The Malecón
Puerto Vallarta's mile-long seafront boardwalk — sculptures, sunsets and the city's evening promenade.
The Malecón is Puerto Vallarta's oceanfront boardwalk — a car-free promenade of about a mile along the downtown seafront, and the closest thing the city has to a communal living room. It's where locals and visitors walk, watch the sunset and gather in the evening.
The sculptures
The Malecón doubles as an open-air gallery. A series of bronze sculptures line the walk — the best known is El Caballito (the Seahorse Boy), the city's unofficial symbol, along with surreal works like Rotonda del Mar and In Search of Reason. They make natural photo stops as you stroll.
Street life
In the evenings the boardwalk fills with sand sculptors, mimes and living statues, Huichol art vendors, and — on many nights — the Vallarta dancers performing the pole-climbing Danza de los Voladores near the main plaza. Bars and restaurants line the inland side.
When to go
Late afternoon into evening. Walk it as the sun drops toward the bay, watch the sunset from the seawall, then let it flow into dinner. Midday is hot and quieter. The southern end connects toward the Cuale River and Zona Romántica; the whole walk is flat and easy.