Bahia vs Puerto Vallarta

Turquoise pool with thatched-roof cabanas, loungers, and a daybed pavilion surrounded by tropical vegetation under cloudy sky.

Resort pool with white umbrellas and lounge chairs, palm trees, and a multi-story hotel building backed by green mountains.

Puerto Vallarta13 resorts · ★ 4.3 average

Bahia and Puerto Vallarta, side by side: live travel advisories, our resort catalog's real guest data, and each destination's honest weather picture. Everything you need to break the tie.

Bahia guide · Puerto Vallarta guide · How we score

By the numbers

Bahia compared with Puerto Vallarta
Bahia	Measure	Puerto Vallarta
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
4	Resorts in our catalog	13 (better)
★ 4.7 (better)	Average guest rating	★ 4.3
$128–$233/night pp	Nightly rates	$71–$201/night pp (better)
0 of 4	Adults-only resorts	2 of 13
No hurricane season (better)	Hurricane exposure	Low hurricane risk
April–July	Rainy season	June–October: dramatic afternoon storms, lush green hills
September–March (southern-hemisphere spring and summer)	Sweet spot	November–May; whales in the bay December–March
Salvador (SSA), resort zone ~1–1.5h north	Airport	Puerto Vallarta (PVR), most resorts 10–40 min
Culture-rich beach trips; hurricane-free southern summers	Best for	Calm swimmable water, town culture with your resort, LGBTQ+-friendly scene
TAMAR turtle project; Salvador's Pelourinho; moqueca	Signature	Banderas Bay sunsets; whales December–March

Advisory levels sync from travel.state.gov; catalog figures reflect the resorts we've researched, not every hotel in the country. A marked row is one we are willing to call; rows without a mark are a matter of taste, or we have no comparable figure for both sides.

On the map

Bahia

Puerto Vallarta

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Bahia and Puerto Vallarta
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Bahia · high °F	86	87	86	84	82	80	79	79	81	83	84	85
Puerto Vallarta · high °F	82	82	82	84	87	90	92	92	90	89	86	83
Bahia · rain (in)	2.7	3.9	6.1	10.9	10.5	8.5	6.9	4.4	3.3	3.9	4.1	4.9
Puerto Vallarta · rain (in)	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.5	7.0	11.0	10.5	13.5	4.0	0.8	0.5

Approximate climate normals for Bahia coast (Salvador) and Banderas Bay: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.