Every visitor asks us for "the beach where the locals go." Here is the honest answer, and it is not a beach in the bay at all. It is ninety minutes south, over the cape, on a stretch of coast that most people flying into Puerto Vallarta do not even know exists.
The short version
Drive south past El Tuito, drop down to the coast, and you hit two places within eight kilometres of each other that do completely different jobs. Mayto is the enormous empty beach — for walking, quads and sunrise, not for swimming. Tehuamixtle is the tiny fishing cove where the water is calm and lunch is oysters straight off the boat. Do both in the same day and you have the trip. Come back before dark, or stay the night and get a sky you will not believe.
The reason it is worth writing about now: Mayto got an airstrip. More on that below, because it changes who can realistically do this trip.
Where this is, exactly
Mayto sits in the municipality of Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco — the cape that closes Banderas Bay to the south. Cross it and you leave the bay behind and enter the Costalegre, the long, thinly developed coast that runs down toward Barra de Navidad.
Vallartenses have been coming here for decades with a cooler and a tent. No queues, no vendors, no one else's speakers. It is where a local brings visitors to show them what this coast looked like before it filled up.
Getting there without ruining your day
The route: Federal Highway 200 south toward Manzanillo → El Tuito → the coast road signposted to Mayto and Tehuamixtle.
Time: about 1 hour 30 minutes from central Vallarta.
Road: good highway to El Tuito, then a narrower descent with unpaved sections.
Four things that actually matter
- Leave early. Out of Vallarta by 8 a.m. gives you the beach before the heat and lunch in Tehua at a civilised hour.
- Fill the tank in Vallarta or El Tuito. Not on the way down. There is nothing down there.
- Cash. No reliable ATM, and plenty of places that do not take cards.
- Check the season. November to May a normal car is fine. June to October it rains, the unpaved stretch gets rough, and a higher vehicle plus a phone call about conditions is the sensible move.
Stop in El Tuito for ten minutes even if you do not need anything. It is a highland town with a proper square and noticeably cooler air, and it is the last real supply point.
Stop 1: Mayto, the beach with nothing on it
The beach is long, straight and very wide — the development that operates there fronts around five kilometres of undeveloped sand, with an estuary and mangrove closing one end and hills behind. On a weekday you may genuinely have it to yourself.
Read this before you get in the water
This is safety information, not a detail. Mayto faces the open Pacific. The waves break hard right on the sand and there are rip currents. There are no lifeguards. This is not Las Ánimas or Yelapa.
What it is great for: walking for kilometres, running, sunrise, riding a quad along the hard-packed sand, and getting into the shallows carefully. Keep kids within arm's reach, not just in sight. If you want to actually swim, that is what stop 2 is for.
The turtles
Mayto is a sea turtle nesting beach and a community turtle camp has worked that sand for years. Depending on the season there are hatchling releases at dusk — which is the single best reason to bring kids on this trip. Dates follow the nests, not a calendar, so ask when you arrive.
Nesting-beach etiquette, and we mean it: keep vehicles off the marked zones, take your rubbish out with you, and never shine a light directly at a turtle.
Stop 2: Tehuamixtle, and the oysters
Eight kilometres past Mayto the coast folds into a small protected cove and you arrive at Tehuamixtle — "Tehua" to everyone who goes there. It is a working fishing anchorage with a handful of palapa restaurants built onto the rock.
This is the swimming stop: the cove is sheltered enough that the water sits calm while the open coast is pounding a few kilometres away. It is also the eating stop. The boats land the day's catch in front of you and the local speciality is oysters — which is why half the vallartenses who make this drive make it at all.
Order the oysters, order whatever came in that morning, and give it two hours. There is nowhere to be.
The new part: Mayto has an airstrip
Here is what changed. The Mayto development built its own airport — paved runway, taxiway, apron and terminal — officially inaugurated on 20 June 2025.
The numbers the destination gives are zero stops, 15 minutes of flight from Puerto Vallarta, and the hour and a half by road as the alternative. It is presented as Mexico's first themed airport, and the theme is not a brochure line — the taxiway curves on purpose as a tribute to the serpent of the Tenochtitlan legacy, the terminal is a circular white building with a four-pointed star on the roof, and the letters MJL are painted across the apron.
What it is not: a commercial airport. No scheduled airlines, no baggage belts, no immigration hall. It handles general aviation, private and charter flights. You still fly into Puerto Vallarta International and continue from there — by road, or by hopping across in a light aircraft.
Stay the night? Yes, if you can
The day trip works. Plenty of people do it and go home happy. But three hours of driving for a beach you leave at four in the afternoon is a bad trade, because the best thing about this stretch of coast happens after sunset.
There is now lodging on the sand: a small run of beachfront suites under palapa roofs with a pool and the common area facing the ocean, a few steps from the runway. One category of room — king bed, private terrace, ocean view — open all year, with local hosts on site. You book directly at mayto.com/booking, at reservations@mayto.com, or on +52 33 3822 5731. If you are flying in, they will put the flight, the room and the park visit together as one arrival.
And the sky
With no town anywhere near, there is almost no light pollution and the Milky Way is visible with the naked eye. The development has built its long-term project around exactly that: the Parque Astrológico, twelve roundabouts (one per zodiac sign) acting as gateways to twelve Zodiac Temples, plus six open-air themed experiences and an observatory.
Manage your expectations: it is a phased project still being built, and the first temple, Virgo, is projected for 2027. What operates today is the air access and the hotel. Go this year for the sand, the silence and the stars — and if the stars are the point, plan around the new moon, because a full moon washes the sky out completely.
What to pack
- Cash — enough for fuel, lunch and a tip.
- Sunscreen, repellent, a hat and plenty of water. There is no natural shade on that beach.
- Downloaded maps. Mobile signal comes and goes.
- A torch if you are staying past dark. No street lighting at all.
- A dry change of clothes and a towel for Tehua.
- Closed shoes if you want to walk the estuary end.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get to Mayto from Puerto Vallarta?
About an hour and a half by road via Highway 200 and El Tuito, with a narrow, partly unpaved final stretch. Or 15 minutes by air to the development's own airstrip.
Do I need a 4x4?
Not in the dry season, November to May — a normal car driven patiently is fine. From June to October a higher vehicle is a good idea and you should ask about road conditions before setting out.
Can you swim at Mayto?
Only in the shallows, and carefully. It is open ocean with heavy shorebreak, rip currents and no lifeguards. For a real swim, go on to the cove at Tehuamixtle.
Where do we eat?
Tehuamixtle. The palapa restaurants on the cove serve the day's catch and the oysters the place is known for. Options at Mayto itself are limited and rustic.
Is it worth doing with kids?
Yes — especially if you can time it with a turtle release at dusk. Just be strict about the water at Mayto and let them swim at Tehua instead.
Can I fly there commercially?
No. The strip is for general aviation, private and charter flights only. The commercial route is Puerto Vallarta International.
What is the best time of year?
November to May for dry weather and the easiest drive. June to October is greener and more dramatic, with a rougher sea and a harder road.
Day trip or overnight?
Day trip works. Overnight is better. The silence and the sky are the parts you cannot get in Vallarta, and both only happen after dark.
Bottom line
Mayto and Tehuamixtle are the best day out from Puerto Vallarta that does not involve a boat: an empty beach for the morning, a calm cove and oysters for lunch, turtles at dusk if you are lucky, and now a fifteen-minute flight if you would rather skip the drive. Go with a full tank, cash and no schedule.
The full destination — airstrip, beachfront hotel and Parque Astrológico — is at mayto.com. Staying inside the bay instead? Our five hidden beaches around Puerto Vallarta covers the closer options, the Puerto Vallarta travel guide covers the city, and the Vallarta Surf crew know exactly how this open coast behaves. En español, la guía de Puerto Vallarta.
