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Puerto Vallarata Beaches

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Puerto Vallarta Beaches Part I, South Beaches Puerto Vallarta is known as a beach resort and a few of the beaches are well known or famous such as Mismaloya as the sight of the movie The Night of the Iguana, or Los Muerto Beach on the south side of town. However there are many small or slightly hidden beaches you may not have heard of which are worth the time to e

River (Rio) Cuale going south.
Olas Altas Beach; the name translates as “Tall Waves” beach and at certain times of the year or during a winter storm the waves are tall enough to attract the local surfers. A tall wave in this area is only about 4-5 feet tall and not very common.
Los Muertos Beach: The name translates as “Dead Man’s” beach in reference to a story passed down from long ago about a Pirate ship that came ashore and were attacked the by the local Indigenous peoples and scared away. Now it is a popular meeting place, social setting with many
Amapas Beaches: if you walk to the end of Los Muertos Beach and follow the trail over the small hill to a series of small Sandy coves interspersed by volcanic rock.
Conchas Chinas: the name translates to mean the beach of the curly shells; the shells used to be plentiful but now are very rare.
Dreams Beach: in front of Dreams Resort, a beach made private by being geographically inaccessible. You can enter the resort by taxi and pay the visitors fee to use it.
Playa Punta Negra: approx 4 ½ miles south of town this long White Sandy beach changes from year to year as the tides bring in very smooth round stones, currently the beach is almost completely Sandy.
Playa Garza Blanca: in front of the Garza Blanca Resort a beautiful White sandy beach, long ago mentioned in that popular TV show hosted by Robin Leach called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The popular phrase was “Stop the world I want to get off at Garza Blanca”.
Las Gemelas (North and South): in front of the Las Gemelas condominium towers by the same name which translates as The Twins as there are 2 very similar white sandy beaches.
Mismaloya; Mismaloya Beach is a small bay at the mouth of Mismaloya River, there is also a small village by the same name. Mismaloya was the site of the filming of the movie “The Night of the Iguana” that put Puerto Vallarta on the radar of the then rich and famous jetsetters. Until recently you could hike up to the remains of the site, but that has been torn down now. A the time of the filming of the Movie the road to Mismaloya had not been constructed and the beach was only accessible via boat, so the cast and crew boarded small dugouts called Pongas each morning in front of El Dorado Restaurant on Los Muertos Beach for the commute to Mismaloya for the days filming.
Boca de Tomatlan: The next sandy beach going south along the coast Tomatlan is the bay of the mouth of the Tomatlan River and there is also a small village there. You can hike from Boca Tomatlan to Las Animas but it can be a bit rugged.
Colomitos Beach
Los Caballos
Las Animas: a pretty white sandy beach accessible only by boat with several restaurants to cater to the boat cruises which bring in groups of tourists each day. You can also get there by the Water Taxi or hire a private boat to take you.
Quimixto: a smaller beach with less restaurants also accessible only by boat, in the fall just after the summer rainy season you can hike up in the jungle to a water fall. After a few months of dry winter weather the water dries up.
Caletas: only accessible by boat, location of the famous Rhythms’ of the Night dinner excursion. Once the home of John Huston the famous movie director, after filming the movie he fell in love with Puerto Vallarta and lived in Caletas for many years.
Majauitas: accessible only by boat
Yelapa: Yelapa gained notoriety in the time of the Viet Nam war when it became the home to many escaping the war. Its simple lifestyle and jungle beauty kept them there and there is a large group of American and Canadian ex patriots living there. They just recently got electricity, a telephone line and internet. As well there is now a rough trail from the main highway, before that and still most goods are brought in by boat.
Pizota Beach