I plunged feet-first into a Jacques Cousteau daydream recently. I had been skimming across the clear, blue waters of Mexico's Banderas Bay in a power boat when our guide stopped near the rocky, uninhabited Marieta Islands and invited us to put on snorkel gear and jump in.

Within a few minutes, our group of eight swimmers entered a craggy tunnel, emerging on the other side at stunning Hidden Beach, a paradise accessible only to those who make the short underwater journey. I said a silent thank you to Cousteau, who loved these islands so much that he started a movement to protect them.

Cousteau, the great French undersea explorer and conservationist, would have been happy that his efforts helped the Marieta Islands become a national park in 2005, eight years after his death.

The Marietas are a short jaunt from the Pacific Coast resort of Puerto Vallarta, where a neighborhood earned the nickname "Gringo Gulch" after Liz Taylor and Richard Burton behaved scandalously there during the filming of "The Night of the Iguana" in 1964.

Now a new generation of celebs is turning nearby Punta Mita into another gringo gulch.

If you haven't heard of Punta Mita, you must not be keeping up with the Kardashians Kim visits often and vacationed here with Kanye West or other rich and famous A-listers: Tom Cruise, Beyonc, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson.

The arrowhead-shaped peninsula called Punta de Mita is about a 45-minute drive northwest of the easy-to-navigate Puerto Vallarta international airport, PVR (officially named Licenciado Gustavo Daz Ordaz).

A resort and residential development there, called Punta Mita, has evolved into one of Mexico's most exclusive luxury communities, with multimillion-dollar villas, two Jack Nicklaus golf courses and a couple of high-end, well-known hotel brands: Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita and St. Regis Punta Mita Resort.

Tourism in the region is exploding. The Four Seasons and St. Regis resorts cater to big spenders, while a handful of less expensive resorts nearby offer more modest accommodations. All have one thing in common beautiful beaches.

The boom is a welcome change in fortune for the Mexican state of Nayarit, which has long tried to distinguish its 200-mile stretch of beaches, including Punta Mita, from Jalisco state's popular Puerto Vallarta. Seven years ago, Nayarit branded itself as Riviera Nayarit to promote its beaches and resorts, but the jury is still out on how well the campaign is working overall. Riviera Nayarit hasn't become a household phrase yet, but Punta Mita is gaining ground, especially among celebrity watchers and surfers.

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Mexico's Punta Mita beckons with beautiful beaches, uninhabited isles