Geography And Climate Of Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta Geography & Climate

By Author: Casa Anita
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Welcome to the land of enchantment, the beautiful "Bay of Flags", or "Bahia de Banderas" as it is known in Spanish. Geographically it is the largest Bay on the West Coast from San Francisco to Panama. It is forty miles on its circumference, and twenty between its two points, as well as twenty miles deep. The open end of the horseshoe faces West. This fact makes it a barrier for hurricanes and it was a sweet water stop for Spanish galleons on their quests northward. Indeed many local legends and rumours have it that certain merchants in digging their storage cellars unearthed doubloon treasures from pirate ships.

Certainly the area was desirous, as the climate here is unique to all of North America. The backdrop to the Bay is a wide valley whose AMÉCA River divides the state of Nayarit and Jalisco as well as delineates the transition from Mountain to Central Time zones. The North and especially the South of the perimeter of the Bay is ringed with mountains which soar to six thousand feet within a kilometer of the shoreline. This feature distorts the night time traditional subtropical climate so that while daytime temperatures ...
... reach into the high eighties, the offshore night breeze descends cool air, which is further cooled, through "adiabatic effect" (the expansion of air as it flows out of the widening valleys). What all this means is that Puerto Vallarta enjoys high daytime temperatures but pleasant, cool temperatures conducive to easier sleeping without the aid of noisy, smelly and unhealthy air-conditioning. Neither Manzanillo to the South East, nor San Blas or Mazatlan to the North West, can boast this fact, indeed it is unique. The temperature of this coastal region actually has mean temperatures in March of 73F (22C), 82 (26C) in June and September and 74F (23C) in December. However the mountain influence belies these signposts, as in effect a climatological fault exists here, which renders this area temperate but with sub tropical vegetation. These facts will not be found in any tourist publications or Government papers.

Most of these agencies are selling the "country" whereas our bias is with the "Pirates" who knew a good thing and settled on this particular spot in this Bay. The effect is very local to the extent that the larger Hotels, which extend out into the valley, are un-influenced by this phenomenon. The zone affected is really from the city limits (read SHERATON HOTEL) in the North to Boca de Tomatlan. Visitors from ACAPULCO, five hundred nautical miles south, remark most often on this desirable trait of this the most beautiful Pearl of the Pacific resort.

William (Bill) SEMEYN locally known as Guillermo (the Spanish translation for William) Is a pilot that landed his Cessna C-170B in Puerto Vallarta back in 1967. (See http://www.casanita.com/en/about.php) as has been coming every year until 1996 when he moved here permanently with his wife and daughter. Now with 43 years experience in the area, having built and operates the best hotels in puerto vallarta i.e. HOTEL CASA ANITA he is quite definitely an authority on Puerto Vallarta and it's surroundings.