Puerto Vallarta: the beaches

Even if youre staying a couple of weeks, theres a beach for every day and every mood in and around Puerto Vallarta. Downtown at the Playa de los Muertos (Beach of the Dead), and in the hotel zones to the north, youll find plenty of people and plenty going on. Elsewhere around the Baha de Banderas, the bay at whose centre Puerto Vallarta sits, alternatives abound. They include Mismaloya, where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor carried on the scandalous romance credited with first putting Puerto Vallarta on the map, and many more white-sand getaways that can be accessed only by boat or an arduous jungle hike, such as the old hippy hangout of Yelapa, hemmed in by tropical hills and coconut palms.

Better still, 30 minutes offshore lie the Marieta Islands, at the heart of a huge marine national park characterised by extraordinary natural rock arches and tunnels. If you want to escape the crowds, there are dozens of tiny hidden beaches and lonely swimming and snorkelling spots here.

Buceras and Punta Mita, with their very different characters, mark the northern extent of the Baha de Banderas. At laid-back, shabby Buceras, seafront restaurants offer tremendous views back over Puerto Vallarta, and theres entertaining shopping at a series of flea-market style stalls. Punta Mita is altogether glossier, with a magnificent coral-sand beach thats been exploited by ritzy resort hotels. Languorous Sayulita, farther north, is somewhere between the two, attracting a gringo surfer crowd to an enchanting, jungle-fringed beach. Its a particularly good place to learn to surf.

The Costalegre stretches south of Puerto Vallarta for more than 125 miles, including some of the wildest, most undeveloped stretches of Mexicos Pacific coast. The jungle-smothered mountains, lonely beaches and isolated villages seem incredibly tempting, but before attempting the journey youd be well advised to seek some local advice: many of the choicest spots have been closed off thanks to disputes over land ownership.

Barra de Navidad is an accessible, and almost entirely Mexican, resort

At the southern end of the coast, the twin resort towns of Barra de Navidad and Melaque definitely are accessible. A striking contrast to Puerto Vallarta, theyre almost entirely Mexican resorts, little commercialised but crowded at weekends with families and revellers from Guadalajara, Mexicos second city. Barra and Melaque are joined by a five-mile arc of golden sand, the focus and highlight of a visit to either.

Highlights elsewhere on the Costalegre include the Costa Careyes (Turtle Coast), a series of fine beaches ringed by glamorous villas, where endangered Olive Ridley turtles lay their eggs. Theres a conservation programme you can visit, and though some of the beaches are gated, the guards will let you through to visit the beach. Nearby Baha Chamela offers another sweeping arc of superb beaches, only now starting to be developed theres fabulous snorkelling and diving around a series of small offshore islands.

Getting there Direct Dreamliner flights with Thomson (thomson.co.uk) to Puerto Vallarta start from Manchester on May 1 and from London Gatwick on May 3. Prices range from less than 350 return, in early May, to more than 1,000 on peak dates in August, with discounted package holidays in May from about 610. One-stop flights involve changing planes, either in Mexico City (direct flights with British Airways) or in the United States. Less mainstream packages are offered by specialists such as Audley Travel (01993 838 638; audleytravel.com) or Cathy Matos Mexican Tours (020 8492 0000; mextours.co.uk).

Where to stay

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Mexico's Pacific Coast: hidden beaches and resort towns