Guanacaste vs Puerto Vallarta

Illuminated beachfront dining pavilion with white railings and thatched-roof bungalows reflected in the pool at dusk.

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

Guanacaste 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.

Guanacaste guide · Puerto Vallarta guide · How we score

By the numbers

Guanacaste compared with Puerto Vallarta
Guanacaste	Measure	Puerto Vallarta
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
7	Resorts in our catalog	13 (better)
★ 4.4 (better)	Average guest rating	★ 4.3
$88–$289/night pp	Nightly rates	$71–$201/night pp (better)
1 of 7	Adults-only resorts	2 of 13
Low hurricane risk	Hurricane exposure	Low hurricane risk
May–November ('green season'), seriously wet September–October	Rainy season	June–October: dramatic afternoon storms, lush green hills
December–April, bone-dry	Sweet spot	November–May; whales in the bay December–March
Liberia (LIR), Papagayo resorts 30–45 min	Airport	Puerto Vallarta (PVR), most resorts 10–40 min
Nature + beach in one trip; reliable winter sun	Best for	Calm swimmable water, town culture with your resort, LGBTQ+-friendly scene
Wildlife everywhere; volcano and cloud-forest day trips	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

Guanacaste

Puerto Vallarta

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Guanacaste and Puerto Vallarta
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Guanacaste · high °F	91	92	93	93	91	88	88	88	87	86	87	89
Puerto Vallarta · high °F	82	82	82	84	87	90	92	92	90	89	86	83
Guanacaste · rain (in)	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.7	7.7	9.0	5.9	7.9	13.0	12.2	4.3	0.5
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 Papagayo / Guanacaste and Banderas Bay: planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.