Playa de Oro

Playa de Oro is the northernmost beach of Puerto Vallarta's hotel zone, a strip of soft golden sand about a kilometer long that runs from the breakwater of the port, where the cruise ships dock, south to the mouth of the Pitillal River beside Playa Los Tules. It lies about 6 kilometers, some 15 minutes, from the main square downtown. The name comes from the Hotel Playa de Oro, one of the first hotels of the zone, built by the American Jack Cawood, and the Posada Vallarta opened on this beach in 1964 on the site now occupied by the Krystal.

Today the beach is lined with resorts and condo towers, from north to south the two Crown Paradise hotels, the IconVallarta towers, the Hilton, Hacienda Buenaventura, the Krystal and the Península condos. The sand is of medium width and the waves are usually gentle, and the water is clear and green enough that the beach holds Blue Flag certification for water quality, safety and services. Hotel guests and day visitors swim, ride banana boats, parasail, go out on jet skis or kayaks, and fish from the shore; whale-watching tours pass offshore in winter, and the evening view takes in the sunset and the big ships sailing out of port.

All Mexican beaches are public, and Playa de Oro has three public accesses: a gate from the port area at the north end beside the Crown Paradise Club; Calle Quetzal in the middle, by the Hacienda and IconVallarta, where there is a small craft market and a convenience store; and the path along the Pitillal River near the Península shopping plaza at the south end, which leads to the river mouth. The Península and La Isla shopping centers across the river bridge cover everything else. In high season, roughly December to April, the beach gets busy.