Marietas Islands Day Trip

Beach, Marietas Islands Day Trip

Get to a Marietas Islands Day Trip

It can be a challenge to get to a Marietas Islands Day Trip.  Most of the time a Marietas Islands Day Trip starts at Punta Mita, which is about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta.  You can take a local bus there, but it’s better to arrange a tour at your hotel.  Some tours get to a Marietas Islands Day Trip by cruising directly from Puerto Vallarta.  For our day trip, we booked from the Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa.  A van arrived at the hotel and took us to Punta Mita.  At the tour office in Punta Mita, there was lots of confusion about how much the agent at the hotel had taken as a cash deposit, but eventually the fee was straightened out.  We walked to the harbor and our group got on two boats powered by out-board motors.

Punta Mita Harbor

Marietas Islands Day Trip – Hidden Beach

The boats sped out of the harbor past an island full of pelicans.  Our first stop was at Hidden Beach, which is also called the Beach of Love.  The entrance to the beach was a bit scary.  You jump out of the boat with your life jacket on.  Then you swim toward an archway on the shore.  When we reached the arch, the high tide left only a small clearance to swim through.  Inside was a beautiful beach enclosed completely by rocks.  It’s an awesome spot, but that changed quickly when a large group of tourists arrived.  Soon the beach was full of people.  Our group decided it was just too busy, so we made an excellent decision to leave early.

Marietas Islands Arches

Marietas Islands Day Trip – Away from the Crowds

Our guides said they could find us a great beach away from the crowds and they did.  We sped off among the islands and entered a bay on one of the islands.  We jumped out of the boat again.  I had the snorkel gear on this time and the snorkeling was great.  I saw lots of beautiful fish quite close to the boat.  After a while I started to get cold and joined the others on the beach to warm up.  The beaches on this island were fabulous.  We found a giant arch that the waves were washing though.  On the rocks above us, we saw a blue footed booby.  The blue footed booby is one of the special attractions of the Galapagos Islands, but they also live on the Marietas Islands in Mexico.

Marietas Islands Tour Boat

After our wonderful afternoon on our own private Marietas island, we took the van back from Punta Mita.  On the way, we stopped at a simple seafood restaurant on the waterfront.  They quickly arranged some tables and chairs for us in the shade right on the beach.  We shared drinks and fresh cooked local catch of the day to finish off our perfect Marietas Island Day Trip.