Puerto Vallarta sits on Banderas Bay, which is the largest bay in Mexico and one of the largest in the Americas, with the Sierra Madre coming down almost into the water behind the town. It was a fishing village of a few thousand people until 1963, when John Huston filmed The Night of the Iguana just south at Mismaloya and the press arrived to watch Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor conduct an affair in public. The town has been a resort ever since.
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What it kept is a walkable old centre of cobbled streets climbing steeply off the seafront, a malecon lined with bronze sculptures, and the crowned church of Our Lady of Guadalupe that appears in every photograph of the place. The Zona Romantica south of the river is the town's most established gay district, which has shaped the restaurant and nightlife scene considerably and makes Vallarta one of the more relaxed destinations in Mexico. Behind and around the bay there is more than the resort strip suggests: humpbacks calve here from December to March, and the southern shore villages of Yelapa and Quimixto have no road at all.
What Makes Puerto Vallarta Different to Pack For
Hot, and humid in a way the dry season hides
November to April is the dry season and the reason to come: 28°C to 31°C, low humidity, calm water. June to October is 30°C to 34°C with humidity above 80 percent and heavy evening rain, and it is also the Pacific hurricane season, peaking August to October.
A merino wool base layer for women earns a place for the fiercely air conditioned hotels, buses and the flight, and because it survives a humid week without needing a wash.
The old town is cobbled and steep
Gringo Gulch and the streets above the Zona Romantica climb hard off the seafront on uneven river cobbles that are slick in the rain. This is the item most visitors underestimate.
The bay's beaches differ
The town beaches are calm and swimmable. The open coast north toward Bucerias and Punta Mita has surf and rips. The southern shore coves are reachable only by boat.
Whale season is a fixed window
Humpbacks are in the bay roughly mid December to late March, and outside that they are simply not there.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Puerto Vallarta Packing List
Footwear
Walking sandals with a back strap and a sole you trust, because the old town cobbles are large, uneven river stones set on a gradient and they are genuinely ankle-turning. Flip flops for the beach only.
Water shoes for the southern shore coves, where the landings are rock, and for Los Arcos snorkelling.
For the Sierra Madre behind the town, the Vallarta Botanical Garden trails or a day up to San Sebastian del Oeste, waterproof hiking shoes are the right call, since the paths are steep, humid and muddy.
Clothing
Light, loose and quick drying, two swimsuits, and a cover-up for the malecon and the town, where beachwear alone is out of place.
A packable rain jacket from June to October for the evening storms.
Covered shoulders and knees for the Guadalupe church, which is a working church in the middle of the tourist area and does ask. One smarter outfit, because the Zona Romantica restaurant scene is genuinely good and people dress for it. A light layer for the air conditioning.
For sun
A wide brim sun hat, high factor reef safe sunscreen and sunglasses. The malecon is unshaded for its full length, the boat trips across the bay are several hours of open water, and the humidity disguises how much sun you are taking.
Practical
Cash in pesos for the beach palapas, the water taxis and the buses, with cards fine elsewhere. A dry bag for boat days. Reef safe sunscreen, which the Los Arcos marine park expects. Insect repellent, since dengue is present. A refillable bottle; tap water is not drinkable, though Vallarta's municipal supply is better regarded than most. And motion sickness tablets for the whale and bay boats.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The malecon and the old town
A kilometre and a half of seafront promenade with a series of bronze sculptures, running from the Hotel Zone end down to the Cuale river, with the crowned Guadalupe church and the cobbled streets of Gringo Gulch above it.
Practically: walk the malecon in the evening, when the whole city does and the sun is off it, rather than at midday when there is no shade at all. Grippy sandals for the cobbles above. Shoulders and knees in the church. The Saturday market on the Isla Cuale is worth an hour.
The Zona Romantica and Los Muertos
South of the river, the town's most walkable district, with Playa Los Muertos, its pier, and the densest concentration of restaurants and bars.
Practically: Los Muertos is calm and swimmable with lifeguards in season and is the town's main beach. Palapa chairs come with service. The blue-chair and Ritmos sections at the southern end are the established gay beach clubs. This is the best base for a first visit.
Yelapa, Quimixto and the southern shore
Villages on the far side of the bay with no road access, reached by water taxi from Los Muertos pier or Boca de Tomatlan, with waterfalls behind them.
Practically: water taxis run to a timetable and the last boat back is earlier than people expect, so confirm it before you leave. Landings are onto rock or a beach in surf, so water shoes and a dry bag. Yelapa has limited power and patchy card acceptance, so take cash. The waterfall walks are humid and muddy.
Whale watching
Humpbacks migrate into Banderas Bay to calve and breed from roughly mid December to late March, and the bay is deep enough that they come close in.
Practically: Mexican regulations set minimum approach distances and cap the number of boats around a whale, and a good operator observes them; one that chases or crowds is both illegal and ruining the sighting. Choose a licensed operator with a biologist aboard over a party boat. Warm layer, hat, sunscreen, dry bag, motion sickness tablets. Mornings are calmer.
Los Arcos and Marietas
Granite islets off Mismaloya forming a national marine park with arches and good snorkelling, and further out the Marietas Islands with the famous hidden beach.
Practically: reef safe sunscreen, rash vest, water shoes. The Marietas hidden beach has a strict daily visitor cap and requires a licensed operator and a permit, because the site was closed in 2016 after tourism damaged the reef; anyone offering it without a permit is not legitimate. The swim into the cave is through a low tunnel and is not for weak swimmers.
San Sebastian del Oeste and the sierra
A former silver mining town at 1,480 metres in the Sierra Madre, about an hour and a half inland, cool and quiet.
Practically: genuinely cold in the evening compared with the coast, so take a warm layer. The road climbs steeply. Cobbles again. Good coffee is grown around it.
What Not to Bring
Leave flip flops as your only shoes, because the cobbles will punish them and you.
Leave standard sunscreen if you are snorkelling. Leave beachwear for the church. Leave a September trip unless you can absorb a hurricane. Leave the expectation of whales outside December to March. And leave a boat operator who offers the Marietas hidden beach without a permit.
Essential Resources for Women in Puerto Vallarta
Emergency numbers in Mexico: 911 is the national emergency number for police, ambulance and fire, and English speaking operators are usually available in Vallarta because of the size of the foreign resident population. 088 reaches the Guardia Nacional.
Tourist police: Puerto Vallarta operates a Policia Turistica along the malecon and in the Zona Romantica, in identifiable uniform and often on bicycles, and the city depends on tourism and polices the visitor areas accordingly. 078 is the national tourist assistance line, staffed in English, and the Jalisco tourism office handles operator complaints.
US Consulate: the US Consular Agency in Puerto Vallarta provides limited services, with the Consulate General in Guadalajara about four hours away and the embassy in Mexico City at mx.usembassy.gov. Having an agency in town is useful for a lost passport. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: Hospital San Javier Marina and CMQ Premiere are the private hospitals used by visitors and insurers, both with 24 hour emergency departments and English speaking staff, and the Hospital Regional is the public option. Standards in the private hospitals are high because they serve a large expatriate community. There is a hyperbaric chamber in the city for diving incidents. Private care expects payment or an insurance guarantee up front.
Official health authority: the Secretaria de Salud at gob.mx/salud, with COFEPRIS for water and food advisories. Dengue is present on this coast with seasonal outbreaks. For storms, the Servicio Meteorologico Nacional issues the hurricane warnings from June to November, and Banderas Bay's shape gives it some shelter but not immunity.
US State Department travel advisory for Mexico: current advisory level and detail, issued state by state. Jalisco carries a reconsider travel level driven by cartel activity, and the advisory's concerns are specific municipalities and intercity highways rather than Puerto Vallarta, which along with Guadalajara's tourist areas is where the advisory notes most visitors go without incident. Read the Jalisco section directly rather than the national summary.
UK FCDO travel advice for Mexico: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, with a state by state breakdown, including the hurricane information, the guidance on taxis and ATMs, and the warnings on rip currents and drownings on the Pacific coast.
Official tourism authority: Visit Mexico at visitmexico.com, with the Jalisco tourism board and the Puerto Vallarta tourism office for the whale watching regulations, the licensed operator lists and the Marietas permit system.
Solo women safety assessment: Puerto Vallarta is one of the easier and more comfortable Mexican destinations for a woman travelling alone. The town runs on tourism, English is widely spoken, there is a large and long established foreign resident population, the tourist police are visible, and the Zona Romantica's character as the town's gay district has produced a notably relaxed and non-predatory street atmosphere compared with other Mexican resort strips. Violent crime against visitors is rare. The cartel activity behind Jalisco's advisory level is concentrated in other municipalities and along intercity highways, not in this bay. Practical crime is opportunistic: theft from beaches while people swim, from unlocked rooms, phone snatching on the malecon at night, and card skimming at standalone ATMs, so use bank lobby machines in daylight. Timeshare touting is relentless along the malecon and at the airport and is a nuisance rather than a threat; a flat no and continuing to walk is the method, and do not accept a free tour or breakfast. Use Uber or Didi, which both operate here, or a taxi from a sitio rank with the fare agreed first. Walking the malecon, the Zona Romantica and Los Muertos in the evening is comfortable and busy until late. Take a taxi rather than walking the unlit stretches toward the Hotel Zone or up into the hills after dark. Do not walk on the beach alone at night. Street harassment is present but noticeably less persistent than on the Caribbean coast. Drink spiking is the standard bar caution and this is a heavy drinking town, so buy your own drinks and watch them poured. The genuine dangers are physical. The cobbles are the most likely thing to injure you, and ankle and wrist injuries from falls on them are the routine complaint at the clinics. The sea in the bay is generally calm and lifeguarded at Los Muertos, but the open coast north of town and the beaches outside the bay have strong rips and few lifeguards, so swim where others are swimming and obey flags. Boat trips should provide life jackets; if they do not, use another operator. Heat and dehydration cause more trouble than anything else, and in hurricane season a warning is a reason to change plans rather than sail.
Reading On
Puerto Vallarta has a large international airport with direct flights from much of North America, and it is the most walkable of Mexico's big Pacific resorts. The Mexico travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the Mexico packing list for women covers a trip across it. Inland, the Guadalajara packing list for women covers Jalisco's capital and the tequila country four hours away. North and south along the Pacific, the Mazatlan packing list for women, the Puerto Escondido packing list for women and the Huatulco packing list for women, with the Cabo San Lucas packing list for women across the Sea of Cortez. In the highlands, the Mexico City travel guide for women, the Queretaro packing list for women, the Guanajuato packing list for women and the Morelia packing list for women. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer belongs in a tropical bag, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
