Puerto Vallarta
Mexico's premier Pacific coast expat destination. Where Banderas Bay, the Sierra Madre mountains, world-class restaurants, and one of the most welcoming international communities in Latin America all meet in one extraordinary city.
Mexico's most beloved coastal expat city — and it has earned every bit of that reputation over fifty years.
Puerto Vallarta sits where the Sierra Madre mountains meet the Pacific Ocean on the shores of Banderas Bay, one of the largest natural bays in the world. The city was put on the international map in 1963 when John Huston filmed Night of the Iguana here, drawing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and a wave of global attention that never really left. Today, more than 50 years later, PV has grown into a full city of over 500,000 people while managing, in its historic center, to retain enough cobblestone and bougainvillea to justify the romantic reputation that built it.
Puerto Vallarta is home to one of the largest and most diverse expat communities in Mexico — an estimated 30,000 American and Canadian residents live here full-time, with tens of thousands more as seasonal snowbirds. The city is particularly known for its large and welcoming LGBT+ expat community centered around Zona Romantica, which has made PV one of the most inclusive destinations in the Americas.
The infrastructure is fully mature. World-class hospitals, a full-service international airport with direct flights to major U.S. and Canadian cities, Costco and international supermarkets, co-working spaces, reliable high-speed internet, and a restaurant scene that Time Out magazine has ranked among the best in the world for its neighborhood Versalles alone. This is a city that has been serving international residents for half a century — and it shows in every detail.
Puerto Vallarta is the most complete package on Mexico's coast. The healthcare rivals any city in Mexico, the community is enormous and welcoming, the food is world-class, and the Pacific setting is simply breathtaking.
