For Nature Lovers
By George Oxford Miller

You don't have to be a "Survivor" finalist to enjoy nature's wonders in Puerto Vallarta. Squeezed against the Sierra Madre rainforests, Puerto Vallarta brings plummeting waterfalls, multicolored butterflies, and more than 350 species of tropical birds within reach of all ages. Banderas Bay harbors whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and coral and game fish are just waiting to be discovered. A number of operators offer tours to the wild side of Puerto Vallarta by sea, land, and zip line.

If you want to get close and personal with the rich marine life in Banderas Bay, join a diving, snorkeling, kayaking, or whale/dolphin watching tour. Pacific bottlenose dolphins play in the bay all year, but the humpback whales, who give birth in the protected waters, can only be seen from December through March. Paddle, sail, or dive around Los Arcos at the south end of the bay and Islas Marietas to the north and share the emerald waters with dolphins, manta rays, sea turtles, and jewel-like coral fish.

Naturalist-led tours take hikers along lush trails deep into the rainforest, or you can explore on horseback, mountain bike, ATV or Jeep. Several companies combine hiking, ATV and canopy tour adventures. For a bird's-eye view of the rainforest, a canopy tour sends you gliding above the treetops on a network of zip lines. A pulse-pounding, 4-hour tour takes you 70 feet above the forest floor on observation platforms, zip lines, Tarzan swings and hanging bridges that bring the scream out of the most hardy adventurers.

Book your activities.
Golf courses.
Fishing and fishing charters.

Read unbiased opinions about Puerto Vallarta activities at TripAdvisor.