We
are staying in the Marina area of Puerto Vallarta
however there are many local towns and villages along
the coast of Banderas Bay. One of these is the quaint
little village of Mismaloya and can be reached by
bus from downtown Puerto Vallarta. The bus runs every
10 or 15 minutes to Mismaloya and Boca from the centor
area of puerto Vallarta. Many tourists will also
visit Mismaloya during their vacation to PV, arriving
by charter tours, booze tours as they are sometimes
called, or private boats.
The
first two shots below show the entrance to the small
bay that is home to the village of Mismaloya. There
are several resorts close by, one on the beach and
the others down the road a short distance. There
are also several small restaurants and tequila bars
in the village. This village needs a lot of work
to bring it up to the level expected by tourists.
It is a tired dusty village with many homes needing
work. New hotels are under construction and will
help the local economy.
. 
There
are several restaurants and bars along the beach,
water taxis, and small fishing boats. This is a nice
quiet little beach, although we found the water cool
and few people were in swimming.
.
This
is a really beautiful beach although like many Mexican
villages, restrooms or banos are not modern and are
way below North American standards. We were going
to have lunch at one of these restaurants, but decided
against it after surveying the restrooms.
. 
Carol
and Valerie with the Los Arcos islands shown in the
distance in the left hand picture. There
is apparently excellent snorkeling and scuba diving
around the islands as well as in the bay in Mismaloya.
.
A
beautiful beach with several restaurants provides
a great place to relax and enjoy life. In
1963 the tall white bearded movie director, John
Huston, came to Mismaloya to film Tennessee Williams' "The
Night Of The Iguana." He brought a talented
and tempestuous cast with him - Richard Burton, Ava
Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon - who attracted
reporters and tourists in droves and changed Puerto
Vallarta from a simple fishing village to a world
class tourist destination.
.
There are
the usual folks selling blankets, jewelry and more. We enjoyed several cervesa's,
nacho's, guacamole and salsa under one of the many umbrellas that dot the
beach. The picture on the right shows the path that was created to site were
the "Night of the Iguana" was filmed. This area is fenced off and unfortunately
you can only see the outline of some of the buildings behind trees that have
grown in the area.
.