Puerto Vallarta Zones & Zone Map

Marina Vallarta extends from Boca de Tomates to the north, including the International Puerto Vallarta airport all the way down to the harbor area and just before the Plaza Galerías Vallarta Mall on the southern end.

It is a 544-acre planned upscale resort and residential community located in Puerto Vallarta with a 450-berth marina. The marina offers a wonderful and beautiful boardwalk, you’ll enjoy looking at the impressive yachts and sailboats. It’s a well-paved promenade that is a great place for morning or afternoon walks. Enjoy a delicious meal or happy hour drink at one of the many restaurants on this long walkway/boardwalk. Explore all the different shops and boutiques selling unique items, or enjoy an afternoon at the spa, starting with a relaxing massage, and a manicure/pedicure.

The entrance to this Puerto Vallarta community features a giant sculpture of a mother and a baby whale known as the Vallarta Whale, you’ll also see a giant statue of the trident-wielding Roman god Neptune (the god of fresh water and the ocean) at the Plaza Neptune shopping center. The Marina Vallarta Club de Golf is an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Joe Finger with lush green gardens and a natural lagoon filled with alligators, herons, sea geese and iguanas.

The Hotel Zone extends south from the Maritime Terminal, across from Galerias Vallarta Shopping Center and the Walmart Sam’s Club, to Brasilia Street on the southern edge of the Agustín Contreras Municipal Stadium.

The Puerto Vallarta hotel zone is where many of the upscale and larger hotels, resorts and modern high-rise apartments are found spread along the main street in town called Francisco Medina Ascensio Avenue, which runs parallel to the beach.

In the hotel area, from north to south, there are four different beaches: Playa de Oro, Playa Los Tules, Playa las Glorias, Playa Tranquila.

Puerto Vallarta’s Hotel Zone is full of amenities, on the northern end, there’s a gorgeous, modern, two-level Galerias Vallarta shopping mall. An air-conditioned mall with many shops, stores, restaurants, Casino Life, fitness facilities, the beautiful and a modern Cinemex cinema. It has a great view of the maritime pier where the cruise ships dock.

The Walmart/Sam’s Club complex is located across from the Marine Terminal and adjacent to Galerias Vallarta Shopping Center.

Other shopping centers and malls include Plaza Caracol, Plaza Genovesa, Plaza Peninsula, La Isla Shopping Village, Costco and Fluvial Vallarta.

Downtown Puerto Vallarta, also known as “Centro”, is a continuation south of the PV Hotel Zone, starting south of Brasilia Street and continuing to the southern arm of the Cuale River.

Downtown PV is the vibrant heart of the city and where most of the activities in town take place. The whole area is full of beautiful colonial-era buildings with red tile roofs. Many are painted light colours and have colourful murals, and walls and patios are often dotted with vines, including bright pink bougainvillea and other greenery. Visitors are encouraged to embark on a long and enjoyable journey of discovery through the narrow cobblestone streets, discovering countless local delicacies on every corner. There are plenty of restaurants, bars and interesting shops here with a style, colour and atmosphere you won’t find anywhere else in the world.

No visit to Puerto Vallarta is complete without a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk known locally as El Malecón, a breathtakingly beautiful seaside promenade that gracefully runs along the edge of Malecon Beach. This is the location of an open-air bronze statue gallery, with sculptures located at the end of each sidestreet and the Malecon.

From the Malecon, visitors can experience stunning panoramic views of the beautiful Banderas Bay. The inland side of Malecon is lined with restaurants, bars, eateries, cute boutiques and other shops offering colourful and eclectic items. There are also several art galleries with amazing and unique pieces.

At night the Puerto Vallarta Malecon takes on a completely different personality than during the day. The promenade is a real feast for the senses, vibrant and festive multicolored lights gush out of the many open-air nightclubs, playing popular tunes and flashing music videos on big screens. Vendors offer an array of glowing toys and cotton candy. When the sun goes down, visitors can enjoy a variety of live music at several restaurants and bars in the area. Most nights you’ll have an opportunity to enjoy free entertainment by the outdoor Los Arcos Amphitheatre, located right by the Malecon Arches and across the street from the main square. The street vendors south of the arches by the Naval History Museum are popular with local families and tourists alike, they offer nieve de garrafa (artisan ice cream), grilled corn on the cob, french fries, tamales, crepes, nuts, candy, and more.

The main square (Plaza de Armas) is an important landmark where both locals and tourists gather to meet and socialize. In Puerto Vallarta, a special event is held here at 6:00 PM Thursdays and Sundays. On Thursdays, the municipal band plays for an enthusiastic audience. On Sunday nights at 6 PM ballroom music is performed by a full band from the elevated central pavilion or bandstand area. People gather with family and friends to relax and enjoy the great music and atmosphere, while most people feeling the rhythm can’t resist and get up and dance the night away.

Just 50 yards up Independencia street from the main square is the beautiful Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The main tower is topped with a huge crown and is probably Puerto Vallarta’s most recognizable symbol.

The southern end of the Centro is bounded by Rio Cuale, a river that splits the downtown area from the so-called Romantic Zone (AKA Old Town) in two and nests a small island in the middle (Isla del Rio Cuale) before ending in the ocean. The next area is also called “The South Side” or “Colonia Emiliano Zapata”. Where the river-mouth ends in the sea, you’ll find many local families enjoying, relaxing and swimming in the slow-moving river flow under the pedestrian bridge.

Starting to the south of downtown Puerto Vallarta is what’s known as the Romantic Zone, the northern border is the Cuale river and the south end is right before Las Estacas Beach and the Hyatt Ziva Hotel (ex-Camino Real). You’ll at times find this part of town called differently, including Old Town, the South Side and sometimes as Colonia Emiliano Zapata.

It is popular among ex-pats and locals alike because there’s an immense variety of amenities and it is full of activities and Mexican culture. Together with the Puerto Vallarta downtown area, it is also the place where you will find the largest amount of restaurants and bars. When it comes to accommodation, there are many budget hotels, hostels and nice boutique hotels and because distances are not large, for most people they are all within walking distance of the beach. But, just so you know, this is not the part of town where you’ll find sprawling all-inclusive hotels and resorts. These types of accommodations are located in Marina Vallarta, the Hotel Zone, Nuevo Vallarta and the North Zone. It is a very special place, and many tourists in the know will avoid the big luxury resorts because this is actually where the action is, plus who need an AI when you have so many great options a few steps away!

During the day, you can relax on the golden sands of Playa de Los Muertos, rent a beach chair and soak it all in (including Margaritas), stroll the exciting cobblestone streets and enjoy the unique shops and stores. When it’s time for lunch and drinks you can stop at one of the many great restaurants, bars or if you are on a budget, taco stands. The options range from budget to gourmet, so there is literally something for everyone. Some of the many food-style options available are Mediterranean, Mexican Fusion, Thai, Seafood, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Fast food, Argentine, German, Spanish, Cuban, Vegetarian, Fusion, Deli, etc. In the romantic zone, you can dine with your toes in the sand, or in a restaurant with a terrace with a panoramic view. So the experiences and options are almost limitless!

When the Malecón extension (Malecon II) in the downtown area ends, there is a pedestrian bridge over the Cuale River. From the bridge, you can go down the stairs and you’ll be on the Cuale River Island, follow the path past Oscar’s and you’ll walk into the popular Rio Cuale flea market. Shopping in the Old Town is an experience not to be missed. Visitors looking for the perfect souvenir will find many unique artisan treasures, such as glazed earthenware pots, plates and cutlery painted in spectacular colours and patterns, silver jewelry, hand-embroidered bracelets, earrings, Mexican vanilla, the list goes on and on.

Another beautiful spot in the Romantic Zone is the Los Muertos Beach Pier, completed in January 2013 it’s become an obligatory stop when you visit the beach and Puerto Vallarta. It offers both locals and tourists the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful view of the city and the sea. Every night, the pier is lit up by beautiful lights.

Words are not enough, but you sort of get an idea of why the Romantic Zone attracts so many international tourists every year.

Immediately south of the Romantic Zone you’ll find the South Zone, starting south of Conchas Chinas Beach by Hyatt Ziva and Las Estacas Beach. The South Side is very different from the northern areas of the bay, with the highway running through the narrow spaces between the lush, steep Sierra Madre mountains to the east and the beaches and cliffs of the bay to the west.

The rugged jungle landscape of the Southside offers a range of high-end accommodations including Hyatt Ziva, Garza Blanca Preserve Resort & Spa, Hilton Vallarta Rivera, Grand Park Royal and Barceló Puerto Vallarta.

In 1963, when John Huston directed the film starring Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Sue Lyon and Deborah Kerr “the Night of the Iguana,” Mismaloya became the focus of the world’s attention. Things really took off because of the scandalous affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (both married to other people at the time) and the entire world media flocked to Puerto Vallarta. PV was never the same after that. In 1987, the jungle scenes in the film Predator were filmed at a place called El Eden in the hills behind Mismaloya.

Animal lovers also head to Mismaloya to visit the Vallarta Zoo. If you are accustomed to zoos with big “don’t feed the animals” signs, you’ll be delighted that the operators of the Vallarta Zoo actually say, “Please feed the animals!” For a small fee, visitors get food bags with carrots, breadsticks, and seeds that you can hand-feed to most of the zoo’s residents, including monkeys, giraffes, hippos, zebras, ponies, antelopes, flamingos, ostriches, peacocks, and more. As this particular zoo is also a world-renowned big cat breeding facility, for an additional fee, visitors have the opportunity to touch and interact with lion cubs, tiger cubs, and leopard cubs (depending on recently born babies). This is not something normally available anywhere in the world, so don’t miss the opportunity.

Further south, the highway takes you past Mismaloya to a quaint and peaceful Boca de Tomatlan. From this small town, you can take one of the many water taxis going to several secluded beaches further west that can only be reached from the seaside. These include Las Animas, Quimixto, Majahuitas and Yelapa.

If you continue south along the highway, past Boca de Tomatlan, it goes inland and some 40 minutes south of the PV Romantic Zone you’ll arrive at the wonderful Vallarta Botanical Gardens. For some $10 USD per person, you can stroll through the lush gardens and enjoy a world-class plant collection and miles of hiking trails, a swim in the Horcones River and a refreshing drink and delicious meal at the Hacienda de Oro restaurant, one of the best in the whole Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta area.