Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is the Mexican beach town that stayed a town: cobblestones, a malecón with actual life on it, jungle mountains dropping into the huge, calm sweep of Banderas Bay. The all-inclusive scene spreads around the bay, from town-adjacent hotels to Nuevo Vallarta's family flagships and Punta Mita's luxury point, with protected, swimmable water almost everywhere and zero sargassum.
- Airport
- Puerto Vallarta (PVR), most resorts 10–40 min
- The bay
- Zona Romántica → Marina → Nuevo Vallarta → Punta Mita
- Best for
- Calm swimmable water, town culture with your resort, LGBTQ+-friendly scene
- Seaweed
- Pacific side: no sargassum
- Signature
- Banderas Bay sunsets
- whales December–March
Where Puerto Vallarta splits
The resort areas are not interchangeable. What each one is actually for.
When to go to Puerto Vallarta
Climate normals for Banderas Bay, and our verdict on each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average daily high | 82 degrees Fahrenheit | 82 degrees Fahrenheit | 82 degrees Fahrenheit | 84 degrees Fahrenheit | 87 degrees Fahrenheit | 90 degrees Fahrenheit | 92 degrees Fahrenheit | 92 degrees Fahrenheit | 90 degrees Fahrenheit | 89 degrees Fahrenheit | 86 degrees Fahrenheit | 83 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Rainfall | 0.4″ | 0.2″ | 0.1″ | 0.1″ | 0.5″ | 7″ | 11″ | 10.5″ | 13.5″ | 4″ | 0.8″ | 0.5″ |
| Verdict | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Shoulder | Off-peak | Off-peak | Off-peak | Shoulder | Prime | Prime |
Sweet spot. November–May; whales in the bay December–March; rainy season runs June–October: dramatic afternoon storms, lush green hills.
Storm risk. Pacific season June–November; Banderas Bay's geography has historically softened direct hits, but late-summer systems bring serious rain.
Figures are long-term climate normals for Banderas Bay, good for planning. They are not a forecast.
Where on Banderas Bay?
South-side Puerto Vallarta (Zona Romántica and the beaches toward Mismaloya) keeps you closest to the town's restaurants, art, and nightlife; PV has Mexico's most celebrated LGBTQ+ beach scene. The Marina and airport corridor is convenience territory. Across the state line in Nayarit, Nuevo Vallarta lines up the big family all-inclusives on a long flat beach, and Punta Mita crowns the bay's northern point with five-star seclusion.
The bay protects almost every beach here: water is genuinely swimmable in a way parts of Los Cabos aren't.
When to go
November–May is the dry season sweet spot: warm, rainless, and, December through March, full of humpback whales inside the bay. Summer (June–October) turns lush and humid with dramatic afternoon storms; it's the value season, and the Pacific hurricane risk, while real, is softened by the bay's geography.
Beyond the resort
Walk the malecón and the Zona Romántica at sunset, boat to Yelapa or the Marietas Islands, zipline the Sierra Madre foothills, and eat: PV's food scene, from street tacos to serious dining, is the best of any Mexican beach destination. This is the coast where leaving the resort is half the point.
Where the Puerto Vallarta resorts are
13 resorts mapped stars are five-star properties
13 mapped · marks five-star
The best all-inclusive resorts in Puerto Vallarta
The Puerto Vallarta properties we would actually book.
Where to stay in Puerto Vallarta
The resort areas we cover, and which properties sit in each.
Resort chains in Puerto Vallarta
The brands operating here. Each links to its full ranking and what its plan really covers.
Where these companies came from
Almost nobody in this category publishes it. Read oldest first and the list is a short history of how Puerto Vallarta came to look the way it does.
Puerto Vallarta, head to head
Price, flights, sand, food and safety, compared honestly.
Puerto Vallarta vs JamaicaDominican RepublicMaldivesGreeceSpainTurks & CaicosArubaBarbadosSt. LuciaItalyPortugalTurkeyAntiguaCuraçaoBrazilCosta RicaPhilippinesFrench PolynesiaMoroccoEgyptSouth AfricaMauritiusKenyaTanzaniaMozambiqueThailandIndonesiaMalaysiaPunta CanaCancúnRiviera MayaLos CabosMontego BayNegrilOcho RiosGuanacasteCreteBahiaBora BoraMalé AtollsRodney BayBarbados South CoastBarbados West CoastViti LevuVanua LevuFijiCroatiaU.S. Virgin IslandsSri LankaSeychellesBahamasChileArgentinaUnited States
Frequently asked questions
Puerto Vallarta or Cancún for an all-inclusive?
PV for calm swimmable water, real-town culture, and no sargassum; Cancún for Caribbean-blue water, bigger resort choice, and the cenote/ruins excursion belt. Flight math matters too; PV favors the western half of North America.
Is the water swimmable at Puerto Vallarta resorts?
Yes: Banderas Bay shelters most beaches, making PV one of the Pacific coast's most reliably swimmable resort areas. Summer storms can bring surf, but it's a different world from open-Pacific beaches.