Water Taxis (Pangas) going south from Los Muertos Beach Pier

When you travel to Puerto Vallarta, beaches are one of the main things you have on your mind. Relaxing at the beach, absorbing warmth, enjoying a stress-free day just basking in the waves, drinking your favorite cocktail, eating some exotic dish of shrimp or grilled fish, you fill in the dots.

The beaches close to town can fill up easily, especially during the high season months. If that is the case when you come down to friendly Puerto Vallarta, then a trip down south to the beaches south of Mismaloya might just be what your doctor’s recipe has recommended.

Beaches south of Boca: Colomitos, Las Ánimas, Quimixto, Majahuitas and Yelapa

Many great beaches in the southern part of the bay are wonderful exactly because they aren’t accessible by land. You’ll need to catch a water taxi (locally called “pangas”) to get there and the easiest way is to start off at Los Muertos Beach pier. It’ll a little longer out at sea, but it might be less time in total when compared to the water taxis leaving from Boca de Tomatlán.

You won’t have to walk to the bus stop and then walk from the Boca bus stop to the pier and then catch the next water taxi, that may have just left (wait an hour for the next one).

So, unless you want to enjoy Boca de Tomatlán for a while or you are not a sea person, just getting from PV directly to your beach destination may be the best, fastest and easiest way to do it.

If your arriving from downtown Puerto Vallarta (from the north) walk south along the Malecón, once you cross the Cuale River, there is no way you’ll not see it in the distance. Walk past the Lázaro Cárdenas park along Olas Altas to Francisca Rodríguez street and turn right, or turn right on Venustiano Carranza street and walk south along the sidewalk that follows Olas Altas beach southward to the pier.

The following list has the water taxi prices that are the standard in 2022, there is a chance they change a bit depending on the season and from water taxi to water taxi. So do ask before you get on, just to make sure you feel fine with the price and avoid any unpleasant surprises (never happened to me though, but better safe than sorry). The Mexican peso varies but at this time it’s about 20 pesos per USA dollar.

If you are planning to visit each beach along the way and would like to combine your trip with a visit to the Arches (Los Arcos) another option is to rent a boat for the day or afternoon. Please contact us if that is something you’d like and we’ll get you a good deal with a reliable and fun panga captain.

From the Los Muertos Beach Pier to Yelapa the water taxi schedule is the following:

* not on Sundays
Monday to Sunday

From Yelapa going back to Los Muertos Beach Pier the water taxi schedule is the following:

* not on Sundays
Monday to Sunday

The following map shows the beaches of the south zone. You’ll notice I’ve not added the price to Las Caletas, that’s because it is a beach concession and you can only go there through a tour operator (Vallarta Adventures). There are free drinks and activities on this beach and it’d be expensive to provide service if anybody could just land there without restrictions 😉.