This area begins on the coast by (ironic enough) a McDonald’s, and ends in the south… well, where the sidewalk ends. Then it’s beaches for a while, so feel free to keep walking anyway. Bring a swim suit, if you’re into that kind of thing.
The Malecon bolsters a lively atmosphere, full of artists, street vendors, restaurants, scultpures, sculptors, and more. It’s an appealing mashup of local people and tourists, and I dont take that combination lightly. If you’re looking for a vacation friendly beachwalk, this place is for you. It reminds me of a Mexican version of the boardwalk up to the Santa Monica pier, with slightly less homeless people.
Speaking of, the quality of art along this walk is really neat; theres an abundance of 3d sculptures varying drastically in style. Many of the pieces are interactive as well, and make for fantastic photo ops. Climb up the ladder, sit on the thrones, stick your face in the cutouts, have good time!
Many of the locals around here make a living off of their art along the beaches or their street vendors, so if you can, tip. They arent near as pushy as locals from other areas around the world, so be conscious of the tip jars along the street.
If you happen to make it all the way to the plaza (south of the bridge) you may see some live music by the “Andale Bernardo Estatua” and surrounding stands. A little ways past that lies a beautiful boardwalk over the ocean with an elegant half dome structure.
If you’re looking to take a lot of pictures with nobody in the background, you’ll be lucky to do it within 3 minutes of starting the camera up. This place gets pretty crowded- it took a lot of waiting for me to be able to get the ones i wanted. While it can get pretty packed with tourists, i’d say it’s still largely worth taking a day when you’re in Puerto Vallarta. You’ll know when you’re in the more touristy areas from the storefronts.
Try your gut with the street food, if you can hack it. It’s cheaper and fresher than most of the restaurants, with zero wait time to boot. If you’re looking for moderate restaurant alternatives though, Cheeky Monkey had some good appetizer prices and happy hour specials. A real cool hole in the wall bar with specialty drinks is Bar La Playa. It’s small, but along the north side of the plaza area. For younger and larger crowds, la Vaquita, a little farther north, is the destination. The surrounding bars are also fun times.
While i didn’t compare every article, in general the cheapest place to buy souvenirs was the market under the bridge. Parts of it may seem a little dodgy to the novice tourist, but here you can negotiate prices for less than what the retail stores offer. That is, if you can work with the moderately pushy merchants.
Taxis are the move here! The easiest place to hail one is right at the northernmost area (by the Mcdonalds), where you most likely were dropped off. This being said, if you don’t want to walk all that way back, there are side streets you can hop up on for a hail with moderate luck.
As always, thanks for reading!