The best beaches around Puerto Vallarta have no road to them. Colomitos, Majahuitas, Las Ánimas, Yelapa — you get there by water or you do not get there at all. A private boat turns that from a limitation into the whole point of the day.
Two Kinds of Beach Day
Villages you can eat at. Las Ánimas and Yelapa both have beaches with palapa-roofed restaurants right on the sand, cold beer, chairs and bathrooms. Yelapa adds a waterfall walk and a hillside village with no cars. These are the stops for a group that wants to get off the boat and make an afternoon of it.
Coves with nobody in them. Colomitos, Paradón, Madagascar, El Caballo and Majahuitas have no services at all. You anchor, you swim, you float, and there is nothing else. For a lot of our guests that turns out to be the best part of the trip.
South Shore or North Shore
Turn south out of Marina Nuevo Vallarta and you get the classic run: Los Arcos, the coves, Las Ánimas, and — with the hours — Yelapa at the far end. Turn north and you get Playa Verde, La Lancha, Punta Mita where the bay opens into the Pacific, and Sayulita beyond it.
Wind and swell do not hit both sides the same way. Part of what you are paying for on a private charter is a captain who checks conditions that morning and points the boat at whichever side is running better — instead of a printed itinerary that goes the same place regardless.
How the Hours Work
Every boat is booked by the hour with a 4-hour minimum. Most south-shore stops include an hour free at anchor, so beach time itself is not an extra line item. Majahuitas needs 5 hours and Yelapa needs 6 — those are longer runs, and trying to squeeze them into less means spending the whole day under way. See every destination and its minimum on the beaches page.
What's on Board
Full shade over the deck on all three boats, plus an open bow for anyone who came to sunbathe. Bottled water and ice. Snorkel gear. Bathrooms on Guanatuna and Steel n Time, and an air-conditioned salon, full kitchen and two cabins on Steel n Time. Bring your own food, drinks and music.
Bring Cash
The beach restaurants at Las Ánimas and Yelapa are cash businesses and there is no reliable ATM at either. Bring a dry bag for phones and wallets — there is no dock for a boat our size, so getting ashore means wading the last few metres.
