Puerto Vallarta’s beach-cleanup commission says volunteers collected a little more than 21.8 tons of waste during the 2025-2026 season. The municipal report, corroborated by BanderasNews, Agencia Jafríco, and Vallarta en Línea, counts 20 cleanup days and 1,295 volunteers on beaches, rivers, canals, and other waterways.
Named work sites include Playa Camarones, Playa de Oro, Boca de Tomates, the Cuale and Pitillal rivers, Estero El Salado, and Laguna del Coapinole. Those stretches sit along the same visitor shoreline covered in the site’s Puerto Vallarta beaches guide, from the north hotel zone down toward downtown.
Councilman Christian Omar Bravo Carbajal, who chairs the Permanent Commission for Free, Clean, and Certified Beaches, said the work is meant to keep those places usable for residents and visitors. “Caring for our beaches is a task for everyone, and every effort we contribute brings us closer to that goal,” he told local media.
Blue Flag work on eight beaches
The same report says the city is pursuing Blue Flag certification for eight coastal stretches: Playa de Oro, Holi (Holly in the Spanish accounts), Camarones, Amapas, Conchas Chinas 1, Conchas Chinas 2, Nogalito, and Palmares. Blue Flag standards cover water quality, safety, environmental management, and visitor services. Several of those beaches sit in the hotel zone, so the certification push is practical information if you are choosing where to swim.
The commission also formed Cruzada por el Mar, a partnership with schools, hotels, civic groups, and city offices. Highlighted events include a cleanup rally on World Environment Day, with support from Mexico’s 12th Naval Zone and SEMARNAT, and an international beach-cleanup day at Holi Beach and the Pitillal River. Cleaner sand and water also help the city’s sea turtle release programs, which depend on the same shoreline.
