El Púlpito | Las Pilitas | Playa Las Amapas
"El Púlpito" and "Las Pilitas" are natural rock formations in the southern part of Los Muertos beach. Some locals mistakenly pronounce it "pulpito" (small octopus). This landmark is not only a great little trip, it also has some an interesting history.
El Púlpito and Las Pilitas (Pulpit and the Small baptismal fonts) are two separate rock formations found, one of them, Las Pilitas, on the southern end of the Romantic zone's Los Muertos Beach, and the other, El Pulpito, is a rock outcropping that is actually the southern limit of Playa Los Muertos.
El Púlpito
El Púlpito is a small 60-foot tall headland, mostly rock, now covered with a lot of local vegetation and trees so you can't see much of the rock itself that gave it its name.
El Púlpito from the Northside
The path up and over Púlpito starts off as some sandy concrete stairs at the end of the Los Muertos beach that turn into a sandy dirt path up to the top, off to the right and up, a few crumbling cement steps "help" you get to the summit.
If you look at the older photo from 1956 (below), you'll see that growing trees and vegetation have taken over the summit and you can't see that much from up there anymore, unless you get up on the crowning boulder (the pulpit itself)... I didn't because it's quite scary with the abrupt cliffs on all sides and no protection... and the wind... hmmm... time to go Mr. Coward!
El Púlpito in 1956 vs. 2012
Las Amapas Beach
If you walk to the southern end of Los Muertos Beach you'll get to "The Pulpit" (El Púlpito), a rocky outcropping, a small peninsula like formation. There is a rustic staircase going up that leads you to the pulpit rock and also continues down the other side of the hill and it takes you to a small beach along the rocky outline beyond Los Muertos, it is called Las Amapas Beach (Playa Las Amapas).
Read the full article on Las Amapas Beach
Las Pilitas
Las Pilitas (some call it Las Pilitas Beach, but it's actually part of Los Muertos Beach) was the place where the original "The Boy on the Seahorse" ("El Niño Sobre el Caballo de Mar" - mostly known as "El Caballito de Mar", The Little Seahorse) by Rafael Zamarripa was first located.
After a strong storm swept it away into the sea, a larger replica was requested from the artist and this one was placed on the Malecon (better safe than sorry), it was the first statue of many more that would later become part of the open-air gallery along the seaside promenade (Malecon) in downtown Puerto Vallarta.
The original statue was later recovered and once again placed at Las Pilitas (it was swept away again during Hurricane Kenna and luckily recovered once again), you can see it there today, you can also see that the concrete block is extra reinforced now :-).
Photo from the late 1950s, notice there is no seahorse statue at Las Pilitas Beach
Las Pilitas themselves are just a series of rocks that lay between the sea and the beach, nothing sensational, but a good reference point (check the photo above and you'll see them in the foreground). They appear and disappear (more or less) depending on the beaches' evolution, there's quite a bit of sand moving in and out and up and down the beach. So you never know just how much rock you'll find.
The original Seahorse statue at Las Pilitas
Two side streets from Olas Altas Street are also named after these natural landmarks. To get to them you can walk South along the malecon and then follow Los Muertos Beach past the pier, past Blue Chairs Resort, first you'll get to Las Pilitas and then at the end of the beach you'll find the path up El Púlpito (and Las Amapas if you continue South, as mentioned above).
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