Town Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Municipality of Puerto Vallarta Banderas Bay
Fast-growing town on Highway 200 near Vallarta's airport and the Ameca bridges, where the mountain road to Mascota and San Sebastián begins.
From Puerto Vallarta: 10 min by car (10 km by road) How to get there ↓
Near here
Plan your visit to Las Juntas
Where to stay near Las Juntas
Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Las Juntas.
Tours to Las Juntas
Day trips around Sayulita sometimes stop in Las Juntas; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Puerto Vallarta City Tour: Malecon, Mismaloya & Tequila Tasting
★ 4.1 (113) · From US$15
How to get to Las Juntas
- From Puerto Vallarta: about 10 min by road (~10 km)
- Nearest airport: Puerto Vallarta (PVR), 41 min by car to Sayulita
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Popular tours to Las Juntas
Tours, prices and ratings from Viator, checked weekly. We may earn a commission if you book.
About Las Juntas
Las Juntas is a town in the municipality of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, on the northern edge of the Vallarta area, beside Federal Highway 200 a little inland from the airport and just short of the bridges over the Ameca River, which marks the border with Nayarit. It is the third-largest locality in the municipality after the city itself and Ixtapa: the census counted 10,242 people in 2020, against 5,947 in 2000: it nearly doubled in twenty years.
What puts Las Juntas on the map is the junction from which it takes its importance. Here Highway 200, the coast road between Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas, meets State Highway 544, the road that climbs inland past Ixtapa and the University of Guadalajara's CUCosta campus, up through Las Palmas and La Estancia into the Sierra Occidental to San Sebastián del Oeste, Mascota and Talpa de Allende. More than 35,000 vehicles a day pass through toward Nayarit, and to ease the bottleneck the state opened the first stage of the Las Juntas interchange on 30 September 2025, a road bridge built in seven months for 374 million pesos, part of a larger program of works for the city's northern accesses.
For visitors it is a place you pass through rather than stay: an ordinary working town. It is, though, the turning point for the drive to the mountain Pueblos Mágicos, and the beach ramadas of Boca de Tomates, at the mouth of the Ameca behind the airport, are a few kilometers away.
How to get to Las Juntas
Drive from Puerto Vallarta: 10 min, 10 km
Las Juntas lies on Highway 200 (Boulevard Francisco Medina Ascencio and its continuation) north of Puerto Vallarta's airport, just before the Ameca River bridges to Nayarit. City buses running north from downtown along the boulevard past the airport serve the area; check the destination on the windshield and ask the driver. By car, the new Las Juntas interchange at the junction of Highway 200 and State Highway 544 is the landmark.
Directions to Las Juntas on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
From the nearest cities to Las Juntas
- Puerto Vallarta · 10 km by road, 10 min
- Tepic · 169 km by road, 2 h 15 min
- Autlán · about 180 km by road, ~2 h 40 min
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
What to see in Las Juntas 4
Sights with their own page, closest to the centre first.
Landmarks and museums
-
Aquaventuras Park · Landmark · 3 km from the centre
Water park on Highway 200 at the entrance to Nuevo Vallarta, ten minutes from the airport: slides, a lazy river, zip line and a dolphin and sea lion habitat. -
Marina Vallarta · Landmark · 4 km from the centre
The yacht harbour and planned district between the airport and the cruise port: a waterside boardwalk, a lighthouse, and the docks where many bay tours start. -
Mariposario Jardín Mágico · Landmark · 4 km from the centre
Banderas Bay's only butterfly sanctuary, a shaded garden in Campo Verde where guides explain the life cycle and visitors release a butterfly.
Nature reserves
-
Estero El Salado · Nature reserve · 3 km from the centre
Protected mangrove estuary in the middle of Puerto Vallarta's hotel strip, with biologist-led boat tours, a watchtower and wild crocodiles.
Map of Las Juntas
Neighbourhoods and villages of Las Juntas
Part of Las Juntas or just outside it, closest first.
-
Las Jarretaderas · Town · 4 km from the centre
The first town in Nayarit after the Ameca River bridge, an old ejido beside Nuevo Vallarta known for seafood joints and its surf-fishing tournament. -
Mezcalitos · Village · 4 km from the centre
A small community on Boulevard Nuevo Vallarta, between Valle Dorado and Mezcales, a couple of kilometers from the resorts of Nuevo Vallarta.
Day trips and tours from Las Juntas
The closest Pueblos Mágicos and places to visit, with the drive from Las Juntas and tours that leave from it.
Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance. Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Before you go: getting to and around Las Juntas
- The nearest airport is Puerto Vallarta (PVR).
- The best months to go are March, April, May, and November.
- 4 of the places on this page are more than 3 km from the centre: take a taxi, a ride-hailing app or a local bus.
- For day trips a rental car gives the most freedom; the tours above leave from Las Juntas.
Before you go to Las Juntas: hours, prices and tips
- Guide or tour
- No guide needed; it is an ordinary town on the main highway north of Puerto Vallarta. Publimetro · checked Oct 2026
Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.
Visiting Las Juntas: what to see and do
Turn inland at the Las Juntas junction for the mountain drive on Highway 544 to San Sebastián del Oeste and Mascota.
Drive a few minutes up the same road to Ixtapa, the municipality's second town and site of the University of Guadalajara's coast campus.
Eat grilled fish at the beach ramadas of Boca de Tomates, at the mouth of the Ameca River.
Cross the Ameca bridges into Nayarit for Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerías.
Plan your trip
Places to stay in Las Juntas
Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Las Juntas.
Tours & activities
Day trips around Sayulita sometimes stop in Las Juntas; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Rental cars
Pick up a car at PVR (Puerto Vallarta): about 41 min by road to Sayulita, then 28 km more to Las Juntas, on your own schedule.
Flights
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Puerto Vallarta (PVR), about 41 min by road from Sayulita, the base for Las Juntas.
Mobile data
Signal can drop away from Sayulita: download a map of the way to Las Juntas before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
When to go to Las Juntas warm
Las Juntas shares the climate of Sayulita, 28 km away. The best months to visit are March, April, May, and November.
See the month-by-month climate of Sayulita
Weather in Las Juntas now and the next 7 days
Live forecast from Open-Meteo. Chance of rain is the day's highest.
The closest Pueblo Mágico: Sayulita
Sayulita is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Las Juntas, with places to stay, food, and more to see.
Also close to
- Mascota · Jalisco · 51 km away
- Talpa de Allende · Jalisco · 56 km away
- San Sebastián del Oeste · Jalisco · 69 km away
- Compostela · Nayarit · 69 km away
Near Las Juntas
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.