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    Playa Los Muertos with the sail-shaped pier and beachfront buildings, Jalisco

    Photo by Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    The Los Muertos pier at sunset, Playa Los Muertos, Jalisco

    Photo by Renata Cabrera Rosas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    The original Boy on the Seahorse statue at the south end of Los Muertos beach at sunset, Playa Los Muertos, Jalisco

    Photo by Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Playa Los Muertos

    Beach Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Municipality of Puerto Vallarta Banderas Bay

    The busy town beach of the Zona Romántica: palapa restaurants, beach clubs, the sail-shaped pier for south-shore water taxis and the original seahorse statue.

    From Puerto Vallarta: 10 min by car (6 km by road) How to get there ↓

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    Plan your visit to Playa Los Muertos

    Where to stay near Playa Los Muertos

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    Tours to Playa Los Muertos

    Day trips and guided outings from Sayulita often include Playa Los Muertos; with a local guide you can get there without a car.

    Gastronomic, Historical, And Cultural Tour In Sayulita ★ 5.0 (26) · From US$75
    Find tours on Viator GetYourGuide

    How to get to Playa Los Muertos

    • From Puerto Vallarta: about 10 min by road (~6 km)
    • Nearest airport: Puerto Vallarta (PVR), 41 min by car to Sayulita
    Rent a car at PVR Flights to PVR

    Route, map and directions ↓

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    Popular tours to Playa Los Muertos

    Gastronomic, Historical, And Cultural Tour In Sayulita ★ 5.0 (26) 5 h From US$75

    Tours, prices and ratings from Viator, checked weekly. We may earn a commission if you book.

    About Playa Los Muertos

    Playa Los Muertos is the main beach of Puerto Vallarta's old town, a wide curve of golden sand along the Zona Romántica between the mouth of the Río Cuale and the rocks below the hillside of Amapas. Vallartenses consider it their most traditional beach, and it is busy all year with local families, holidaymakers from the hotels along Calle Olas Altas and day-trippers waiting for boats. The odd name, "Beach of the Dead", is usually explained by an old story of sailors' bodies washing ashore after a shipwreck in the bay; several versions circulate and none is documented.

    Its landmark is the Muelle de Los Muertos, the pier at the end of Calle Francisca Rodríguez, opened in January 2013 with a tall, sail-like spire that is lit in changing colours at night. Water taxis and pangas leave from it for the beaches and villages of the south shore that no road reaches: Las Ánimas in about 25 minutes, Quimixto in about 40 and Yelapa in about 55. Along the sand there is a line of palapa restaurants and beach bars where you rent a lounger for the price of food and drinks, and vendors walk past selling grilled fish on a stick, oysters, mango with chili and tuba, the cool palm-sap drink, while strolling musicians play for tips.

    The southern end, toward the rocks of Las Pilitas, is the gay end, with LGBTQ+ beach clubs and their rows of blue and green chairs; Newsweek ranked Los Muertos among the world's best gay beaches in 2019. Here, on a rock at the water's edge, stands the original Boy on the Seahorse, the sculpture by Rafael Zamarripa that has been a symbol of Vallarta since the late 1960s (its twin is on the Malecón). The beach faces west across the bay, so sunsets from the sand or the pier are a nightly event. On winter Saturdays the Olas Altas farmers' market is a block inland.

    How to get to Playa Los Muertos

    Drive from Puerto Vallarta: 10 min, 6 km

    From downtown, walk south along the Malecón, cross the footbridge over the Río Cuale and continue past Parque Lázaro Cárdenas to the sand. City buses marked "Centro" or "Túnel" from the airport and hotel zone end in the Zona Romántica a few blocks from the beach (22 pesos, January 2026). The pier is at the end of Calle Francisca Rodríguez; buy water-taxi tickets at the office in front of it.

    Directions to Playa Los Muertos on Google Maps

    Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.

    Where to stay Hotels in Playa Los Muertos Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Playa Los Muertos. See prices →

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    From the nearest cities to Playa Los Muertos

    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Before you go to Playa Los Muertos: hours, prices and tips

    Entry
    The beach is free and public; a round-trip water taxi from the pier to Yelapa cost about 380 pesos in 2021. Lonely Planet · checked Oct 2026
    Best time of day
    Sunset, when the beach faces the sun going down over the bay and the pier lights come on; on Saturday mornings from November to April combine it with the Olas Altas farmers' market nearby. Visit Puerto Vallarta (tourism board) · checked Oct 2026
    Guide or tour
    No guide needed. Water taxis to the south-shore beaches run at least four times a day, more often in high season; ask for departure times at the office in front of the pier. Lonely Planet · checked Oct 2026

    Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.

    Visiting Playa Los Muertos: what to see and do

    Spend a beach day under a palapa and order grilled fish, oysters or mango with chili from the vendors.
    Walk out on the Los Muertos Pier, especially at sunset or when it is lit at night.
    Take a water taxi from the pier to Las Ánimas, Quimixto or Yelapa.
    Find the original Boy on the Seahorse on its rock at the south end.
    Visit the LGBTQ+ beach clubs at the southern end.

    Plan your trip

    Places to stay in Playa Los Muertos

    Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Playa Los Muertos.

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    Tours & activities

    Day trips and guided outings from Sayulita often include Playa Los Muertos; with a local guide you can get there without a car.

    Viator GetYourGuide

    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at PVR (Puerto Vallarta): about 41 min by road to Sayulita, then 37 km more to Playa Los Muertos, on your own schedule.

    EconomyBookings Discover Cars

    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Puerto Vallarta (PVR), about 41 min by road from Sayulita, the base for Playa Los Muertos.

    Kiwi.com

    Travel insurance

    If you plan on swimming or surfing at Playa Los Muertos, check that your policy covers it: some plans leave adventure activities out.

    SafetyWing

    Mobile data

    Signal can drop away from Sayulita: download a map of the way to Playa Los Muertos before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.

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    Photos

    When to go to Playa Los Muertos warm

    Playa Los Muertos shares the climate of Sayulita, 37 km away. The best months to visit are March, April, May, and November.

    Playa Los Muertos is best for swimming and time on the water in the warmest months (June, July, and August); in the rainiest ones (July, August, and September) expect storms in the afternoon.

    See the month-by-month climate of Sayulita

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Sayulita

    Palm-shaded street of shops and stalls in the center of Sayulita, Nayarit warm
    Nayarit Sayulita

    Sayulita is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Playa Los Muertos, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

    Also close to

    Closest to Playa Los Muertos

    Near Playa Los Muertos

    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Lists with Playa Los Muertos

    Beaches in Jalisco · 20 Beaches near Puerto Vallarta · 40 Beaches near Sayulita · 42 Beaches near Mascota · 16 Beaches near Talpa de Allende · 17

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.