Visiting Puerto Vallarta - Part 21

The North Zone continued;

LA CRUZ DE HUANACAXTLE

Two miles from Bucerias heading north-west toward Punta Mita is the residential and nautical town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Many locals refer to the town simply as “La Cruz. ” Although many of its original and established homes are modest and humble, ongoing construction and development within the entire area has more recently resulted in a series of modern and luxurious condo complexes. These along with a variety of new restaurants and amenities springing up in this quiet and tucked away section of Banderas Bay is changing the area. While the lovely south end of the beach at La Cruz is more tranquil and uncrowded, the nice and lively northern section of the beach is frequented more heavily by locals and tourists alike, with an especially noisy and vibrant scene on weekends and holidays where the beach layout can often be umbrella to umbrella, towel to towel.

An important highlight of La Cruz is that its home to the expansive and ultra-modern Marina Riviera Nayarit. This has 351 boat docks which range in length from 31 to 400 feet, a yacht club, restaurant, sky bar and spa. Locals, tourists, and restaurant chefs from all over the Puerto Vallarta area frequent the daily fish market at La Cruz, arriving early in the morning to select the very best ‘catch of the day’ offerings. Tourists will enjoy the fact that local businesses in La Cruz are unpretentious, and their merchants extremely gracious. Another nice feature of La Cruz is that the town is small enough for both tourists and residents to easily to get around on foot.

PUNTA DE MITA

At the northernmost tip of Banderas Bay is the magnificent Peninsula of Punta de Mita which is home to the town of Punta de Mita. So we have two places with identical names; the Peninsula is Punta de Mita and the town itself is called Punta de Mita. Now to make matters worse there is also a private residential community which has been built there and it is called Punta Mita. If you think this sounds like a recipe for confusion we are not yet finished. Most of the locals when they refer to the town often drop the “de” in the middle of its name and just say Punta Mita.

Located just a bit further down the coastline from La Cruz, this ultra-exclusive area boasts lavish beachfront villas and luxurious resort hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita with its world-class golf course. An interesting fact is that Bill Gates purchased the Four Seasons Resort complex and 48 adjacent acres of land for $200 million USD, but the resort will continue to be operated by Four Seasons group.

PUNTA DE MITA is continued in part 22.