Puerto Vallarta

Stylish yet pleasure-loving, Puerto Vallarta is the perfect Mexican destination for those who love the beach and ocean but also love browsing galleries and craft stores, dining on a vast variety of delicious Mexican and international food, and carousing the night away in hip bars and nightclubs. Vallarta has probably Mexico's liveliest international gay scene but is a resort for everyone. On the glorious, curving Bahía de Banderas (Bay of Flags), with its string of beautiful sandy beaches, you can laze and sunbathe to your heart's content or get active snorkeling, waterskiing, diving, sailing, windsurfing, fishing, swimming with ...

Stylish yet pleasure-loving, Puerto Vallarta is the perfect Mexican destination for those who love the beach and ocean but also love browsing galleries and craft stores, dining on a vast variety of delicious Mexican and international food, and carousing the night away in hip bars and nightclubs. Vallarta has probably Mexico's liveliest international gay scene but is a resort for everyone. On the glorious, curving Bahía de Banderas (Bay of Flags), with its string of beautiful sandy beaches, you can laze and sunbathe to your heart's content or get active snorkeling, waterskiing, diving, sailing, windsurfing, fishing, swimming with dolphins and even watching whales. The cobblestone streets of the town house dozens of enticing galleries and tempting eateries, both fancy and down-to-earth. Backed by steamy, jungly hills, Vallarta has managed to retain a good deal of the charm that it possessed when Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and John Huston put it on the map by shooting The Night of the the Iguana here back in the 1960s.

About the Expert

John Noble is a coauthor of Lonely Planet's Spain, Andalucia, and Mexico as well as many other LP titles from Indonesia to Belize to Brazil.