12 Photos To Inspire You To Visit Puerto Vallarta

Last updated December 21, 2022

My favorite way to dream about travel is by looking at the travel photos of others, and imagining myself there. I mean, that’s probably why “travel influencers ” are so popular on Instagram, we love to imagine ourselves in those places. I decided to give you some wanderlust today by sharing 12 photos to inspire you to visit Puerto Vallarta. And trust me, narrowing it down to just 12 photos was hard, because Puerto Vallarta is such a beautiful place!

For me the most inspiring reason to visit Puerto Vallarta is the diversity of the area. You can be on the water, drive up into the jungle, head over to the beaches of Sayulita, go to the mining town of San Sebastian. There are beaches, bays, Estuaries, dive coves, islands, and water falls.

12 Photos To Inspire You To Visit Puerto Vallarta

Walking the Malecon of Puerto Vallarta is one of the most popular activities to do in the city, and it’s easy to see why. Not only do you get sensational views of the water and the town, there are sculptures all over the boardwalk, and finding them all is a fun activity in its own right.

Out of all of the sculptures and works of art we found along the Malecon, my favorite would have to be this one, Triton and Siren.

Created by sculptor Carlos Espino, it has been on the boardwalk since 1990. It depicts Triton, son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, God and Goddess of the sea, reaching out to a beautiful Siren. Sirens are known to be mythological creatures who were once handmaidens to the Goddess Persephone. They are beautiful in appearance and have the most exquisite singing voices, which they naturally use to lure sailors to shipwreck off the rocky coast’s of their islands.

Random fact. For some unknown reason, local authorities changed the name to Neptune and the Nereid, but the sculptor named it Triton and Siren.

This photo will always represent peace and relaxation to me. This was taken in Boca de Tomatlan, on the last stop of our day tour with Estigo Tours. After an incredible day exploring the jungle and seeing where the movie Predator was filmed, we stopped in the small local fishing village of Boca de Tomatlan and had a drink and some tortilla chips. We just spent time talking and relaxing, watching the boats and fisherman do their work, and it was a wonderful way to end a really fun day!

If you’re looking to do the same tour, here it is!

How charming are the cobblestone streets of Puerto Vallarta!? The lush green trees and fresh flowers paving the way just adds to the already vibrant colors of Mexico! I wish I had more time to explore more of the Zones. Next visit!

Colorful flags, a great outdoor public space, and a beautiful church in the background. How could you not feel cheerful when standing here?! Puerto Vallarta has loads of outdoor spaces like this to hangout, and it’s a city that you want to spend time outside in.

This is the famous seahorse sculpture in front of the colorful Puerto Vallarta sign. Once you see this you know you’re on the famous Malecon! The Malecon is a whole reason why some people are inspired to visit Puerto Vallarta in the first place. Ask anyone who has visited this town and they will mention the Malecon!

I had really hoped to be able to spend a day out on the water. I had been snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef when I lived in Australia and really loved it, so I’d love to snorkel again. Puerto Vallarta has some great snorkeling, and one of those locations is Los Arcos, pictured here.

If you want to spend a few hours snorkeling Los Arcos, here is a tour I think you would really enjoy!

I absolutely love the Predator movies. Even though I love horror movies I find the Predators terrifying!

Those movies are awesome, so when we saw that Estigo Tours offered a stop to the movie set on their Sierra Madre ATV tour we were immediately sold! This plane is actually the airplane that was used in the movie. We got to go inside and check it out.

I did feel bad for the guy who had to stand there in the heat all day to take photos though!

Down from where the plane from Predator is, there is a small open air restaurant. Locals hang out there, and many go swimming in the water, which looked so very refreshing after a sticky and humid ride through the jungle! This water slide here is actually a natural rock water slide, and everyone who slid down it looked like they were having a blast!

The very first animal we saw at El Cora crocodile Sanctuary was this girl. She’s blind, so she has to live at the sanctuary, otherwise she wouldn’t survive. I love how Scott took this photo through the fence. I get so excited as it reminds me of what I was about to experience!

And supporting a really fantastic animal sanctuary while learning all about the animals and ecosystems from the veterinarian that works there makes that day even better.

While my Estigo Tours excursion was the most carefree and fun day of my trip, our visit to El Cora Crocodile Sanctuary was the most educational and inspiring.

Crocodiles are my favorite animals, so of course spending two hours at a crocodile Sanctuary had to be a highlight! Getting to see crocodiles of various ages and sizes and learning their backstory, finding out how life brought them to the sanctuary, was so cool. The work this sanctuary does for all of its animals is incredible, and it sits on this beautiful estuary.

Doesn’t this look peaceful? Sitting on a clean beach with the sound of the surf and views of the mountains in the distance is incredibly peaceful to me, and it was even better at nighttime when the Malecon would light up at night.

This stretch of beach is right down from the Marriott pool area, but felt a bit more secluded and serene, compared to the busier pool.

It’s totally okay if resorts aren’t your thing and this photo doesn’t resonate with you, trust me, I get it! I didn’t think resorts were my thing either. And I guess technically I haven’t had the full resort experience either. I haven’t done the all inclusive hotel experience, but staying at resorts is still fun!

This photo is of walking into the pool area at the Marriott, which is just such a beautiful hotel and outdoor space. While this photo is taken during the day, my favorite time to go down to the pool was at night time, when the pool was nearly empty, so we had it to ourselves. Beautiful lights lit the pool area up, and the views of the Malecon were gorgeous.

The best time was when we could see lightning lighting up the sky across the water, but there was no rain for us. That’s one of my most treasured memories from Puerto Vallarta.

Okay, so I know this one technically counts as photo 13, but hear me out, it’s hard to pick just 12 photos to inspire you to visit Puerto Vallarta! This photo is of my veggie fajitas from Victor’s Place, and while food may not inspire you to visit a destination, it sure does for me! The food at Victor’s Place is downright month watering, and the service? Sublime!

Is it sad to say that I would go back to Puerto Vallarta just to eat again at Victor’s Place? Maybe, but it’s the truth!

I’ve loved looking through these photos and thinking back on our pretty epic week in Puerto Vallarta. It is such a wonderful place I know that we’ll be going back some time, and I hope these photos inspire you to do the same!

Thanks to my boyfriend Scott for taking these photos!

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