Western Jalisco and the Riviera Nayarit: beaches, crocs and jungles

All 5 of Mexico’s ecosystems tin beryllium accessed successful what I telephone the 500-kilometer-wide Magic Circle astir Guadalajara.

Driving lone a fewer hours, you tin immerse yourself successful cool, shady forests, godforsaken scrub land, oregon flat, highland prairies, and if you spell acold capable westbound successful the Magic Circle, you’ll travel to Mexico’s tropical ecosystems.

When it comes to ecosystems, Jalisco has astir everything you could ever want. (Mexico.Travel)

According to Richard Rhoda and Tony Burton’s fantabulous geography publication “Geo-Mexico,” you’ll find some Tropical Evergreen Forests and Tropical Thorn Forests on the Pacific Coast. In the states of Nayarit and Jalisco, these tropical forests are apt to instrumentality the signifier of swamps and mangrove thickets.

One of the champion places to observe the wonders of mangroves is San Blas, Nayarit, present conscionable a three-hour-and-three-minute thrust from the westbound extremity of Guadalajara, acknowledgment to improved highways. While not technically portion of Jalisco, the confederate extremity of the authorities has go 1 with the Puerto Vallarta area, acknowledgment to rapidly improved transport links.

Western Jalisco is simply a tropical wonderland, wherever animals, jungle and the glorious Pacific Ocean collide. (John Pint)

Exploring the mangroves

Some caput for San Blas due to the fact that it is reputed to have  “the world’s longest surfable waves,” but for me, the large attraction is an early-morning panga thrust done the mangroves of the Estuary of San Cristobal. So gangly are the mangroves and truthful heavy is the vegetation that parts of these channels person go tunnels, interconnected successful an extended labyrinth that lone the boaters tin navigate.

In the aboriginal morning, the perfectly inactive h2o mirrors the jungle canopy overhead. Long, creaseless mangrove roots scope down from the branches above, wherever elephantine bromeliads are perched among exotic orchids.

But the birds are the large attraction. People accidental that fractional the known birds of Mexico are lurking among the mangroves!

The mangroves of San Blas formed bizarre reflections. (John Pint)

Here you volition spot whimbrels, wood storks, roseate spoonbills, anhingas, and if you look carefully, you whitethorn spot a boat-billed heron, which hides successful shady spots and someway manages to look cute adjacent though it has a measure shaped much similar a footwear than a boat.

La Manzanilla Crocodile Sanctuary

While San Blas is the spot to spell for bird-watching, I suggest you caput for El Cocodrilario de La Manzanilla, Mexico’s biggest crocodile sanctuary,  if you truly privation to larn thing astir these reptiles. There are adjacent to 500 crocs there, each good cared for by a section radical called Cipactli (crocodile successful Náhuatl) whose narration with these creatures whitethorn beryllium older than Mexico itself.

Turtle Beach

If it’s turtles you’d similar to see, and possibly release, you tin sojourn the Center for the Protection and Conservation of the Sea Turtle, located 21 kilometers southbound of San Blas connected aptly sanction Playa de las Tortugas. They liberate turtles each evening astatine five, and, if you wish, you tin campy astatine the halfway oregon on the picturesque, undeveloped formation adjacent to it.

Pristine Dolphin Beach

Dolphin Beach arsenic it looked successful 2021. (John Pint)

In spite of overmuch improvement of Mexico’s West Coast — from palapas to luxury resorts — quiet, delightful, undisturbed beaches tin inactive beryllium found.

Many years ago, I discovered my imagination formation simply by hiking northbound astatine debased tide from popular, crowded Playa Platanitos, Nayarit.

We soon came to a solitary agelong of soil bordered by big, beauteous rocks astatine each end, with a grove of thenar trees conscionable supra the metallic sand, offering precious shade. The lone footprints we could find connected this idyllic formation were those of raccoons.

Gazing retired to sea, we spotted a pod of dolphins leaping retired of the water. Fortunately, we discovered a unsmooth ungraded roadworthy connecting this small formation to the main highway, and it soon became our favourite spot to campy connected the coast.

Although contiguous a locked gross prevents conveyance access, Dolphin Beach looks the aforesaid arsenic it did 30 years ago, and connected my past sojourn the lone footprints I recovered were inactive those of raccoons.

Hiking done the jungle

The Rock Wall Pass starring to El Nogalito Waterfall, conscionable southbound of Puerto Vallarta. (Di Minardi)

Besides sandy beaches and mangroves, West Mexico’s Pacific Coast features jungles.

If you’d similar to person a genuinely exotic jungle experience, I urge a hike to Cascada el Nogalito, located astir 16 kilometers southbound of Puerto Vallarta. It’s a circular travel of six kilometers and takes astir 4 hours. Be prepared to get wet: you’ll beryllium walking successful — not alongside — a gorgeous river.

The hike turns into a fascinating and acquisition acquisition if you spell with a section guide. You volition observe orchids, bromeliads, medicinal vines, elephantine ferns, strangler figs and the funny papelillo histrion with its paper-thin, peeling bark. You volition spot termite nests which person been turned into homes by the section parakeets, and you whitethorn adjacent spot bizarre creatures similar the basilisk, famed for its quality to tally crossed water.

To get the astir retired of the experience, spell determination guided by a marine biologist.

Vallarta Botanical Garden

Perhaps the azygous astir beauteous spot successful West Mexico’s tropical ecosystems is Vallarta Botanical Garden, which is located 24 kilometers southbound of Puerto Vallarta connected 32 hectares of hills and dales covered with truthful galore works taxon that nary 1 tin number them.

The proprietor of the Garden, Robert Price, told maine that helium fell successful emotion with the spot 21 years ago. erstwhile helium had asked a antheral selling flowers to amusement him wherever helium was getting his orchids from.

The quality of this spot, with its web of fascinating trails, is astounding. Don’t miss it, and erstwhile you go, beryllium prepared to walk the full time there. 

Watch out… if you sojourn each the sites listed above, you whitethorn ne'er privation to spell home!

John Pint has lived adjacent Guadalajara, Jalisco, for much than 30 years and is the writer of “A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area” and co-author of “Outdoors successful Western Mexico.” More of his penning tin beryllium found on his website.