PUERTO VALLARTA

Although Puerto Vallarta has spread north and south over the years, every attempt has been made to keep its character intact. In the 1950’s Puerto Vallarta was essentially a hideaway for those in the know. It first entered the general public’s consciousness with John Huston’s 1964 movie The Night of the Iguana. It was once a quiet fishing and farming community, but after the movie was released tourism boomed. Now 2 million tourists flock here annually to savor the beautiful beaches, the year-round pleasant climate, amazing aquatic sports and vibrant nightlife. Puerto Vallarta has also become home to some 300,000 residents.

The beautiful Bahia de Banderas provides shelter from storms at sea and has been attracting outsiders since the 16th century. In the mid 1850’s, Don Guadalupe Sanchez Carrillo developed the bay as a port for the silver mines by the Rio Cuale. Then it was known as Puerto de Penas (Rocky Port) and had about 1,500 inhabitants. In 1918 it was made a municipality and renamed for Ignacio L. Vallarta, a governor of Jalisco State.

Viejo Vallarta , or Old Town, has managed to conserve some of the quaintness of a Mexican village, with its white-washed, tile-roofed houses and stone-paved streets stretching toward the jungle-clad mountains. The small Isla Rio Cuale, an island in the river dividing the town, is the location for boutiques, cafes, popular restaurants overlooking the river, a cultural center and a botanical garden. A bronze statue of film director John Huston dominates the central plaza.

Malecon, downtown’s main drag is faced by restaurants, cafes, and shops. It is also dotted with interesting sculptures, among them a boy riding a sea horse which has become Puerto Vallarta’s trademark. This is a nice place to rest on a wrought iron bench and watch the water and the rest of the world.

The Zona Hotelera is the main hotel strip which extends to the seaport in the north. Farther north is Marina Vallarta, Mexico’s largest marina, home to the cruise ship terminal and surrounded by luxury hotels , shopping malls and an 18-hole golf course.

Farther north is Nuevo Vallarta, this is the most recent development on the bay, just over the state line in Nayarit and at the mouth of the Rio Ameca. A 15 to 20 minute cab ride from Marina Vallarta and about half an hour from downtown, Nuevo Vallarta is ideal for those who prefer all-inclusive resorts.

The southern, more scenic arc of Banderas Bay begins with Playa de los Muertos (Dead Men’s Beach), the town’s most popular section of coastline. (Long ago, Playa los Muertos was the site of a battle between pirates and Indians, hence the morbid name. This area is now promoted as Zona Romantica.) From here, the road winds past villa-dotted cliffs and sparkling blue coves to Mismaloya, before turning inland. Playa Mismaloya is the cove where the movie was made. There are about half a dozen seafood palapas on the sand , beyond which are the ruins of accommodations used during the filming of The Night of the Iguana. Offshore is Los Arcos, a protected rock formation great for snorkeling and diving.

Puerto Vallarta is a shopper’s paradise with masks, pottery, lacquer-ware, carved-wood animals, hand-dyed woven rugs, Huichol Indian bead art, embroidered clothing and silver among the crafts for sale.

Puerto Vallarta is one of Mexico’s top Pacific resorts where you will find many wonderful hotels, atmospheric restaurants and café‘s, as well as lively bars and clubs to choose from. Among the activities you will find here are scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing , golf and horseback riding.

Links: Hotels/tours/maps/activities, etc:
www.visitpuertovallarta.com
www.Vallarta-adventures.com
www.puertovallarta.net
www.allaboutpuertovallarta.com
www.virtualvallarta.com