Puerto Vallarta Trip Budget Calculator
Work out what your trip will cost — in total, per person and per day — from a guesthouse budget to a resort holiday.
Say how many of you are travelling, for how many nights and in what style, and the calculator gives a total, a figure per person and one per day. It uses the daily ranges per person from our trip cost guide and adds your flights if you enter them. Each category can be set on its own: plenty of travellers sleep cheaply and spend on boat trips, or the other way round.
How the estimate works
- Four categories, three levels. Accommodation, food and drink, local transport and activities each have a budget, comfortable and higher-end range per person per day, from our trip cost guide. The total multiplies them by the number of travellers and nights, one day per night.
- Ranges, not quotes. The low figure assumes you find the cheaper end of each level, the high figure the dearer end. Higher-end figures have no ceiling, so they show with a “+”.
- Season matters most for rooms. From November to April, and above all at Christmas, New Year and Easter, aim for the upper end: the same room can cost two to three times more in February than in September. See the best time to visit.
- All-inclusive? The higher-end accommodation level covers top hotels and all-inclusive resorts. If your food and drink are in the room price, set food to the budget level for the meals you'll still eat out.
- Excursions. Tick the trips you plan to take and they're added at the prices quoted in our guides, from operators' published rates checked in October 2026: adult prices, per person unless stated. Once you pick one, the daily activities line counts the rest of your time as free time, so nothing is counted twice. Online discounts are common, so the low end is often within reach.
- Not included: flights unless you add them, travel insurance, tips and shopping.
- Pesos. Conversions use the Bank of Mexico's rate of 18.35 pesos to the dollar, from 13 October 2026; change it to today's rate if you like. Paying in pesos usually works out cheaper: see money and tipping.
Next steps
For what each ride costs, by bus, Uber, taxi or water taxi, use the transport cost estimator. To keep costs down, the budget itinerary shows a week on the cheaper levels, and where to stay compares the neighbourhoods.
Frequently asked
How much should I budget for a week in Puerto Vallarta?
Per person, before flights: about US$270–600 on a budget, US$970–2,000 for a comfortable trip, and from about US$2,800 at the higher end, using the daily ranges in our trip cost guide. Expect the upper end in high season.
Can I add tours and excursions?
Yes: open “Add excursions and activities” and tick the trips you plan, from the Marietas Islands and whale watching to a surf lesson, a food tour or a fishing charter. Each is priced from the operators' published rates quoted in our guides, per person unless it's a whole boat.
Does the calculator include flights?
Only if you enter them. Add the price of a return flight per person and it is included in the total; see our guide to flights to Puerto Vallarta for direct routes.
Is the budget per person?
Every daily range is per person, and the total multiplies them by the number of travellers. Accommodation varies most with how you share: two people in one room often pay less each than someone travelling alone.
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