Yesterday I walked the complete stretch of coastline in the hotel zone of Puerto Vallarta, from Playa Tranquila to just shy of the Maritime cruise ship terminal. I have posted pictures of Playa Tranquila and Playa Las Glorias. Today I will write about and show photo’s of Playa Los Tules, Holi & de Oro in PV.
Playa Los Tules
This is where the beach starts to get nice! I really enjoyed walking here. The sand is much less coarse than the beaches to the south and seemed a little lighter in colour. The beach widens here as well, so lots of room to walk and set up towels and umbrellas for the day.
Los Tules looking south
Los Tules looking north
Large hotels on this beach are Los Tules, Fiesta Americana, Friendly Hola and Villa del Palmar. There were more people on the beach as I walked further north. There is an area where fresh water is entering the ocean and there are crocodiles here! Please be aware and take heed of the warning signs! Each year it seems, someone wanders onto this stretch, usually in the evening, and ends up in hospital.
Playa del Holi
This piece of beach will change drastically depending on the time of day you visit, the week and the season. The reason being is the Rio Pitillal empties out here. Because of the undulating nature of the sand, when the tide recedes, it traps water between a sand bar, the resorts and the river bed. This stagnant water is absolutely unpleasant.
The hotels directly in front of this unfortunate situation are Sunscape, Venetian and Peninsula. If I was staying at either of these hotels and anticipated a beautiful beach, I would not be happy.
I will provide photo’s of what I saw on this day. But know that this could look completely different if the river is running and if the tide is high.
Playa de Oro
In my opinion Playa de Oro is the best in the hotel zone. The sand is really quite light in colour, much finer than its southern counterparts, and there is a lot of it! The beach is really wide and the surf is the most aggressive I saw while walking. Stopping and watching those massive waves is a must.
A cruise ship was also coming into port at the same time I was walking, making for a really beautiful scene. Many people were out enjoying this amazing beach and I can only image how busy this stretch gets later in the day.
This was the only beach in the hotel zone that I saw vendors actively walking around and selling their goods at mid morning.
de Oro looking south
de Oro looking North
Hotels on Playa de Oro are Krystal Vallarta, Krystal Altitude, Hacienda Buenaventura, Icon, and the Crown Paradises. Staying at any of these hotels and having a room with an ocean view would be amazing. Not only to you get to look out at a beautiful beach, but you also have really impressive waves and ships entering and exiting the marina.
I don’t know if I could have walked this stretch on the beach if the tide was all the way in. It looked like it came up quite far. There were however, some public access points at fairly frequent intervals. If one had to go up to the road and come back down, as perhaps might be the case at the Rio Pitillal, the option would be there.
All in all it was a great day for a long beach walk. It was beautiful to be on the sand and under that big blue Mexican sky. How lucky am I you say?? VERY!!
