La Punta Negra

La Punta Negra is a tiny locality and stretch of shore on the south side of Banderas Bay, along Highway 200 about 6 kilometers from the center of Puerto Vallarta on the way to Mismaloya. The highway crosses the Punta Negra bridge here, and this is the place where the side road to the hillside village of El Nogalito and its ecopark heads inland. The 2020 census counted just 26 residents here, down from 80 in 2005, at about 30 meters above sea level; most of the land around it is taken by houses, condominiums and hotels clinging to the slope between the road and the sea.

The coast here is a string of small coves rather than one long beach. Guides to the south shore list Playa Punta Negra between Las Estacas and Conchas Chinas to the north and Playa Palmares to the south, with Garza Blanca, Las Gemelas and Mismaloya beyond. Just north of the point, the Hilton Vallarta Riviera and the Playa Fiesta hotel look out over a line of rock breakwaters, and the coves face west across the bay to the mountains of the north shore, so the sun sets straight ahead.

For visitors La Punta Negra is mostly a place to get off the bus: for the beach, for Playa Palmares, which has public restrooms, lifeguards and parking a short walk south, or for the road up to El Nogalito, where a river trail leads to a small waterfall and a zip-line park operates over the canyon.