There is no road to Quimixto. You cannot drive there, you cannot walk there, and no bus goes anywhere near it. The only way in is by water — which is exactly why we went.
We left from the shore at Mismaloya on a small boat with a captain named Daniel, our three boys in life jackets, and a full day ahead of us. This is how it went.
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Leaving from Mismaloya
Mismaloya is about twenty minutes south of Puerto Vallarta, at the mouth of a river where the jungle comes down to meet the bay. It's where we live, and it's where the small boats leave from — which is a real advantage over departing downtown. You're already south of the city and only minutes from the best water.
We went with Black Pearl Tours. Daniel captained. His assistant Omar handled the swimming, which mattered more than anything else that day.
First stop: Islas de Los Arcos
Los Arcos is a cluster of granite islands sitting just offshore from Mismaloya, hollowed through with sea caves and arches. It's a protected national marine park, and the fish know it — parrotfish, angelfish, and enough of them that all three boys forgot to complain about their masks.
Omar got in the water and stayed with them the whole time. If you're bringing kids, ask your operator whether someone actually swims with them. It's the difference between a nervous hour and a great one.
Then Daniel pulled out an inflatable donut tube, and all three of our boys piled onto it at once. Nothing else that day competed with it. Not the waterfall, not the snorkeling, not the beaches. The donut ride won.
South along the coast
From Los Arcos we ran south, and Daniel narrated the coastline as it went by — Las Ánimas, Majahuitas, one small cove after another with a handful of palapas and no road behind them. Jungle straight down to the water, no development above the treeline.
It's the part of the day that doesn't photograph well and that you remember anyway.
Quimixto and the waterfall trail
Quimixto appears as a thin strip of beach with a village behind it and mountains behind that. You step off the boat directly into the shallows — no dock, no pier.
From the beach it's roughly a kilometer inland along the Quimixto River to the waterfall. The trail crosses water in places and the footing is uneven. Horses are usually available for hire if you'd rather ride, and plenty of people do.
We walked. The boys ran most of it.
The waterfall drops into a freshwater pool cold enough to make you gasp after a morning in the ocean, and that contrast is the whole point. There's a family restaurant with a palm roof at the bottom where our kids worked through fresh coconuts — which turned out to matter later.
- Getting there: Boat only. Depart from Mismaloya or Boca de Tomatlán for the shortest ride.
- The trail: About 1 km each way along the river. Uneven and wet in places.
- Footwear: Water shoes. Not flip-flops — you'll be crossing water and climbing rock.
- Horses: Usually available for hire at the beach if the walk isn't for your group.
- Bring cash in small bills for coconuts, the restaurant, and tips.
- Watch your pickup time. There is no road out of Quimixto.
Madagascar Beach, unplanned
On the return leg Daniel cut the engine at a small cove called Madagascar Beach because the water was flat and we had time. That twenty-minute swim wasn't on any itinerary and it was one of the best parts of the day.
This is the argument for a small boat over a scheduled catamaran. A captain who can read the day will give you something the brochure can't.
The lunch stop we skipped
We were supposed to stop at Las Ánimas for lunch. We didn't.
The kids were completely full from the coconuts at the waterfall, nobody wanted to sit down at a table, and the water was better than the food was going to be. So we stayed out instead.
Lesson: don't prepay for a lunch stop on a boat tour. Keep it flexible and pay where you land.
- Water shoes — the single most important item for this trip
- Reef-safe sunscreen — Los Arcos is a protected marine park
- Dry bag — everything gets wet on a small boat
- Rash guards — easier than reapplying sunscreen on three kids
- Small bills — coconuts, tips, beach restaurants
Would we go back?
Yes, and soon. If you have one day in Puerto Vallarta and kids in tow, this is the one we'd tell you to spend it on.
Before you book, read the eight things we wish we'd known first.