Not so easy to find these days, the developers are developing anywhere there's a bit of sand, it seems.

Luckily we are blessed with a less than perfect State and City government, which means that a lot of the access roads to out of the way beaches are not in very good condition.
The more difficult it is to get there, the more unspoiled and less crowded are the beaches.
Here's a rough guide to some of the popular beaches, some distance from town but with good road access, that don't get too many people and some that require more of an expedition to travel to. To get there see the Transport and Maps links on the left.

North Bay
You'll need to drive or take the bus to the Punta de Mita turn off from Route 200, to get to these beaches.

Destiladeras - Just past La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, 20 miles north of town, this very popular beach (busy on Sundays) is long and wide. Very popular for boogie boarding with long waves. A couple of beach side restaurants close to the parking area. On weekdays if you walk away from the restaurant areas, you'll find a lot more seclusion.

El Anclote - Just before Punt de Mita is a shallow shelving beach, great for children and also produces some excellent surfing breaks, not big but long. The sand is also finer on the beach than most of the others. Lots of beach restaurants and kayak/boogie board rentals.
A bit over 22 miles from Vallarta. Take the ATM Punta de Mita bus.
Surfing - You can rent boards and get all the info. you need at Coral Reef Surf Shop.

Sayulita - About 25 miles north of town and outside the bay (take the Sayulita bus), the beach is quite long, wide and boasts an Women Only Surfing School. Well known in the surfing world. Restaurants on the beach and in the village - which also has a pool hall. To the south, past the rocky point covered with gringo homes, you'll find some small sandy coves (take the path by the cemetery).

South Bay
From Boca de Tomatlan to Cabo Corrientes there are a few beaches that can only be reached by sea, there are a few roads, well that word is an exaggeration, but it's faster by boat. Most of them will have tour boat loads of tourists during the middle of the day, if you time it right you can avoid them. In order of appearance:

Las Animas - The first big beach after Boca, it now has a sort of pier to unload onto, restaurants and bars on the beach but not much more. The tour boats will get there a bit before noon and after the tourists have loaded up on food and booze they will leave. Being the closest beach it is busier than the others.
But ! between Boca and Las Animas there's a pretty decent trail with a couple of usually deserted beaches to explore on the way. Thanks to Tom Cahill for the information on this. Takes about an hour.
Read a report on the trail, from Wayne Campbel, HERE You can contact Arturo, the guide mentioned by Wayne by clicking HERE Arturo has other talents, see HERE, he's the one in the camo shorts. See a picture of a happy hiking group HERE.

Quimixto - This beach too, will load up with tourists from the tour boats at about 11am, but if you get there early, water taxi from Boca de Tomatlan, you can hike up to the waterfall before the rush and usually have it all to yourself. There are also many, somewhat scrawny horses you can rent to avoid the hike (quite a lot up hill). Before the tourists found the place, it used to be home for Archie, Cynthia and their kids (Archie's Wok in town) when Archie was the chef for John Huston at his beach ......

Caletas - Once the private residence of John Huston, director of Night of The Iguana and so many other great movies. It is now the location of two tours from Vallarta Adventures, the Caletas day tour and in the evening the Rhythms of The Night tour. Not a good place to go to privately as all the facilities are Vallarta Adventures'.

Majahuitas - Another semi-private beach containing the Majahuitas
Resort. All beaches in Mexico are public, but if the only bathroom is in a private resort .... ? There are some great snorkeling spots around here with usually very clear water.

Beach south of Chimo	Fish off Majahuitas	Small Sandy Beach on the Las Animas Trail

Yelapa - The old hippie hangout just isn't the same with electricity and telephones. Not a bad beach and there is the village to explore. The waterfall behind the village is OK during, or just after, the rainy season, but dries up fast when the rains stop. Hike up the river, or rent a horse, to a much bigger one - not as tall though. For more information on Yelapa, click Here.

Pizota - Another beach which was, more or less, taken over by the owner of the Chivas football team from Guadalajara. Well, that deal fell through so the village still remains the same.

Chimo - There are some wonderful virgin beaches just before this fishing village, which would require a good hike. Since there are only 2 water taxis a day (sometimes only one). These beaches are really only available if you were to spend the night in Chimo, which can be done, see Here.