The rains are ending, and Puerto Vallarta is about to enter its most beautiful months.
Clear skies, cooler evenings, whales arriving in the bay, a city decorated for its biggest celebrations, and a Sierra Madre that is still green from the summer storms. It is the season people plan their whole year around.
Here is what is coming between November and spring, and how to make the most of it.
The turn of the season
Every year, somewhere between the end of October and the first days of November, Puerto Vallarta changes. The last afternoon storm rolls through, the humidity drops, and one morning you wake up to a sky that stays blue all day.
That is the start of the dry season, and it runs until spring. It is when the light is clearest, the sunsets over the bay are at their best, and the calendar fills up with the things locals look forward to all year.
Here is what is coming, month by month — and how to make the most of it.
November: altars, food and a green Sierra Madre
Día de Muertos opens the season on 1 and 2 November. Families visit the cemeteries with flowers and food, and altars with marigolds, candles and photographs go up in homes, shops and public spaces around town. Catrinas appear along the Malecón. It is a celebration, not a sad day, and visitors are welcome to look and ask.
A few weeks later the city's restaurants put on the Festival Gourmet, held every November, when local kitchens bring in guest chefs from around the world for special menus. If you like to eat, plan a dinner or two around it.
November is also, quietly, one of the best months to ride in the mountains. The rains have just stopped, so the Sierra Madre is still deep green, the rivers are running clear, and the trails have dried out and firmed up. It is the best of both seasons in one ride — try the Sierra Madre ATV Adventure or the Edén Private Tour while the waterfalls still have water.
December: pilgrimages and the first whales
From 1 to 12 December the city celebrates the Virgin of Guadalupe, its patron saint. Every evening, groups from neighbourhoods, businesses and schools walk in procession through downtown to the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, with music, traditional dancers and banners. The streets around the church fill with food stalls, and on the night of the 11th into the 12th the celebration goes on until morning.
It is one of the most moving things to see in Puerto Vallarta, and it happens a few blocks from the Malecón. An easy way to fit it in: ride the Malecón by bicycle in the morning and walk back downtown at dusk.
December is also when the humpback whales arrive. They travel thousands of kilometres from the North Pacific to give birth and raise their calves in the warm water of Banderas Bay, and they stay until around March. You can sometimes spot them from shore, from a paddle board, or from a surf line-up north of the city.
January to March: clear water and long sunny days
The middle of the dry season is reliable: warm days, cool evenings, almost no rain. The bay is calm in the mornings, and the water is often at its clearest of the year — a very good time to paddle board around Los Arcos and look down at the fish under the board.
The north swells keep the surf beaches at Sayulita and Punta de Mita working with smaller, friendlier waves, which makes these months ideal for a first surf lesson. We wrote more about that in our guide to the surf seasons.
And it is simply a good time to be outdoors. The jungle trails, the hills behind the city and the Río Cuale are all comfortable in the cooler morning air, without the heavy heat of summer.
A few tips for the high season
- Book ahead around the holidays. Thanksgiving week, Christmas to New Year and Easter (Semana Santa) are the busiest weeks of the year. Tours, private lessons and rentals fill up first.
- Go early. Mornings are the calmest on the water and the freshest on the trails, and you will have the afternoon for the beach or a long lunch.
- Pack a light layer. Days are warm, but evenings in January and February can feel cool, especially on the water or up in the mountains.
- Leave room for the sunset. The dry season sunsets over the bay are the ones people come back for. Plan to be near the water around six.
The best part is still ahead
If you have been to Puerto Vallarta in summer, you have seen it green, warm and quiet. The coming months show the other side: clear skies, festivals, whales in the bay and the whole city outside enjoying it.
Tell us your dates and what you like to do, and we will help you put together the days — on a trail, on a board or on two wheels.
