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If you want outdoor adventure, surf the break at Sayulita or zipline through the jungle on a canopy tour.

Puerto Vallarta, much more than its prefab cousins like Cancún or Ixtapa, exudes authenticity. There’s real art here and really (really!) good food. Vallarta’s nightlife is legendary, and its shopping – particularly for fine art and crafts – is the best of any of Mexico’s beach towns. 

But be careful, visitors have been known to come here and never want to leave. For once, you might actually stop and listen to the annoying time-share guy.

--By Dave Roos

Like other large resort destinations, Puerto Vallarta has a bit of a multiple personality disorder. That’s actually a good thing. Where you stay in Vallarta depends on which Vallarta you want to experience.

Nuevo Vallarta and Marina Vallarta – both relatively new developments north of the city – are the best choices for families and travelers looking for an all-inclusive, don’t-have-to-leave-the-pool experience. The best choices here are the huge but excellent Westin Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta, and Paradise Village, a great option for families (all rooms have kitchenettes, plus… there’s a petting zoo!) with one of the top-rated spas in the region. The Puerto Vallarta Quinta Real is a boutique gem among the giants.

The aptly named Hotel Zone is a strip of higher-end hotels and self-contained resorts stretching north from downtown to the airport. All of these hotels claim prime beachfront property with some of the better swimming in the bay. Three favorites are the palapa-topped Fiesta Americana, the well-located and reliable Sheraton Buganvilias, and the adults-only Premier Hotel & Spa. The Marriott Casa Magna Puerto Vallarta Resort features gorgeous gardens and an open-air lobby.

In downtown Puerto Vallarta, you can find everything from simple, inexpensive accommodations to gorgeous, one-of-a-kind bed and breakfasts. Hotel Playa Los Arcos has just about the best location you could ask for, right on Los Muertos beach and a short walking distance from great shopping, eating and entertainment. The hotel itself isn’t anything spectacular, but the rooms are clean and the staff is friendly.

Further up the hillside, tucked right behind Old Vallarta’s famous gold-tipped Cathedral, is Hacienda San Angel, easily the most beautiful hotel in town. Each of the nine ample suites is completely different, decorated with high-end Mexican antiques and crafts. Everything from the hand soap to the bedspreads has been chosen with exquisite taste and care. The result is one of the most luxuriously enjoyable boutique experiences in Mexico.

For another truly unique small hotel, try to reserve one of the seven suites at the incomparable Quinta María Cortez, south of Vallarta on Conchas Chinas beach. Each suite occupies its own floor and its own stylistic universe. The décor is eclectic, the service super friendly, and the rooftop terrace the best place in town to watch the sunset. If you can’t get a room, try one of the three large villas of the adjoining Casa Tres Vidas. Also south of town is the high-end all-inclusive Dreams Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa.

If you’re looking for a more secluded Vallarta experience, head north 45 minutes to Punta Mita, where the attentive staff of the brand new Four Seasons resort is ready to pamper you silly in between rounds of golf and cocktails overlooking the pristine beach. Another elegant Punta Mita getaway is the six-room Casa Las Brisas, where the gourmet grub and well-stocked bar come with the price of the room.

But for the ideal, don’t-call-me-I’m-on-vacation escape, nothing beats the self-consciously rustic Verana hotel on Yelapa beach, reachable only by water taxi. Each of the six suites has everything you need and nothing you don’t, namely telephones, TVs and stereos. Once night falls, there’s not much to see or do in Yelapa, but don’t worry, the gourmet, in-house chef won’t let you go hungry.

--By Dave Roos

Forget everything you think you know about beach food. Puerto Vallarta’s more than 250 restaurants run the gamut from small, family-owned Mexican joints to better-than-Paris French bistros. The perennial favorite has to be Archie’s Wok, which has been serving fresh and delicious Chinese, Thai and Filipino dishes – plus exotic house drinks like Szechuan Margaritas and something called Mint Rain – for over 30 years.

Locals and tourists flock to El Arrayán for excellent, inventive Mexican food in an eclectic, casual setting. Favorite dishes are the sinfully succulent duck carnitas and a hearty bowl of shrimp pozole. For superb interpretations of classic Mexican regional cuisine, squeeze into the tiny, hard-to-find El Repollo Rojo (Red Cabbage Café) and enjoy chiles en nogada, various regional moles and an unexpectedly wide selection of vegetarian dishes. 

Leaping to the other end of the spectrum, the finest dining experience in Puerto Vallarta has to be the Café des Artistes Bistro Gourmet, one of five Vallarta eateries owned by chef and restaurateur Thierry Blouet. The menu is high French, gourmet Mexican and Mediterranean, with an emphasis on creativity and mind-blowing flavor. Take the appetizer of fried soft shell crab over Oaxaca tamale with smoked tomato sauce and green tomato jelly, or the craziest of the signature “Martini Glass” concoctions: cabbage stew, melon ice-cream, bacon and smoked duck.

Since its opening in 1994, Trío has been getting raves from critics and tourists for its fabulous Mexican-Mediterranean menu in a hip, sophisticated setting. Try the savory oven-braised veal with homemade mushroom ravioli or the delicate artichoke soup with toasted pine nuts and basil. The same chef/owners recently opened up Vitrea, a colorful beachfront bistro serving lunch and dinner, with a focus on gourmet seafood, pasta, salads, and ridiculously good sandwiches like the Angus roast beef with sautéed mushrooms and cheese.

For excellent international comfort food at super reasonable prices (plus live Cuban music and salsa dancing on Tuesdays), everybody loves La Olla Rica.

--By Dave Roos

Let’s start with beaches, the most obvious, but least exciting of Puerto Vallarta’s attractions. Unfortunately, some of the beaches in Vallarta’s grand, sweeping bay are tough for swimmers. Either the surf is too rough or the ocean floor is littered with sharp rocks. Los Muertos beach is the closest to downtown Vallarta and is so-so for swimming. The narrow beachfront also has a tendency to get crowded with vacationers and incessant vendors. The beaches along the northern Hotel Zone are bigger and fine for swimming, but you’ll have to pad through a hotel lobby to access them.

For a more inspiring beach experience, you’ll have to hop into a car or taxi and head down to some of the southern beaches like Mismaloya and Quimixto, where the clear calm water is perfect for swimming and snorkeling. If you’re looking for big surf, check out the famous breaks at Sayulita and Punta de Mita up north. For a singularly enjoyable beach trip, take one of the water taxis from Los Muertos beach to Yelapa. Come for the soft white sand and stay for the famous pie ladies. Buy a heavenly slice of coconut cream or assorted fruit pies from local women who wander the beach selling their delicious wares.

Scuba diving and snorkeling are quite excellent in the Vallarta region, although don’t expect the crystal blue waters of Caribbean. The best dives are around the rocky formations called Los Arcos near Mismaloya beach, the Marietas Islands and several off-shore coral reefs.

Make room on your wall for a 300-pound marlin. Sport fishing in Vallarta, like other Pacific destinations, is world-class. Hire a cruiser for a half- or full-day excursion to chase down giants like blue, black and striped marlin, dorado and yellowfin tuna. Or hire smaller skiffs to take you around the bay in search of smaller fighters like sea bass, snapper and roosterfish.

From December to March, Puerto Vallarta is visited by thousands of humpback, gray, and killer whales that enter the warm bay waters to give birth to their young. During whale season, hop on one of the many whale watching cruises leaving from the Vallarta Marina and hope to catch one of these surprisingly large creatures leaping clear of the water and crashing down with a thundering splash.

Eco-tourism is booming in Vallarta. There are tour companies and outfitters who can arrange everything from horseback riding in the Sierra Madre foothills to sea kayaking, mountain biking, nature hikes, baby turtle rescuing, and the latest craze: jungle canopy tours. Strap yourself to a zipline and buzz from trunk to trunk, hundreds of feet above the jungle floor.

There are nine golf courses in the Vallarta region, several of them championship caliber. The 18-hole course at Marina Vallarta was designed by Joe Finger and is the closest and best course to downtown Vallarta. Jack Nicklaus designed the course at the Four Seasons Punta Mita, which boasts one of the only natural island greens in golf. Leave your bathing suit at home; the greens fee includes a special water taxi.

--By Dave Roos

After a long afternoon siesta, Vallarta wakes up ready to party. The town has long and celebrated history as a gay and lesbian vacation mecca, and there are many exclusively gay and gay-friendly dance clubs and bars. Two of the most popular are Los Balcones, a two-story dance club, and the consistently packed Club Paco Paco.

All the young, hip beautiful types (in other words, you) wait outside the club at de Santos, where a skimpily dressed crowd works up a sweat to high-energy house music before moving up to the rooftop bar to refuel with well-mixed cocktails. If the line is too long at de Santos, let your inner dance animal out at The Zoo, complete with cages.

The Bar Constantini, part of the Café des Artistes family, is the place for superb drinks and gourmet appetizers in a classy, but cool space. For the completely opposite experience, bring your favorite underage drinker down to Carlos O’Brien’s for rock music and body shots.

For hot salsa dancing (with free nightly lessons), gyrate with the all-ages crowd at the J & B Salsa Club. There are also dozens of bars and smaller dance clubs along the malecón, Vallarta’s long, scenic boardwalk. Cuban-flavored La Bodeguita del Medio is one of the favorites, with killer mojitos, plus live music and dancing on the weekends.

-- By Dave Roos

 Unlike most other Mexican beach towns, the Puerto Vallarta shopping scene goes far beyond the suggestive T-shirt and cheap silver jewelry market. There are dozens of high-end art galleries in Vallarta selling some of the best contemporary Mexican fine art outside of Mexico City. Many artists are local residents, who have been drawn to the active Vallarta art scene from across Latin America. Galería des Artistes features work from some of the best living Mexican artists, plus sought-after masters like Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.

The indigenous Huichol Indian tribe lives in relative seclusion in the Sierra Madre mountains outside of Vallarta, but they’ve become famous for their distinctive art – intricate, brightly colored yarn paintings of native animals inspired by hallucinogenic religious rites. Huichol art is sold almost everywhere, but some of the best is at the Galería Indígena.

Other excellent shops for high-quality Mexican handicrafts are Querubines and Olinalá, selling hand-woven rugs and embroidered textiles, hand-painted ceramics, pewter, lamps and wildly expressive masks. For exquisite jewelry, browse the nearly endless selection at Viva.

-- By Dave Roos

Puerto Vallarta is blessed with the great weather that you would expect on the Mexican Pacific coast. Spring and winter are excellent times to visit, but don’t forget to bring a jacket for the evenings. Summers are very hot and humid, and you can expect brief afternoon showers in the rainy season that lasts from June through October.

Best time to go: November through May (high 85º, low 62º)

Average annual temperature: 80º

Hottest months: July, August, September

Coolest months: January, February, March

--By Judy Jenner