Local Bay Tours

The Marietas Islands

A protected national park — and the most misunderstood tour in Vallarta.

The Marietas are an uninhabited volcanic archipelago at the mouth of Banderas Bay, protected as a national park and UNESCO biosphere reserve. They are extraordinary. They are also strictly capacity-controlled, and the difference between the two tours sold here is not made clear often enough.

CONANP

The two tours are not the same

Available daily, year-round

Standard Marietas snorkelling tour

Boat trip to the islands with snorkelling at Playa La Nopalera and the surrounding reef, bird watching around the colonies of blue-footed boobies, and usually a beach or bay stop on the way back. You circle the islands and see the arches and cliffs from the water. This is the tour the vast majority of visitors take, and it is genuinely excellent.

No lottery, no special permit — book any day
Snorkelling at the reef and Nopalera beach
Blue-footed booby and frigatebird colonies
Typically 6–7 hours including transfers

Restricted · permit and lottery required

Playa del Amor — the “Hidden Beach”

The famous collapsed crater beach is open to a capped number of visitors per day, allocated by CONANP (the national protected-areas commission). Access is by swimming through a 24 m water tunnel with a certified guide, wearing a life jacket and helmet, for a maximum of 30 minutes on the sand. The park closes the beach entirely for recovery periods, and no operator can guarantee a place.

Daily visitor cap set by CONANP, allocated by permit
Access by swimming a 24 m tunnel — you must be a confident swimmer
Maximum 30 minutes on the beach, guide mandatory
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays and during park recovery periods

Be sceptical of guarantees

Any operator promising you the Hidden Beach on a specific date is either misinformed or misleading you. We list Hidden Beach access as a permit request: we apply, and if the permit is not granted you are refunded in full or moved to the standard tour with a partial refund. Nobody in Vallarta can honestly promise more.

CONANP

Park rules everyone must follow

Biodegradable, reef-safe sunscreen only — chemical sunscreen is confiscated at the dock
No touching or standing on coral; no removing shells, rock or sand
Life jackets worn at all times in the water
Park entry fee (CONANP bracelet) is included in every price we quote
No drones without a separate CONANP research permit

Season

When to go

Water clarity is best from May to November when the bay is warm and calm; visibility can drop after summer rain. Blue-footed boobies nest from December to June. Seas are choppiest in winter afternoons — take a morning departure.