The city of Puerto Vallarta is a delightful coastal resort area with appealing beaches, colonial atmosphere and architecture, and first class restaurants and hotels. The town is situated in Banderas Bay, which is on Mexico's western coast in the state of Jalisco. In the East is the Sierra Madre mountain range, which works as a natural barrier against tropical storms. The area offers an extensive stretch of beach with tranquil waters and rich marine life.

Though Spanish explorers visited the region along the Cuale River as early as the 1500s, Puerto Vallarta wasn't settled until the mid-1800s, and it wasn't named until 1918. Migrants from the colonial mining centers in the surrounding mountains first developed the town, and it later became the vacation spot for wealthy Guadalajarans. The area grew steadily for the first half of the 20th century, but it wasn't until 1963, when John Huston began filming Night of the Iguana, that it earned its place on the international map. Conveying the magnificence of this tropical Eden, Huston's film lured celebrities to its shoreline, altering the exclusive area into a playground for American travelers.

The city has two main areas. There is the old center, known simply as downtown or, in Spanish, El Centro. El Centro is divided into two main areas lying north and south of the Rio Cuale, which bisects the town. The area south of the river is known by various names: Old Town, Olas Altas, and the Romantic Quarter. In recent years, a flourishing restaurant and bar scene has taken hold, lending the district a European allure. North of the river is where the largest part of the bigger businesses are located, set along a stretch of oceanfront known as the Malecon.