Bucerias:
The calm, warm sea, gentle waves, clean fine sand, a
picturesque town with cobblestone streets, friendly people and tropical
surroundings. Stunning sunrises and sunsets, and excellent restaurants serving
delicious local cuisine. A town with all the modern tourist facilities.
What more can you ask in a vacation destination? Come swim and sunbathe,
go deep sea fishing or diving, ride a bicycle or just stroll down the beach.
Rest, relax, have a good time. Bucerias is the ideal place for it, and
it's just a few minutes by taxi or bus from Puerto Vallarta.
You won't find the tiny, coastal town of Bucerias in the state of Nayarit on any
tourist map or in any of the guide books to Mexico. It's a well kept
secret among the few travelers that head north out of the dazzling skyscraper
resorts of Puerto Vallarta, out of the night life and the crowded, expensive
hotels. But it's there for those looking for a little of the old Mexico.
Located halfway down the Pacific coast of Mexico, Bucerias
and Puerto Vallarta are about a
four hour drive to Guadalajara (45
minutes by air from Puerto Vallarta), about 1,000 miles (driving) to
Mexico City. San Cristóbal,
in the southern state of Chiapas, is
almost 2,000 miles away; and it is a little more than 2,000 miles to the
border with Guatemala. From Puerto Vallarta to the US border is
about 1,275 miles to Nogales and roughly 1,760 miles to Tijuana traveling by vehicle.
Bucerias and Puerto Vallarta
can be reached by land through Federal Highway 200, by sea, or by air.
Modern, yet steeped in Mexican tradition, in Bucerias the pace is yours to set. Looking up at the rugged Sierra Madre
mountain range provides a dramatic backdrop to the lush jungle spilling into the
Bay of Banderas. If you're curious, hiking, biking and horseback riding
are excellent ways to get into the jungle and snorkeling, diving, beach-combing,
kayaking, golfing and fishing are literally right at your feet. You can do it
all!
Only 19km (12 miles) north of the Puerto Vallarta airport,
Bucerías (Boo-sayr-ee-ahs), meaning "place of the divers" is a small
coastal fishing village of 8,000 people on the shores of Banderas Bay
that has become popular with Canadian and North American visitors.
Nestled inside the Bay of Banderas, this seaside village with its town square
and church has become a favorite vacation spot for those looking for the perfect
hideaway.
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Bucerias enjoys a
5-mile stretch
of white sand beach
that is the longest
on the entire coastline
of Banderas Bay.
This beautiful beach
comes alive
on Sundays
when the locals
bring their families
for a day at the shore
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An old fashion
Mexican town, Bucerias has plenty of local color with its
many shops and town square market. Visit the church and the
town plaza (LaPlaza), a lovely area for walking or simply sitting and taking a
break. The square forms the hub of the downtown area. Comprised of an
intimate handful of streets, Bucerias is known for galleries, fine shopping,
delicious food and warm hospitality that lends an air of a simpler time to this
oasis.
Click
for a street map and index of
Bucerias Streets
showing restaurants, businesses and services
On one of the four main streets that run parallel to the
water, you will find small businesses, dress and gift shops, local restaurants,
galleries and small groceries stores selling fresh fish and shrimp, as well as
vegetables and fruit. Bucerias has all the modern facilities you
need including Medical and Dental Clinics, Banks and ATMs, Internet Cafes and
cellular phone providers. English is spoken in most of the shops and
restaurants. Dozens of open-air restaurants line the beach and all are
within walking distance of Condo Oceana.
Those who enjoy a small village atmosphere will be at home
here. Besides beaches, there are 5 golf
courses within a 15-minute drive of Condo Oceana. The golf course at Punta de Mita
was designed by Jack Nicklaus as a signature course and has 6 beachfront holes
with breathtaking surroundings and boasts the world's only true "island green" -
an awesome 196-yard par 3 to a spectacular island out in the ocean!
There is a world class full service marina five miles
away in Nuevo Vallarta offering fishing charters, snorkeling and diving
excursions, and trips to the Islas Marietas via a 60’ wooden schooner.
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World class full service marina
is five miles away |
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There are several agencies in Bucerias where you can rent cars and mountain
bikes, book jungle tours, whale watching cruises, snorkeling and scuba diving
trips, ocean kayaking adventures and deep sea fishing trips. You can go
horseback riding on the beach and in the jungle, charter sail and power boats,
watch bullfights, and visit Sayulita for a day's surfing.
While Bucerias may not have the nightlife of Puerto Vallarta,
it does have the quaintness and the pristine beaches that made Puerto Vallarta
famous to begin with. The wide, white sandy beach with its long
shallow shoreline is perfect for body surfing, boogie boarding, walking, jogging
or just collecting shells.
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Sunset at
Bucerias Town Square--
just a stroll away from
Condo Oceana |
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Bucerias, with its colourful
streets and friendly people is a low-key experience in a slow paced and
easy-going small town. If relaxing sounds good to you and you are looking for a
change of pace, Bucerias has it all!
Puerto
Vallarta:
Puerto Vallarta
is a magical town with cobblestone streets, majestic mountains, intimate
villages, beautiful water and beaches. This lively, yet quaint resort area lies
on the northern coast of Mexico's Riveria, where the temperature rarely varies
from a comfortable 78F (26C) degrees. On the same latitude as Hawaii, Puerto
Vallarta is tropical, with an average of over 300 sunny days per year. The
rainy season is from late June through early October, and brings higher
temperatures and humidity.
A vast tropical jungle, the Sierra Madre mountains and the
serene waters of Bahia de Banderas surround Puerto Vallarta. To the south of
Vallarta, from Mismaloya and beyond, you'll find villages and mountainous
jungles accessible only by boat, where time is lost and adventure runs high.
Playful Gray and Humpback Whales are abundant in Banderas Bay
from December through April and the bay is full of dolphins, sea turtles, giant
manta rays with "wingspans" ranging from 16 to 30 feet, who come to visit the
Bay during the winter months.
Puerto Vallarta is twenty miles south of Bucerias on a new
four lane highway--easily accessible by car, taxi or bus. Puerto Vallarta
is known for it's nightlife, sport fishing and is a popular port of call for
cruise ships. The Malecón, a wide promenade fronting the bay, is perfect for
strolling or jogging and has a wide variety of shopping and restaurants for
every taste and pocketbook. Those strolling along the Malecón will come
upon several contemporary sculptures, open-air amphitheatre, where all sorts of
activities and cultural events take place. The Malecón, where the blazing sunset
is at its most dazzling, comes to life at sundown.
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White stucco buildings
with red tiles roofs and
Puerto Vallarta's famous Guadalupe Church
Note
the cruise ship in the background |
Puerto Vallarta's
famous landmark--"The Boy on a Seahorse" statue
on the Malecon
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Puerto Vallarta remained a quaint little village, virtually
unheard of outside of the Pacific Coast of Mexico until 1954 when Mexico's
domestic airline realized the potential for tourism to the pristine area and
began flights to what is now the center of Puerto Vallarta.
Then in 1963, legendary film director John Huston decided to film his
adaptation of Tennessee William's, The Night of the Iguana at Mismaloya
Bay. Once word spread through Hollywood and the rest of the world that
"Vallarta" was a tropical playground, visitors started flocking.
Very much a quaint seaside city, Puerto Vallarta still retains
much of its original charm with lovely architecture, cobblestone streets, white
washed homes and villas, red tiled roofs, flower covered balconies, tropical
plants, and wrought iron gates, windows and doorways.
You may even see an occasional burro headed for market, clip-clopping along the
city's streets. But progress has come--Wal-Mart and
Sam's Club sell everything you would expect, and there are several cyber cafes,
making Vallarta a delightful mix of old and new
