Escape! The Punta Mita Edition
Embarking from Los Angeles for a long weekend in Mexico has lost its allure for many would-be south-of-the-border tourists. While the fear of being caught up in narco-violence is largely unfounded for any visitor who simply wants to play golf and do body shots at some place called El Squid Roe in Los Cabos, common sense often does nothing to quell the prevailing anxiety. Indeed, these are serious times.
I was fortunate enough, however, to recently spend a few days north of Puerto Vallarta in Punta Mita, the exclusive, and, for better or for worse, gated community destination home to the St. Regis and the Four Seasons resorts, both located on pristine beaches populated with elegant terns diving for their lunch and guests pre-occupied with finding peace, rather than a raucous party. The scene? Blissfully uncrowded, with guests ready to enjoy a maragarita or two (or three). I was pleased that occupancy rates are not at the level where the pool chairs are all claimed by 10 a.m. Or at all. There's an upside to the decline in Mexican tourism rates.
FIRESIDE VILLA: The reception hall, Altamira, at the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort.
While Cabo has become a favorite getaway for our town — due in part to hotels like Las Ventanas that promise seclusion and near-unparalleled luxury — Punta Mita clearly has been vying for Baja California’s American devotees. The flight is negligibly longer, the beaches just as breathtaking, the golf (if you care) is a notch superior. While either Punta Mita resort is well-worth a stay, what makes the trip worth a second look is the excursions within a few miles distance — not south to the bloated vacation trap that is PV, but the north, where free-spirited surfers’ enclaves like Sayulita beat anything elsewhere along the coast.
Upon our departure from the Puerto Vallarta International Airport, Richard, our tour guide with frighteningly aquamarine eyes, drove us to the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort. Along the way he pointed at a small tributary on a local map and opined, “Once we cross this river, you are in a different world.” Or something like that. I can’t remember exactly, but the quip had some merit to it: As we drove north away from PV, the obnoxious concrete condos slowly gave way to wild brush and beautiful countryside. The area, known as Riviera Nayarit, is being primed by Mexican tourism as the next great hotspot. Let’s hope it doesn’t become another Cancun.