15 Gorgeous Beaches Near Puerto Vallarta

Heather ArbourByHeather Arbour Posted on Updated on

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Looking for a perfect day trip from Puerto Vallarta? These beaches near Puerto Vallarta make the best day trip from the city.

In this list of beaches near Puerto Vallarta, we’re including only beaches that are actually outside of the city. If you’re looking for beaches in Puerto Vallarta, check out this list here.

Each of the beaches in this post, we have personally visited unless otherwise noted. During our fourteen weeks in Puerto Vallarta, we made it a point to find the best beaches both in town and near Puerto Vallarta, and so here you have it.. this epic beach list!

Don’t have time for the entire post? Here’s a quick highlight of the best beaches near Puerto Vallarta.

What Is The Best Beach Near Puerto Vallarta?

For families and close to town | Playa Las Gemelas

For total escape | Playa Caballo

For surfing | Playa Sayulita

Are The Beaches Near Puerto Vallarta Swimmable?

Yes, the beaches are swimmable nearly year round, however, pay attention for red or purple warning flags, and these fly when the water is dangerous to get into.

Where Is There Good Snorkeling Near Puerto Vallarta?

Playa Conchas Chinas offers great snorkeling near Puerto Vallarta. You can also find good snorkeling at Los Colomitos Beach and Playa Yelapa near the pier.

What Is the Best Beach Tour From Puerto Vallarta?

For an awesome beach escape to the hidden beach of Puerto Vallarta, check out the Marietas Island tour.

Book Now | A trip to hidden beach in Puerto Vallarta, the beach inside an island.

Aerial shot of Conchas Chinas Beach in Puerto Vallarta, a beach with a rocky cove providing great snorkeling.

Beaches Near Puerto Vallarta Quick List

Puerto Vallarta Beach Day Trips To The South

To get to the beaches to the south of Puerto Vallarta, you’ll need to take the bus towards Boca de Tomatlan from the Romantic Zone at the following coordinates: 20.602349, -105.234691.

The bus costs 10 pesos, no matter what distance you travel, and it only stops when someone dings the bell, so you’ll need to pay attention where you are. We recommend downloading maps.me (learn more here) to pin both the bus stops and the beach locations.

  • Conchas Chinas Beach
  • Playa Punta Negra
  • Playa Palmares
  • Playa Esmeralda
  • Playa Las Gemelas
  • Boca de Tomatlan
  • Los Colomitos Beach
  • Playa Caballo
  • Playa Las Animas
  • Playa Yelapa

Beach Day Trips From Puerto Vallarta to The North

To reach the beaches near Puerto Vallarta to the north, you’ll need to grab a different bus, located in Las Glorias, near the Hotel Zone at the following coordinates, 20.633149, -105.229475.

This bus stop is a chaotic organized mess, but you just have to embrace it. Most people are super friendly with explaining what bus to catch, and there’s always a single worker who runs around a million miles a minute, but will help answer questions and point to where you should stand and wait!

The bus rate from here will vary based on both distance and if the bus has AC, but expect to pay around 55 pesos per person to reach San Pancho in an air-conditioned bus.

  • Nuevo Vallarta beaches
  • Playa Bucerias
  • Punta Mita beaches
  • Playa Sayulita
  • Playa San Pancho

Map of Beaches Near Puerto Vallarta

South Beaches Near Puerto Vallarta In Depth

Conchas Chinas Beach

  • Location | 20.59122, -105.24407
  • Best For | quiet escape from the crowds
  • Beach Vibe | calm waters, snorkeling, and few crowds
Aerial shot of Playa Conchas Chinas, a beach near Puerto Vallarta.

Playa Conchas Chinas is the perfect beach near Puerto Vallarta to visit for half a day to a full day. It’s close enough to Puerto Vallarta to actually walk to the beach from the Romantic Zone. 

This beach is not nearly as crowded as other beaches in Puerto Vallarta and is actually referred to as a secret beach in Puerto Vallarta. 

Conchas Chinas Beach offers great snorkeling, pristine blue waters, and few crowds and vendors.. even on the weekends. 

Find out more about Playa Conchas Chinas, like how to get there, what to pack, and best accommodation at the beach below.

READ MORE | How To Get To Conchas Chinas Beach in Detail + A Full Beach Guide

Recommended Stays At Conchas Chinas Beach

Playa Punta Negra

Drone shot above the water looking back at Playa Punta Negra in the Banderas Bay.

Playa Punta Negra is located right below a row of condominiums. The beach access to this from the road is pretty steep stairs, and is actually quite a ways down.

Parking for this beach is free and along the highway, at 20.562784, -105.254068.

We didn’t actually visit this beach, as we ended up liking a different beach more, Playa Gemalas, and decided to spend our day there instead. However, we did fly the drone over to be able to share a top-down view of Playa Punta Negra, as you saw in the image above.

READ MORE | Want a bit more than just a beach day? Check out the Nogalito Ecopark nearby.

Playa Palmares

Playa Palmares right on highway 200 south of Puerto Vallarta, taken with a drone.

Playa Palmares is the perfect beach to visit if you’re looking to get dropped off basically right on the beach. This beach is just steps away from Highway 200, which is great for being easily accessible, but also means you’ll hear the highway noise while at the beach.

Playa Palmares is a really long and skinny beach, and depending on the time of year and how the tide is moving, you’ll find lots of rocks along this stretch of the sand. While we passed up the chance to spend time at this beach, we did notice there’s a restaurant right at the bus stop, overlooking the ocean, and there’s plenty of free parking at the bus stop too!

READ MORE | There’s an epic waterfall right near this beach called Palo Maria. Learn more about the Palo Maria Waterfall here.

Recommended Stays Nearby

Playa Esmeralda

Aerial shot of Playa Esmeralda south of Puerto Vallarta with resorts along the beach and mountains in the distance.

Oh my goodness, this beach! When we tried to access this beach, we couldn’t find a way to get to it. You can climb over some rocks to access the beach, but otherwise, you have to be staying in the resorts here to have easier access.

With that said, we got off at this bus stop, and walked down through the construction and found a small beach right within the rocks. This was the perfect place to hang out for a few hours, and we actually stayed here watching whales swim throughout the bay. It was perfect!

We didn’t get in the water here, as we were way too distracted by watching the whales, and instead we walked along the road to Playa Gemalas and finished our beach day there instead.

Playa Esmeralda is an interesting beach in Puerto Vallarta. I’m not sure it can completely be classified as a beach, as it’s really more so sandy pools in the middle of big boulders. 

With that said, Playa Esmeralda is home to luxury accommodation, basically built right onto the beach, and this is what it’s known for. 

Book your luxury stay at Playa Esmeralda here.. but if you’re looking for a beach in this area, head to Playa Las Gemalas instead! 

READ MORE | 13 Beaches in Puerto Vallarta | all walking distance from downtown

Playa Las Gemelas 

Playa Gemelas taken with a drone -- a quiet beach near Puerto Vallarta.

Las Gemelas is a short bus ride out of Puerto Vallarta from the OXXO bus stop in the Romantic Zone. This beach is great for those hoping to escape the crowds, but still have the option of renting chairs and umbrellas and grabbing food from the vendors.

To get to Las Gemelas, you take the bus south for 10 pesos, getting off at Las Gemelas, then walking down 121 stairs to the beach.

Playa Las Gemelas has a few areas with shade from the rocks, but a big area that’s shaded with a tree. Which, in my opinion, makes it great for a full beach day near Puerto Vallarta!

Although there are vendors at Playa Las Gemelas, you won’t find them really haggling you, instead they wait for you to come to them — making it feel a lot less touristy than other beaches in Puerto Vallarta.

Caption Freebies | Check out over 100 Unique Instagram Captions for Mexico Here

Boca de Tomatlan 

Boca Beach south of Puerto Vallarta with a river flowing into the beach, and a beach bar across the water.

We spent a week in Boca de Tomatlan and loved how much of a local small fishing village feel the “town” offers. The beach here plays right into that fishing village feel. 

Each night we would go to the beach for sunset, and there would be children playing soccer along the river inlet, maybe people just sitting and enjoying the waves crash in as they reconnect with each other, and locals and tourists coming in the bay after a day out on the water. 

This is a major water taxi hub to all the smaller beaches like Yelapa and Los Colomitos to the south of the Banderas Bay. 

There are multiple small restaurants around the beach, but we found the best looking and best price to be the ones off the water a bit. 

Boca Beach is a great place to swim, but after a heavy rain, the water gets super brown due to the river feeding into the ocean right at this beach.. so we definitely don’t advice going here after a lot of rain! 

Los Colomitos Beach 

A secret beach cove with three boats in the cove, and small sandy area surrounded with the jungle.

About an hour hike from Boca de Tomatlan is Los Colomitos Beach. If you’re not up for hiking, don’t worry, you can also take a water taxi here. 

This beach is one of our favorite beaches in the Jalisco region. It’s small and not over run with tourist, although many of the snorkeling tours stop here. 

We found the hike to be extremely manageable, and even really nice and refreshing with the shade provided by the jungle canopy and the sea breeze blowing in our face. 

The beach itself is the perfect more course sand. There are great snorkeling opportunities around the entire inlet, and a little beer shack with rental chairs and umbrellas too. 

READ MORE | Our Complete Guide to Los Colomitos Beach + Hike

Playa Caballo

  • Beach Location | 20.50998, -105.33882
  • Bus Stop Coordinates | 20.51287, -105.31412
  • Best For | adventure mixed with complete escape + romantic overnight trip 
  • Beach Vibe | full relax mode with little to no vendors 
Coconut sitting on the sands of a deserted beach near Puerto Vallarta.

Playa Caballo is a beach past Los Colomitos Beach and before Las Animas. It’s the last beach you’ll pass before getting to Las Animas if hiking from Boca. 

This beach is a beach lovers dream. 

It’s not touristy at all. In fact, we didn’t see a single vendor here. Only one person selling fresh coconut water straight out of a coconut, but they just sat in the shade all day and waiting for people to come to them. 

This beach is the true escape from touristy beaches in Puerto Vallarta. You won’t find any amenities, but don’t fret, if you need anything Las Animas beach is a stone’s throw away. 

There are two restaurants and small hotels on both ends of this beach and they both looked absolutely dreamy! 

We saw a school of fish while snorkeling here, and had a really good time playing in the big waves. There’s a bit of shade up closer to the jungle area, but other than that, you’ll need to pack your own shade if you want some! 

To get to this beach, you either need to do the two hour hike from Boca de Tomatlan, or take a water taxi to Las Animas and then hike back north to this beach. 

Dreamy Beach Getaway At Playa Caballo

Playa Las Animas 

  • Beach Location | 20.50705, -105.34439
  • Bus Stop Coordinates | 20.51287, -105.31412
  • Best For | a full-day city escape but still touristy
  • Beach Vibe | touristy, yet more secluded, and right again the jungle 
Beach in the Banderas Bay with palm tree in the front and boats on the shore.

Playa Las Animas is a super popular beach to go to as a day trip out of Puerto Vallarta. This beach is lined with small beachside restaurants, and then right behind the restaurants is the jungle! 

It’s a really interesting place to be with the beach butting right up again the lush jungle! With that said, it’s touristy and has all the hustle and bustle you’ll find at Los Muertos Beach or Playa Camarones in Puerto Vallarta. 

At Playa Las Animas, you can rent chairs and umbrellas for shade. There’s so many options for grabbing food and drinks from restaurants offering tables in the sand, and many tours stop in and out of here. 

LEARN MORE | Find Your Perfect Puerto Vallarta Tour Here | and learn what to avoid

The hike from Boca de Tomatlan is about 2.5 hours and while it’s doable in the heat, we don’t recommend coming all the way down here if it’s super hot. You can also take a water taxi to Playa Las Animas if the weather isn’t good for hiking and you really want to visit here. 

There’s a small adventure park at Playa Las Animas that’s meant to be great, but we didn’t do it, so we can’t say one way or another if it is. 

If you choose to visit Playa Las Animas, keep in mind, you can hike one way and get a taxi one way — that’s what we did and it made the hiking to the beach much more doable. 

It was also super nice to hike to the beach because we got to see many other smaller, private beaches along the way! 

Playa Yelapa

Playa Yelapa, woman walking on beach, arboursabroad, Mexico

Yelapa is a top destination to visit as a day trip from Puerto Vallarta. This village to the south of Puerto Vallarta is only accessible via boat, and it’s an experience to be had. 

Don’t worry about getting to Yelapa, we have a complete guide to Yelapa here. This place is truly remarkable. The beach in Puerto Vallarta in our experience was best in the morning, as in the afternoon the bay gets full of boats and sea debris cover the beach. 

Along the beach in Yelapa, you’ll find beach clubs with lounge chairs and food and drink. Some of them even offer wifi! You can also just chill on the beach on your own, but bring an umbrella with you if you want a break from the sun! 

If you choose to visit Yelapa, we recommend staying the night there. It boosts this little fishing village’s economy, but also gives you a true feel of Yelapa without the masses of tourist popping in for the day. 

If you are after snorkeling in Yelapa, we suggest heading to the pier on the north side of the beach (where the water taxi drops you off). There’s some awesome snorkeling right around the rocky cliffside here. It’s also a great place to escape the sun and sneak in a more private beach feel! 

READ MORE | How To Avoid the Yelapa Water Taxi Scam

YELAPA TOUR | Don’t want to get there yourself? Check out this cruise to Yelapa instead!

Puerto Vallarta Beach Day Trips to the North 

Beaches in Nuevo Vallarta 

  • Location | 20.70792, -105.30239
  • Bus Stop Coordinates | Near Grand Velas Resort
  • Best For | family vacations and all-inclusive resorts
  • Beach Vibe | beach clubs, nesting turtles, and vendors 
Sunset over the Nuevo Vallarta beach north of Puerto Vallarta.

North of Puerto Vallarta, is the ever popular Nuevo Vallarta. Nuevo Vallarta is the time share hub of the area and it’s where the beaches are lined with massive all inclusive resorts! 

With the all inclusive resorts, you won’t be able to rent cabanas from them, however, the beach is a public beach, so you can still sit out and enjoy the water! 

There are a handful of street venders selling souvenirs, but due to the resorts around here being all inclusive, there’s not many food options on the beach here. 

If you find yourself hungry while here, there’s a small grocery store near Paradise Village with everything you could need and even really yummy homemade tamales for sale too! 

Honestly, unless you’re staying at the all inclusive resorts in Nuevo Vallarta, I would suggest finding a beach escape in other parts of Puerto Vallarta. 

Bucerias Playa

Woman walking on Playa Bucerias north of Puerto Vallarta.

We stayed in Bucerias for five days and absolutely loved our time there! The beach in Bucerias is a smaller version of Playa Camarones in Puerto Vallarta. 

There are water excursions offered here, lots of vendors, and small shops and restaurants lining the beach. 

Bucerias is a great escape from the big city life in Puerto Vallarta, while still offering all the amenities a big city has. 

The bus stop coordinates above are not actually the bus stop.. but rather just get off around here. The bus stops frequently, and basically whenever it’s safe to stop after someone presses the button.

Punta Mita Beaches 

Punta Mita surfing waves taken from on the water.

Punta Mita is the most expensive area in all of this region. It’s where you’ll find the super high end luxury all inclusive resorts and multimillion dollar homes. 

The only reason we went to Punta Mita was to go fishing from there. It was actually a great place for that, because it’s the furthest point out from the actual bay, so you can quickly get out to fishing by the islands off shore. 

The beaches in Punta Mita are geared towards luxury travel. Here you can find high end restaurants along the shore, surf lessons, and private boat hires. 

Playa Sayulita

Surfers in the blue waters of Sayulita Beach, north of Puerto Vallarta.

To be honest, when we visiting the beach in Sayulita, we weren’t very impressed with it. The water was rough, and there were so many people there! It was a very busy escape from the city — basically just going to a mini city on surfer mode. 

However, this beach is for the surfers. There are so many different surfboard rental shops often times offering surf lessons too.. so if you’re wanting to surf, this is the place to be. 

There are also many beach side restaurants, lounge areas, massages, and more. You name it, Playa Sayulita’s got it. 

We found ourselves researching and finding alternative beaches in Sayulita to visit while we were there because the main Playa Sayulita was too crowded for us! 

Our beach of preference in Sayulita was Playa Carricitos, and there are signs leading the way to this beach just a short 15 minute walk from downtown. 

Book your surfing lessons in advance here.

Playa San Pancho

Beach chairs and umbrellas set up at Playa San Pancho, a beach about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta.

When we were considering going to Sayulita for a day, someone recommended we visit San Pancho instead. San Pancho is just a little bit further north of Sayulita, and is a much more laid back and local feel. 

Playa San Pancho is fantastic. There’s a section of it where it’s nothing but surfers in the water, and then walking the other way, it’s more beach loungers and people jumping the water just for a quick cool down. 

There are beach clubs renting cabanas here, and umbrellas and chairs for rent as well (for a much more reasonable price). 

Just off the beach, you’ll find many restaurants, a brewery, and a true Mexican village feel. 

LEARN MORE | Read our complete guide to a day trip to Playa San Pancho here. 

Beaches In Puerto Vallarta 

Hoping to find beaches that are actually in Puerto Vallarta, not requiring taking public transportation to the beach? Check out these 13 beaches in Puerto Vallarta, yes, right in the city. 

13 Beaches In Puerto Vallarta At A Glance 

  • Playa de Oro
  • Playa Flamingos
  • Playa Los Tules
  • Playa Las Glorias
  • Playa Tranquila
  • No Name Beach
  • Playa Camerones
  • Rosita Beach
  • Playa Olas Atlas
  • Los Muertos Beach By The Pier
  • Puerto Vallarta’s Gay Beach
  • Playa Amapas
  • Playa Conchas Chinas
Playa Garza Blanca and hotels built into the jungle, just south of Puerto Vallarta.

What To Pack For A Day Trip To Beaches Near Puerto Vallarta

We recommend bringing along cash with you to any of the beaches near Puerto Vallarta. Oftentimes, you can only pay with cash for things like chair rentals, food on the beach, and transportation. 

Outside of packing cash, we recommend the following.. 

More on Puerto Vallarta Travel

We spent 14 weeks in Puerto Vallarta documenting and researching everything from the best tacos in Puerto Vallarta to where to find craft beer, and even what the groceries cost. Learn more about Puerto Vallarta below!

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Heather Arbour

Heather is the co-founder of Arbours Abroad, and a full time travel writer with over ten years of travel experience across 39 countries. She’s lived in five different countries, and traveled by van in the United Kingdom and Europe for two and a half years.

Heather and her husband currently live in a van with their cat, Georgie, traveling and finding nature escapes all over the western United States while sneaking in trips abroad when they can.

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