Grab your camera and get ready for some of the most spectacular encounters with nature on earth! Eco-tours and programs provide several ways to learn about and interact with Puerto Vallarta's beloved marine creatures: humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins and sea turtles. Certified biologists guides will share their wealth of knowledge and experience by helping you understand the animals, their behaviors, their habitats as well as government initiatives to protect them.
Whale-Watching
If you're in town during the winter - specifically between November and March - don't pass up the fascinating opportunity to see the humpback whales that return each year to the waters just off Puerto Vallarta's shores.
Year after year, humpback whales trek practically an entire hemisphere to the Bahía de Banderas to mate or to bear the calves that were conceived the previous year. By the end of March, they leave the sweeping bay to head back to their Alaskan feeding grounds.
There are several companies in Puerto Vallarta that offer reasonably-priced whale-watching expeditions out to the waters where the gentle giants spend their winters. The best part is that sightings are guaranteed, as humpback whales come up for air about every 40 seconds and spend several minutes at a time leaping and playing at the surface.
Open Air Expeditions
Guerrero 339
Tel: 222 3310
Website: www.vallartawhales.com
Vallarta Adventures
Av Las Palmas 39, Marina Vallarta
Tel: 297 1212
Website: www.vallarta-adventures.com
Dolphin Tours & Encounters
Mexican locals aren't the only year-round residents of Puerto Vallarta; you can see the ever-friendly bottlenose dolphins constantly frolicking in the bay, leaping out of the water or gliding alongside boats. Welcoming to human presence and even contact, in Puerto Vallarta you can sign up for boat adventures to see them in the wild. For a more up-close and personal experience, there are even "dolphin encounter" programs that allow you to get right in the water to feed, touch and play with them!
Dolphin Adventure
Av Las Palmas 39, Marina Vallarta
Tel: 297 1212
Website:
www.dolphin-adventure.com
Ecotours de Mexico
Ignacio L. Vallarta 243, Col. E. Zapata
Tel: 222 6606
Website:
www.ecotoursvallarta.com
Sea Turtles
Did you know that four of Mexico's 17 beach reserves for sea turtles are located either in Puerto Vallarta or the city's state of Jalisco?
From May until December, a community-wide protection, research and education program is implemented with the support of many local organizations, especially universities and hotels. During these eight months, sea turtles come up to the beaches to lay their eggs, which are then collected at night by research biologists, protected, and incubated until they're ready to hatch and make their very first voyage to the sea.
In Puerto Vallarta, you can witness and even participate in this incredible natural phenomenon! Several eco-tour operators will take you to the research camps and the beach preserves for evening tours of these sites which are key in local sea turtle preservation. There is no comparison for an experience like seeing sea turtles laying their eggs and newborn hatchlings being released.
Vallarta Adventures
Av Las Palmas 39, Marina Vallarta
Tel: 297 1212
Website: www.vallarta-adventures.com
Eco-tours de Mexico
Ignacio L. Vallarta 243, Col. E. Zapata
Tel: 222 6606
Website:
www.ecotoursvallarta.com
Open Air Expeditions
Guerrero 339
Tel: 222 3310
Website: www.vallartawhales.com
