The city of Puerto Vallarta is a delightful coastal resort area
with appealing beaches, colonial atmosphere and architecture,
and first class restaurants and hotels. The town is situated in
Banderas Bay, which is on Mexico's western coast in the state of
Jalisco. In the East is the Sierra Madre mountain range, which
works as a natural barrier against tropical storms. The area
offers an extensive stretch of beach with tranquil waters and
rich marine life.
Though Spanish explorers visited the region along the Cuale
River as early as the 1500s, Puerto Vallarta wasn't settled
until the mid-1800s, and it wasn't named until 1918. Migrants
from the colonial mining centers in the surrounding mountains
first developed the town, and it later became the vacation spot
for wealthy Guadalajarans. The area grew steadily for the first
half of the 20th century, but it wasn't until 1963, when John
Huston began filming Night of the Iguana, that it earned its
place on the international map. Conveying the magnificence of
this tropical Eden, Huston's film lured celebrities to its
shoreline, altering the exclusive area into a playground for
American travelers.
The city has two main areas. There is the old center, known
simply as downtown or, in Spanish, El Centro. El Centro is
divided into two main areas lying north and south of the Rio
Cuale, which bisects the town. The area south of the river is
known by various names: Old Town, Olas Altas, and the Romantic
Quarter. In recent years, a flourishing restaurant and bar scene
has taken hold, lending the district a European allure. North of
the river is where the largest part of the bigger businesses are
located, set along a stretch of oceanfront known as the Malecon.
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