It was my first time in Puerto Vallarta, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it.

The first half of my trip consisted of relaxing and taking in the setting.

I stayed in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood, LA Zona Romantica, or the Gay Zone. I love the cobblestone streets.

The city is built next to a hill, which gives it a unique feel. The trees growing from every angle and the buildings flowing up the mountainside make for an enjoyable and visually stimulating place. It made for a very authentically Mexican village vibe. Playa de Los Muertos beach is great (and did I mention gay)?!

Why is it called Playa de Los Muertos Puerto Vallarta?

Playa de los Muertos translates as the beach of the dead, or deadman’s beach. I find the name fun, but interestingly enough, there is no one answer as to why it’s called Playa de los Muertos. In reality, there are three different legends.

Legend One

This legend is my favorite. Some say that this beach once had a cemetery on it. But as the city became more popular, it had to make way for all the new beach lovers to lay out. Therefore, the cemetery was relocated. The beach is supposedly called Playa del Sol, but no one calls it that. Therefore, the name is Playa de los Muertos.

Legend Two

The next legend states that a pirate ship and its crew buried their treasure on this beach. Their greedy hunger led to a bloody battle when they came back to claim it. Not one survivor was left. And all the bodies remain buried in the sand to this day.

Legend Three

The next legend states that pirates came to the town to rob the small townspeople of their possessions.

When the townspeople resisted, a battle between the pirates and the locals led to a bloody revolution.

The name Playa de los Muertos arose to commemorate the people who died in battle.

Regardless of how it got its name, Playa de los Muertos also has a gay area (the gay beach).

Boana Torre Malibu Hotel

Let’s continue with this trip report.

I stayed at the Boana Malibu Hotel/Condominium, an Airbnb-like hotel where you rent each apartment for your getaway vacation. A gay Canadian couple owns it. Although primarily gay vacationers visit this hotel, it is not a gay hotel.

The building owner told us that our part of the building was not part of the complex per se, but he assisted in renting it out for the owner. I later found out why. It makes me chuckle when I look back on it. It’s a cute place, but the A/C stopped working the first night into the trip. With tropical humidity invading our space, A/C is a must. However, we did not get it fixed. The shower handles for both hot and cold broke off, and some light switches didn’t work. It didn’t matter to me as long as I had a good time. And I did.

This portion of Boana Torre was located at the top of the hill. And to make matters worse, they would not allow us to use their front door.

But at least the view is beautiful.

I managed to enjoy every bit of it, in any case.

The owner gave us a tour of the complex in an attempt to entice us to buy a unit, even though that was outside our agenda. 

The views grew more spectacular after heading into the main building and taking a tour—some rooms you can see as far as Playa de Los Muertos. I enjoyed Boana Torre Malibu very much, regardless of the flaws in my hotel room.

Playa de Los Muertos and Surrounding Areas

It rained on the second day, which meant no beach time. This gave me time to explore some of the indoor venues, like the gay shopping stores, a few souvenir shops, and a couple of cute cafes. I also bought a great muscle shirt from one of the vendors near the beach. It’s got Medusa on the front! I love it. However, I heard the store went out of business soon afterward.

At the end of the first half of this trip, we stopped by Maia, an upscale restaurant with amazing food (Upscale but not expensive by American standards).

I was looking forward to lounging on the beach, having several drinks, and checking out some of the gay venues around town.

What Gay Venues are on the Gay Beach in Puerto Vallarta?

For starters, every beach club on the sand has a bar or a restaurant that serves tasty food.

But, on the gay beach, you’ll find Blue Chairs. Blue Chairs has a rooftop club and a beach club. The beach clubs all have a restaurant with fantastic food and drinks.

Green Chairs is another beach club. It’s gay-friendly. 

Sapphire Ocean Club is a cute hotel on the sand. It’s gay-friendly as well, and their restaurant is stellar.

Alamar Resort is newish. It has a fantastic rooftop bar and pool.

Mantamar has a fantastic bar with many pools and a clear jacuzzi overlooking the beach. It’s huge. And it’s always busy. Many parties happen here. And they are ragers!

There are several gay massage parlors and cute gay clothing stores where you can buy all the fun clothing you need for a fun beach vacation.

Not to mention, all the men who come to the gay beach love to show off their sexy bodies while lying on the sand.

And that’s just the beachfront.

As soon as you walk down El Malecon (the boardwalk), you will see many gorgeous and tasty restaurants.

If you walk up the hill, there are way more sites you need to check out. But that’s for another post.

Let Me Break It Down For You:

Playa de Los Muertos is a great beach! The surrounding area is full of great stores and restaurants.

There are many gay hotels, adult-only hotels, party hotels, and some gay-friendly hotels in the area. 

I enjoyed Playa de los Muertos and their gay beach very much. But what I didn’t know is that this trip would be the first of many that would eventually lead to me living in Puerto Vallarta. It would eventually allow me to write about all of the saucy parties, festivals, and wild gay venues it has to offer.

Check out my Travel Vlog below…

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