Estero El Salado

Estero El Salado is the last big patch of mangrove left in Puerto Vallarta's urban area, a tidal estuary wedged between Marina Vallarta and the northern hotel zone, right beside Avenida Francisco Medina Ascencio, the city's main boulevard. Its brackish lagoons and swamps drain to the bay through a narrow channel about 20 meters wide and 2 kilometers long. Before the hotels went up, mangrove ran all the way from the area of today's resorts down to the beach; much of it was cleared for beachfront and buildings, and what survives was declared a protected natural area, an ecological conservation zone, by the state of Jalisco on July 27, 2000. It is run today as the Parque Estatal Estero El Salado and covers roughly 170 to 235 hectares depending on the source, most of it marsh and mangrove with two small patches of tropical forest.

All three Pacific mangrove species grow here, red, white and black, among more than 300 plant species. The estuary is a refuge for more than 130 kinds of birds, many of them migratory or water birds such as herons, egrets and pelicans, as well as 29 species of reptiles and amphibians, from iguanas to the American crocodile, and about ten mammals including raccoons and opossums. A 2025 count put the estuary's crocodiles at about 60 animals of all sizes. Beyond the wildlife the mangrove does quiet work for the city: it filters water before it reaches the bay and buffers the shore against storms.

The usual way to visit is a guided boat ride with a biologist through the mangrove channels, which lasts about an hour and a half and stops halfway so you can climb a watchtower with a 360-degree view over the treetops to the hotel towers. Space on each boat is limited, so tours are by reservation. The park has also run free educational boat tours for children, for example on Children's Day.