-1200 A.D. Unfortunately the limited evidence and relative
lack of interest in occidental Mexican archeology have meant
that we still know very little about pre-historic life in the
area.
Spanish missionary and
conquistador documents chronicle skirmishes between the Spanish
colonizers and the local peoples. In 1524, for example, a large
battle between
Hernán Cortés and an army
of 10,000 to 20,000 Indians resulted in Cortés taking control of
much of the Ameca valley. The valley was then named Banderas
(flags) after the colorful standards carried by the natives.
Also the area appears on maps and
in sailing logs as a bay of refuge for the
Manila Galleon trade as
well as for other coastal seafarers. As such it figures in some
accounts of pirate operations and smuggling and pirate
contravention efforts by the viceregal government. During the
17th and 18th centuries the Banderas Valley and its beaches
along the Bay of Banderas served as supply points for ships
seeking refuge in the bay. The area also served as a point where
smuggled goods could be sent on to the Sierra towns near Mascota,
evading the customs operations at
San Blas, Nayarit.
El Carrizal and Las Peñas - 19th
century
During the nineteenth century the
history of Puerto Vallarta, then called El Carrizal or Las Peñas,
was linked to the history of the sierra towns of San Sebastian,
Talpa de Allende and Mascota. While today these towns are
considered quaint tourist destinations, during much of the 18th
century, Mascota was Jalisco's second largest town, after
Guadalajara. Mascota and its neighboring towns located in the
high plateaus of the Sierra, developed as agricultural towns to
support the growing mining operations in the Sierra. During the
18th century, as Mascota grew, Puerto Vallarta grew with it,
transforming itself from a small fishing and pearl-diving
village into a small beach-landing port serving the Sierra
towns. At the time the main port serving
Jalisco was located at
San Blas, but the
inconvenient overland route from San Blas to the Sierra towns
made Puerto Vallarta a more convenient alternative for smaller
shipments, not to mention smuggling operations which evaded the
tax collectors at San Blas. Puerto Vallarta also became a
vacation destination for residents of the Sierra Towns, and by
the mid 19th century, the town already had its regularly
returning population of vacationers. Most of the early settlers
in Puerto Vallarta were families who had left the Sierra towns
for one reason or another.
1859 saw an important turning
point for the small village, then known as Las Peñas. That year
the Union en Cuale mining company took possession of land
extending from Los Arcos to the Pitillal river and extending
back up into the Sierra for miles. The Union en Cuale company
was owned in part by the Camarena brothers of Guadalajara who
had developed a small trade in oil palm in Las Peñas. The
purpose of the government's sale of the land to the company was
to provide for shipping, fishing and agricultural support for
the mining operations which were growing quite quickly in the
Sierra.
The official founding story of Las
Peñas and thus Puerto Vallarta claims that it was founded by
Guadalupe Sánchez Torres, on December 12, 1851, as Las Peñas de
Santa María de Guadalupe. Unfortunately the record of the Sr.
Sanchez's purchase of property in Las Peñas dates the sale to
1859. Also even as early as 1850 the area was already peopled by
fisherman, pearl divers, smugglers and foragers, all of whom had
something of a permanent existence in the area. Given the
existing historical documents it is simply impossible to date
the first permanent settlement in the area,
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 early Municipality - early
20th century
In 1918, the village was elevated
to municipality status and renamed after former
state governor
Ignacio Vallarta. During
the early years of the 20th century most of Puerto Vallarta was
owned by the Union en Cuale company controlled by the American
Alfred Geist. Mr Geist sold land only in large plots at prices
that were quite high for the time and otherwise leased the land
on short term leases. To remedy this situation and to enable the
new municipality to develop, the citizens petitioned the
government for a land grant based on the new constitution's
provisions. In 1921 the Local Agrarian Commission approved a
grant of some 9,400 hectares (23,000 acres or 39 square miles),
with the land to be expropriated from the Union en Cuale
company. The grant was established as an ejido holding (a
farming cooperative administered by the government). Legal
squabbling over the size of the land grant, and the
ejido status of the
properties involved would stymie growth in Puerto Vallarta into
the 1960s, as developers were reluctant to build anything too
substantial on land for which one could not obtain clear title.
(Ejido land is controlled by individuals who are given
licenses to use it, but it could not be sold, subdivided or
leased.)
During the
Cristero War the
municipality was twice taken over by Cristero forces (April 1927
and January 1928). After it was recaptured for a second time,
the national government stationed a small garrison there under
Major Ángel Ocampo. The garrison was stationed near the mouth of
the Cuale River and is responsible for planting many of the
palms that now line the beaches on near the mouth of the Cuale
River to help limit beach erosion during heavy rains in October
1928. One casualty of the skirmishes was local pastor Padre
Ayala who was exiled to Guadalajara for his role in fomenting
the local revolt. He would die there in 1943, though his remains
would be returned 10 years later to be interred in the main
parish church of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
As mining activities in the Sierra
waned in the early years of the 20th century, Puerto Vallarta
and the agricultural valley to the North of the city became
important destinations for those leaving the Sierra towns and
looking for a place to settle. Many of those who arrived had
family members already living in Puerto Vallarta, and the
pattern of migration that ensued turned the town into a
collection of more or less extended families, giving it the
cohesion of a typical sierra town.
Also from 1925 until 1935 the
Montgomery Fruit Company operated in the area around Ixtapa.
Friction with the state government over labor issues eventually
led to the venture being abandoned, but for ten years it
provided an important source of employment in the area.
The first airplane service arrived
in 1932, with electrical service on a small scale arriving about
the same time. The first suspension bridge over the Cuale went
up in 1933. The city's first plumbing system was started in
1939. In 1942 Puerto Vallarta was finally connected by road to
Compastela, Nay. Until then the only access to Puerto Vallarta
was by sea, air, or by mule trails to the sierra towns. Also in
1942 in the New York based magazine Modern Mexico the
first advertisement for a Puerto Vallarta vacation appeared,
sponsored by the Air Transport Company of Jalisco. By 1945 the
company was landing
DC-3s in Puerto Vallarta
(carrying 21 passengers).
By the 1950s Puerto Vallarta had
started to attract Americans, mostly writers and artists in
search of a retreat from the USA of the era of Eisenhower and
McCarthy. Gringo Gulch began to develop as an expatriate
neighborhood on the hill above the Centro. The city also
attracted Mexican artists and writers who were willing to trade
the comforts of life in the larger cities for its scenic and
bucolic advantages.
In 1956 the Mascota mule trail was
replaced by a packed dirt road. 24-hour electrical generation
arrived in 1958. A new airport arrived in 1962 connecting Puerto
Vallarta with Los Angeles via Mazatlán, and the
Mexican Aviation Company
began offering package trips.
By the early 1960s the population
had started to spread beyond the Centro and Gringo Gulch, and
the Colonias of 5 Diciembre (north of the Centro)
and Emiliano Zapata (south of the Cuale River) began to grow.
The modern resort - 1960s to the
present
Four influences converged during
the 1960s and early 1970s to launch Puerto Vallarta into its
trajectory toward becoming a major resort destination.
First the federal government
finally resolved century old property disputes involving the
status of communal land originally appropriated from the Union
en Cuale mining company to be parceled out as farms. The
communal (ejido)
status of the land had stifled development in the town for much
of the 20th century. The transition to private ownership of much
of the land within present city limits culminated in the
appropriation of much of the land in 1973 and the establishment
of the Vallarta Land Trust (Fideicomiso)
to oversee selling the land and using the revenue to develop the
city's infrastructure.
Second, the American director
John Huston filmed his 1963
film
The Night of the Iguana
in
Mismaloya, a small town
just south of Puerto Vallarta. During the filming, the US media
gave extensive coverage to
Elizabeth Taylor's
extramarital affair with
Richard Burton, as well as
covering the frequent fighting between Huston and the film's
four stars. The subsequent publicity helped put Puerto Vallarta
on the map for US tourists.
Third, in the late 1960s and early
1970s, the Mexican government invested in the development of
highways, airport and utility infrastructure, making Puerto
Vallarta easily accessible both by air and ground transportation
for the first time. The city's first tourist boom occurred in
the late 1960s and early 1970s because of this work. During
those years most tourists in Puerto Vallarta were Mexican, and
the reason they started travelling to Puerto Vallarta then was
because the trip between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta was
made sufficiently convenient because of the governments
investment in infrastructure.
Finally, in 1968 the municipality
was elevated to the status of a City. The change in status
reflected the renewed interest shown by the federal and state
government in developing the city as an international resort
destination.
Also significant was the August
1970 visit of US President
Richard Nixon who met with
Mexican President
Gustavo Díaz Ordaz in
Puerto Vallarta for treaty negotiations. The visit showcased
Puerto Vallarta's recently developed airport and resort
infrastructure, and thus contributed to the growing visibility
of the city as a resort destination.
Prior to 1973, hotels in the city
tended to be modest, and only two large sized luxury hotels
existed (the Real and the Posada Vallarta). After 1973 Puerto
Vallarta experienced rapid growth in the number of larger luxury
hotels, culminating in 1980 with the opening of the Sheraton
Buganvilias. In 1982 the
peso was devalued and
Puerto Vallarta became a bargain destination for US tourists.
Consequently the mid-80s saw a marked and rapid rise in the
tourist volume. This in turn fueled more development, for
example the Marina which was started in 1986. By the early 90s
development of other destinations in Mexico like
Ixtapa and
Cancún caused a slump in
travel to Puerto Vallarta.
It was also
during the early 1980s that Puerto Vallarta experienced a marked
increase in problems related to poverty. While the devaluation
of the peso brought record numbers of tourists to the area, it
also stifled investment and thus construction. So while more and
more workers were arriving in Puerto Vallarta to try to cash in
on the booming tourist trade, less and less was being done to
accommodate them with housing and related infrastructure. So
during the mid 1980s the city experienced a rapid growth in
impromptu communities poorly served by even basic public
services, and with a very low standard of living as the boom of
the early 80s leveled out. During the late 1980s the city worked
to alleviate the situation by developing housing and
infrastructure, but even today the outlying areas of Puerto
Vallarta suffer from poor provision of basic services (i.e.
water, sewage, roads) as a legacy of the early 80s.[21]
In 1993 the federal Agrarian Law
was amended allowing for more secure foreign tenure of former ejido land. Those controlling
ejido land were allowed
to petition for regularization, a process that converted their
controlling interest into fee simple ownership. This meant that
the property could be sold, and it led to a boom in the
development of private residences, mostly condominiums, and a
new phase of Puerto Vallarta's expansion began, centered more on
accommodating retirees, snow-birds, and those who visited the
city enough to make purchasing a condominium or a time-share a
cost-effective option.
Transportation
Lic. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz
International Airport
The
Lic. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International
Airport comprises a commercial international section
and a general aviation section.
The commercial section has a
single runway, 3,100 meters in length and 45 meters in width,
capable of handling all current traffic without restrictions.
The airfield is capable of handling 40 takeoffs or landings per
hour. The airport has 11 active gates, three serviced directly
from the terminal, and eight serviced remotely using shuttle
buses.
As of 2006 the active airlines
utilizing the commercial section were:
Aerocalifornia,
Aeromexico,
Air Canada,
Alaska,
American,Aviacsa,
Azteca,
Continental,
Magnicharters, and
Mexicana and
US Airways .
The general aviation section
handles small planes leaving for San Sebastian, Mascota, and
other towns in the Sierra and along the Coast. It has 18 loading
positions and shares the commercial airfield.
During the high season the airport
handles approximately 300,000 passengers a month. During the low
season it handles about half of that volume. During 2006 the
airport handled a total of 2.8 million passengers. One fifth of
those were domestic passengers and four fifths were
international.
Bus station and regional buses
National bus lines connect Puerto
Vallarta (via the Central Camionera near the Modelo building
north of town near the airport) with Guadalajara, Mazatlán,
Manzanillo and points beyond. Bus lines include ETN and Primera
Plus. Smaller bus lines connect Puerto Vallarta to small coastal
and sierra towns.
Local transportation
Puerto Vallarta is serviced by
three municipal bus unions that provide coverage for most of the
greater Puerto Vallarta area (e.g. Ixtapa, Mismaloya, Pitillal).
Most of the population of the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta
travels by municipal bus. Automobile ownership is not rare, but
automobiles are seldom used to commute to and from work. They
are typically reserved for family outings and major shopping
trips. Parking in Puerto Vallarta is scarce, and this makes
automobile commuting impractical.
Throughout the central area of the
city and along the coastal strip, roads are generally paved,
often with cobblestones. In the residential areas outside of the
central commercial area dirt roads are the norm, and many of
them are in poor condition and not suitable for normal
automobiles except at very low rates of speed.
The city is also served by a large
fleet of taxis. Rates are controlled by a taxi driver's union,
and set in negotiations between the union and the city. Rates
are based on established zones rather than using taxi meters.
Prominent citizens, past and
present
-
Francisca Rodriguez y Rodriguez - Puerto
Vallarta's first teacher.
She arrived in Puerto Vallarta in 1918 from
Tomatlán, and served as Puerto Vallarta's schoolmistress
until she retired in 1943. Initially she taught in
improvised schools, but eventually moved to the 20 of
November School on Ca. Juárez. She was affectionately
remembered as La Pachita (the little Pasha) by
generations of Vallartan schoolchildren. She was killed by
an automobile in Ca. Juárez not far from the school where
she taught, and a bronze plaque at the site commemorates her
life and death.[23]
There is a street named after her in Col. Emilio Zapata.
-
Manuel Lepe Macedo
(1936-1984) - a painter renowned for his naive style
paintings, a style that has become closely associated with
Puerto Vallarta. His works are exhibited in town at the
Peter Gray Gallery at the University of Guadalajara's
Coastal Center near Ixtapa.
-
Carlos Munguía Fregoso (d.
2005) - well known as Puerto Vallarta's official historian
and chronicler. He was author of countless articles on the
history of Puerto Vallarta, and of several books, including
most recently Panorama Histórico de Puerto Vallarta
upon which much of the historical narrative in this article
is based.
Culture: Arts, music, cuisine
Local food specialties
-
Huachinango Sarandeado
- red snapper marinated in a
birria paste (roast
peppers, garlic and spices) and grilled.
-
Grilled
Marlin - served on the
beaches and at some taco stands - the meat is skewered and
cooked over coals then served with hot sauce and lime.
-
Ceviche - raw fish, scallops,
or shrimp, with onions, chiles such as serranos or jalepenos,
and lime juice. The lime juice cures the fish, turning the
flesh opaque and giving it a chewy texture. The ceviche is
usually served with tortilla chips or on a whole tostada,
and quite frequently accompanied by guacamole.
Puerto Vallarta in the movies and
TV
-
The Night of the
Iguana
(1963) - filmed on location at Mismaloya and other minor
locations in the Puerto Vallarta area. The filming brought
Richard Burton,
Ava Gardner,
Deborah Kerr,
Tennessee Williams, and
Elizabeth Taylor (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, John
Huston decided to build a home in the vicinity, he built a
home on remote Las Caletas beach and a house in town. John
Huston's children Angelica and Danny are founders and
supporters of the
Puerto
Vallarta Film Festival. (In
The Night of the Iguana
children are shown selling iguana by the roadside. The
iguana was once an
important food animal, popular in Jalisco and Colima.)
-
Predator
(1987) - the jungle scenes were filmed on location in the
hills behind
Mismaloya. The film
starred
Arnold Schwarzenegger
and was directed by
John McTiernan.
McTiernan lost quite a bit of weight during the filming
because he was afraid to eat the local food. The cast also
endured a lot of dangerous obstacles in the jungles such as
changing weather, cold water and wildlife.
Landmarks, sights, activities
Landmarks in Puerto Vallarta
-
The Malecon - paved walkway
along the seashore in Col. Centro - especially popular
during the Sunday evening paseo. It features a
collection of contemporary sculptures by
Sergio
Bustamante,
Alejandro Colunga,
Ramiz
Barquet and others. The Malecon was extensively
rebuilt in 2002-2003 following damage from hurricane Kenna.
-
Mercado Isle Cuale and Mercado
Municipal Cuale - there are two large public markets in the
Centro 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 Pa'lo
Seco (which means for dry ground) and the Island was
converted into a site for restaurants, shops and a cultural
center.
Landmarks south of Puerto Vallarta
-
Los Arcos Marine Natural Area
- 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 dead
coral fossilized coral beds that surround them.
-
Puerto Vallarta
Botanical Gardens -
agaves and other native plants, orchids, restaurant, river
swimming - 20 km South of Puerto Vallarta
Landmarks north of Puerto Vallarta
-
Ixtapa Archeological Zone -
north of the town of Ixtapa along the banks of the Ameca
River there is an archeological site with remains going back
several thousand years. The site comprises 29 mounds. The
largest measures 40 meters in diameter and 8 meters in
height. The site also includes the remains of ceremonial
ball court. The original inhabitants of the site were
vassals of the Aztatlán kingdom which was located in Western
Jalisco between 900 and 1200 AD. The site is the oldest
explored in Western Jalisco. The digs have uncovered a
number of residential and ceremonial sites, a wealth of
pottery (incense burners, bowls, amphora, etc.). Many of
these objects are on display at the Rio Cuale Island Museum.
Beaches in Puerto Vallarta
-
Playa Olas Altas (High Waves
Beach) - Col. Emilio 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.
-
Playa Los Muertos (Beach of
the Dead) - Col. Emilio 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.
Beaches
South of Puerto Vallarta
South Shores beaches
A number of beaches along the
South shore of the bay are accessible only by boat (from Boca de
Tomatlan or the Los Muertos Pier). The developed beaches include
(east to west): Las Animas, Quimixto, Majahuitas and Yelapa.
These and other smaller undeveloped beaches can be reached by
launch from Boca de Tomatlán.
-
Yelapa - once a small
electricity free fishing village and a popular 'hide away'
for Gringos, now it has electricity, telephones and the
internet. Visited by tourist boats for about 3 hours a day,
it reverts to its laid back ways when they leave.
Beaches north of Puerto Vallarta
The north shore of the bay is
lined with beach towns that offer good wading beaches and the
usual tourist amenities. These include (east to west): Bucerias,
Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Playa
la Manzanilla, Playa Destiladeras, Playa Pontoque, and Punta
Mita, all in the State of
Nayarit. All can be reached
by bus (departing from Wal-Mart).
Local festivals
Neighborhoods
Puerto Vallarta comprises numerous
neighborhoods (colonias). Notable neighborhoods include
(from South to North)
-
Res. Conchas Chinas - hillside
Southeast from Los Muertos beach.
-
Col. Alta Vista.
-
Col. Emiliano Zapata - South
of the Cuale (called Zona Romantica 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
-
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
-
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 (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 built in the 80s near the village of
Zihuatanejo)
-
La Desembocada
-
El Ranchito (El Colesio)
-
El Colorado
-
Las Palmas de Arriba
GALERY
Los muertos beach
Our lady of Guadalupe
Church
Puerto Vallarta at night.
The church, from up close.
