Playa Rosita

Playa Rosita is the strip of beach that runs below Puerto Vallarta's Malecón in the historic center, which is why many people simply call it the Malecón beach. It begins at the northern end of the seafront promenade, by the Hotel Rosita, and continues south along the boardwalk toward the chair-like bronze sculptures of La Rotonda del Mar; Playa Camarones carries on to the north and Playa Olas Altas lies to the south, across the Río Cuale.

The name comes from the hotel. The Hotel Rosita was built in 1948 by Salvador González, who named it after his eldest daughter, Rosa, and it is considered the city's first proper hotel and one of its oldest buildings still standing. In 1962, while The Night of the Iguana was being filmed, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and the film crew often stayed there, and the hotel, now run by the founder's grandson, still stands at the start of the Malecón at Paseo Díaz Ordaz 901.

The beach itself is narrow and in many places more stones than sand, and it is easy to overlook while you are busy looking at the shops and sculptures on the promenade above. The promenade is built to give direct access to the sand. The beach is not considered suitable for swimming, but people come down to sit by the water, sunbathe, build sand castles with the children or stack the smooth beach stones into small towers. Early in the morning local fishermen get their nets ready near the start of the Malecón, and later in the day pelicans, gulls and grackles hang around hoping to snatch part of the catch. In the evening the whole beach turns west toward the sunset, one of the most celebrated views in the city.