We were standing on the pier in Puerto Vallarta, waiting for the water taxi to take us to Yelapa. The folks in front of us looked at our packs and asked, with a tinge of surprise, “You’re staying in Yelapa?”. When we answered that we were, indeed, staying over, they were even more surprised to hear we would be spending an entire week there (most folks visit the town on a day trip), “Hope you find enough to do!”. We were thinking the same thing on the forty-five minute boat ride, which is the only way to access this off-the-beaten-track beach town. But after our first couple days in town, we were wondering if a week was going to be enough time to see and do everything this little gem has to offer.

A view of Yelapa town from the bay

Yelapa sits on the southern side of Banderas Bay, squeezed between the forest-clad hills and the sea. As you enter the small inlet, the golden sands of it’s beach occupy the left side and it’s rambling village climbs up the hillside to the right. A river splits the two areas, tumbling down a narrow valley that reminds one of Jurassic Park. At the top of that valley, after a one hour hike, we found a cascading waterfall that filled a small swimming hole, a refreshing reward for the dusty and sweaty walk. About halfway along the trail, at a slight bend in the river where enough sand has accumulated to form a small beach area, we found the Jungle Garden. This family-run operation offers hammocks and loungers on the ‘beach’, simple meals from their kitchen and beer and cocktails from the bar. It’s perhaps one of the most pleasant places you could ever wish to while away an afternoon, soothed by the sounds of the river, taking in the view of the surrounding forest, listening to the screech of parrots and squawking of the green macaws that frequently pass overhead. While the macaws are an endangered species in Mexico, this little valley hosts the densest concentration of the birds anywhere in the country.

The Jungle Garden

The beach is mediocre – fishing boats and water taxis bob in the surf just off the beach, a handful of restaurants have tables set up and day boats from Puerto Vallarta arrive regularly to disgorge passengers who will eat, drink, wander through town and return to the city before nightfall. In the village we found a couple small shops to buy fruit for our breakfast; a number of stalls offering micheladas, the classic drink of beer, lime and tomato juice served in a glass rimmed with chile salt, as well as raicilla, a regional liquor made from agave; and a number of restaurants that open for dinner, or not, depending on the whims of the owners. We were impressed by our meals – sublime octopus tostadas, simple fried shrimp tacos, over-stuffed burritos, BBQ chicken and choco flan – a layer of custardy flan topping a base of moist, rich chocolate cake.

Mornings in Yelapa are prime whale watching time, when the ‘whale soup’ is most active. Each day Heather and I would take our bowl of fruit, yogurt and granola, along with our binoculars and her camera, to the rooftop terrace of our guesthouse. Over breakfast we would watch as humpbacks would cross the mouth of the small bay, new calves often breaching repeatedly. On the backside of the building, facing the hillside, a variety of birds would sing and flit from tree to tree. Iguanas would perch on exposed limbs sunning themselves. While watching the whales from afar was exciting in its own right, we needed to get out into the ‘soup’. Our host arranged a half-day boat trip with Luis, who picked us up from the town pier one morning promptly at 8 am. We motored out of the bay into Banderas Bay proper and headed east. It wasn’t long before Luis spotted the spout of a whale in the distance. When we caught up to them, we could see it was a group of two females and a calf. For the next hour and a half we slowly trailed behind them as they spouted, showed their massive backs, leapt out of the water, showed their tail flukes before diving for several minutes and then returned to the surface to entertain us yet again. When they eventually tired of playing and submerged, Luis set out two trolling lines and we motored west towards the open sea. We passed rocky coastline, an occasional fishing shack and stretches of deserted beach before the lines started to sing indicating we had fish on. Simultaneously we reeled in two nice bonitos. With the important work of whale-spotting and fishing done, Luis turned the helm over to Heather while he prepared a batch of bonito ceviche, which we all enjoyed along with some ice cold beers he had stocked in his cooler. As luck would have it, Luis also owns a restaurant in town, and offered to cook the remainder of our catch for us the following day. At the appointed hour we found him behind the bar of La Manguito, where he introduced us to his wife (serving) and his sister (cooking). The bonito, grilled with garlic butter and served with rice, steamed vegetables and salad, was exquisite. The mango margarita was delicious and the choco flan almost stole the show.

As we expected, our week was up far too soon. Reluctantly we left Yelapa on a mid-day water taxi back to Puerto Vallarta to pick up a rental car that would take us around Banderas Bay to it’s northern point – Punta de Mita, where we planned to stay for the next week. Our visit there, and the beaches to the north in our next post!