Marina Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, La Cruz or Punta Mita: Where to Start Your Yacht Charter

The first question on a yacht charter around Banderas Bay is not which boat — it is which dock. The bay has four departure points spread over 40 kilometres of coast, and the one you pick changes the transit time to every destination, the fleet you can choose from and, quietly, the price. This is a side-by-side of Marina Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, La Cruz and Punta Mita for anyone booking a yacht charter in Puerto Vallarta, with the owner-direct listings on BYRBO's Puerto Vallarta charter pages as the reference for what actually leaves from where.

The Four Departures at a Glance

	Marina Vallarta	Nuevo Vallarta	La Cruz	Punta Mita
From the airport	5 min	20 min	40 min	60 min
Fleet size (owner-direct)	Largest (50+)	Medium (10+)	Compact (6–8)	Small (resident luxury)
To Los Arcos	25 min	45 min	60+ min	75+ min
To Yelapa	60 min	80 min	90 min	100+ min
To the Marietas	90 min	60 min	45 min	20–30 min
Whale water	Good	Good	Best	Best
Price level	Widest range	Good value	Fair	Premium
Stay nearby	PV, Zona Romántica, Conchas Chinas, Hotel Zone	Nuevo Vallarta, Flamingos	Bucerías, La Cruz, Sayulita, San Pancho	Punta Mita, Litibú

Marina Vallarta: the Big Fleet

Inside the city, next to the airport and the cruise terminal, and home to most of the bay's charter boats — from a 25 ft Luhrs to the Hatteras 122, with the Sea Rays, Azimuts, Lagoons and the two Mikelsons in between. Its great advantage is the south shore: Los Arcos in 25 minutes, Las Ánimas in 45, Yelapa in an hour, which means a four-hour charter is genuinely useful here in a way it is not from the north. Its disadvantage is the Marietas, an hour and a half each way. Choose Marina Vallarta if you are staying anywhere in Puerto Vallarta proper, if you want the widest choice of private yacht rentals in Puerto Vallarta, or if the plan is the south-shore classic. The 60 ft Mikelson sportfishing yacht, the bay's best fish-and-cruise boat, lives here.

Nuevo Vallarta: the Value Middle

Twenty minutes north, on the Nayarit side, a resort marina with a smaller but interesting fleet: the 35 ft Cabo and 54 ft Hatteras sportfishers, a Fountaine Pajot 47 and Lagoon 42 catamaran, the 75 ft Hatteras rated for 50 guests, and the 90 ft party catamaran certified for 150. It sits in the middle of the bay, so it is an hour to the Marietas and 45 minutes to Los Arcos — never the closest to anything, never far from anything. Rates here are often the best value on the bay: a 34 ft boat for ten from about USD 710 a day, the Hatteras 54 from USD 1,545. Choose it if you are staying in Nuevo Vallarta or Flamingos, or if you want a big-group boat.

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle: the Sailor's Marina

Forty minutes north, the calmest basin on the bay and the base of the cruising-sailboat community. The owner-direct fleet is compact and high-quality — a Lagoon 42 for 20 from about USD 1,600, a Sunseeker 58 from USD 3,975, a Baltra 60, a vintage Chris-Craft 65, an Azimut 80 for 30 from USD 7,060, a Montefino 84 from USD 7,500 — and it is 45 minutes from the Marietas and 30 from the Punta Mita beaches. The deep water between La Cruz and the islands is the best humpback ground on the bay. Choose La Cruz yacht charters if you are staying from Bucerías to San Pancho, if the Marietas are the point of the day, or if you want an overnight — four of the six resident boats are overnight capable.

Punta Mita: the Resort Pier

An hour from the airport at the tip of the peninsula. There is a small pier rather than a marina, a handful of resident luxury boats (the 85 ft Azimut Fly lists from about USD 7,810 a day) and a steady flow of La Cruz and Marina Vallarta boats that reposition to pick up guests at the resort docks. It is 20–30 minutes from the Marietas, a few minutes from the surf breaks and the empty north-shore coves, and it carries a premium for the convenience. Choose Punta Mita yacht charters if you are inside the peninsula gates and the boat coming to you is worth more than the saving.

Match the Departure to the Destination

• Los Arcos + Las Ánimas + Yelapa (the classic south-shore day): Marina Vallarta, no contest.
• Marietas Islands in six hours: La Cruz or Punta Mita on a catamaran; Nuevo Vallarta or Marina Vallarta only on a fast motor yacht with eight hours.
• Whale watching: La Cruz or Punta Mita first, Nuevo Vallarta second, though whales are seen from all four.
• Sunset cruise: any of them; Marina Vallarta for the Malecón lights on the way home, Punta Mita for the open horizon.
• Offshore fishing: irrelevant — Corbeteña is west of everything. Inshore fishing: La Cruz and Punta Mita for roosterfish on the north points, Marina Vallarta for the south reefs. See fishing charters in Puerto Vallarta.
• Big group (30–150): Nuevo Vallarta for the party catamarans and the Hatteras 75; Marina Vallarta for the Strega 120 and Cheoy Lee 90.

Getting to Each Dock

Marina Vallarta is a ten-minute taxi from the Hotel Zone and twenty from the Zona Romántica; every driver knows it, there is parking inside, and the boats are a short walk along the malecón of the marina past the restaurants. Arrive 20 minutes early. Nuevo Vallarta is reached through the Paradise Village or Marina Nuevo Vallarta gates; tell the guard the boat's name. La Cruz is the easiest of all by car — free parking by the marina office, the fish market on your left, the slips straight ahead — and roughly a 700-peso taxi from the Hotel Zone. Punta Mita pickups happen at the resort's own dock or at the Anclote pier in the village; the owner will tell you which. If you are relying on taxis, the north docks add a real cost on top of the charter — a round trip to La Cruz from the Zona Romántica is easily 1,500 pesos — which is worth weighing against the transit time saved on the water. For a private yacht charter in Puerto Vallarta booked from a hotel in town, Marina Vallarta almost always wins on total cost once the taxis are counted.

The Repositioning Question

Many owners will bring a boat from its home marina to another dock to collect you, and this is where the departure comparison gets interesting. A Marina Vallarta catamaran picking up at La Cruz costs a repositioning fee — fuel and an hour of crew each way — but might still be cheaper than the nearest resident boat if the resident boat is a Sunseeker. Conversely, do not pay to bring a boat an hour to you if an equivalent one is already there. The owner-direct model makes this easy to ask: the person answering usually is the captain, and the private boat rentals in Puerto Vallarta listings state the home marina, so you can see the distance before you ask.

Price by Departure, Honestly

Boat for boat, the four docks price within a band of each other, and season matters more than dock: December to April is 20–35 percent higher everywhere, and May, June, September and October are cheapest everywhere. What changes by dock is the shape of the fleet. Marina Vallarta has the widest spread (USD 700 for four hours on a 36 ft custom boat, up to USD 12,670 a day on the Hatteras 122). Nuevo Vallarta has the lowest entry points. La Cruz clusters in the USD 1,600–7,500 band. Punta Mita is premium. Across all four, owner-direct listings include fuel for the standard route, crew, ice, water and basic snorkel gear, and charge extra for provisioning, alcohol, long-range fuel and non-home dock fees. Catamaran charters in Puerto Vallarta are the cheapest per head from every dock.

One Bay, Two States, Same Water

A small thing that confuses first-timers: Marina Vallarta is in Jalisco and the other three docks are in Nayarit, which used to mean a different time zone. Since 2010 the Bahía de Banderas municipality of Nayarit keeps Jalisco time, so a 9:00 a.m. departure from La Cruz is 9:00 a.m. on your phone whichever side of the Ameca river you slept on. The fishing licences, the port fees and the whale-watching rules are federal and identical at every dock. The only practical difference is which coast is in front of you when you leave the breakwater — and that, as this whole comparison has argued, is the thing to decide first. Every dock's owner-direct boats are on the Puerto Vallarta yacht charters and rentals page with the home marina stated.

Read Next

We have a dedicated piece on Punta Mita yacht charters by owner and a general guide to boat tours and yacht rentals in Puerto Vallarta. Spanish-speaking readers can browse the same owner-direct fleet at renta de yates en Puerto Vallarta.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which marina is best for a yacht charter in Puerto Vallarta?

Marina Vallarta for the south shore and the biggest fleet; La Cruz or Punta Mita for the Marietas and whales; Nuevo Vallarta for value and big-group boats.

How far is La Cruz from Puerto Vallarta?

About 40 minutes by road from the airport.

Can a boat pick me up at my resort?

Often, at Punta Mita, Nuevo Vallarta and Los Muertos pier, for a repositioning fee.

Which departure is closest to the Marietas?

Punta Mita (20–30 minutes), then La Cruz (45), Nuevo Vallarta (60), Marina Vallarta (90).

Is Punta Mita more expensive?

Usually, for a comparable boat. Its resident yachts are luxury class.

Does the departure change what is included?

No. Fuel for the standard route, crew, ice, water and snorkel gear are standard on owner-direct listings from every dock.

Where does the Mikelson 60 leave from?

Marina Vallarta — see the Mikelson 60 listing — and it will run to Punta Mita on request.

Which dock for a sunset cruise?

All four work; departures are around 4:30 p.m. for three to four hours.

References & useful links

Sources for this article. The prices, hours and details quoted above come directly from these BYRBO pages:

• BYRBO — Puerto Vallarta yacht charters, book direct with owners — byrbo.com/destinations/puerto-vallarta
• La Cruz yacht charters — Marina La Cruz, Banderas Bay — byrbo.com/la-cruz-yacht-charters
• Punta Mita yacht charters — luxury private boats — byrbo.com/punta-mita-yacht-charters
• Catamaran charters in Puerto Vallarta — byrbo.com/catamarans/puerto-vallarta
• Puerto Vallarta yacht charters & rentals — the full fleet — byrbo.com/yachts/puerto-vallarta
• Charters de yates en Puerto Vallarta (Spanish listings) — byrbo.com/es/yachts/puerto-vallarta