Puerto Vallarta Mexico’s Top LGBTQ Destination

The city of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco, Mexico, is a popular destination for LGBT+ tourists. Puerto Vallarta is Mexico’s “top LGBT destination” with “one of the best week-long Pride festivals in the world”. The city is “the gay capital of Mexico, with a whole district of hotels and restaurants catering to the LGBT+ community”. Puerto Vallarta’s LGBTQ culture is based in the Zona Romántica, which includes the gay-friendly Playa de los Muertos.

Puerto Vallarta, especially Zona Romántica, has many businesses catering to the LGBTQ community, including beach clubs, bars and nightclubs, gay bathhouses and strip clubs, hotels, and performance venues. The city has private clinics and nonprofit organizations specializing in LGBT healthcare.

Puerto Vallarta’s pride parade attracts thousands annually. The city hosts other LGBTQ-friendly events such as circuit parties and the annual Beef Dip Bear Week, which caters to the bear community. Puerto Vallarta has been recognized as a safe destination for LGBTQ travelers but has not gone without violence against LGBTQ people.

Puerto Vallarta Carnival 2025 Announced. https://promovisionpv.com/puerto-vallarta-carnival-2025-announced/

Puerto Vallarta four awards during the LGBTQ+ Travel Awards https://promovisionpv.com/puerto-vallarta-four-awards-during-the-lgbtq-travel-awards/

Puerto Vallarta is among the most LGBTQ-friendly destinations “south of the border”. One fifth of visitors are LGBTQ, “Gay travellers have been visiting Puerto Vallarta since the 1960s and have dubbed Zona Romántica, where Vallarta Pride is held, the ‘gayborhood’.”

Probably the gay mecca of the world, and most definitely of Mexico, Puerto Vallarta is actually known as a gay city, so if you are part of the LGBTQ+ community, you can feel safe in Puerto Vallarta. There are a plethora of gay bars, hotels, and events in the city.

Considered by many to be the San Francisco of Mexico, gay tourists from all over the world travel each year to beautiful Puerto Vallarta, an easily accessible, accepting, and a very affordable gay beach destination. Unlike some cities in Mexico focused exclusively on modern day luxury with a distinctly resort feel, Puerto Vallarta offers a little something for everyone. There are luxury accommodations, but Puerto Vallarta has so much more to offer — it is truly all about showcasing the best of Mexico.

Destination Gay Wedding Puerto Vallarta https://promovisionpv.com/destination-gay-wedding-puerto-vallarta/

Give your wedding party any label you want, it is your day, after all, and you can be as traditional or nontraditional as you feel. They could be your “bridesmen” or “men-of-honor.” Likewise, grooms may appoint “grooms women,” “grooms maids,” or “best women.”

Every wedding is unique just like every couple and reinterpreting tradition to create a day that feels like yours is the best part of planning a wedding. For LGBTQ+ couples, including those who do not identify as “bride” and “groom,” navigating dated, gendered etiquette rules around fashion, invitations, budgets, wedding parties, and other wedding-day details can add unnecessary stress to the planning process.

Puerto Vallarta fine cuisine. A drink at the gay beach? Puerto Vallarta has that too. And it is all set against a rich cultural landscape that seamlessly blends the finest modern amenities with the tradition and history of the Mexico of yesteryear. Puerto Vallarta has more gay English speakers than anywhere else in Mexico, and its year-round beach climate makes LGBT tourists from all over the world flock here. If you are looking for a gaycation you will not soon forget, Puerto Vallarta has it all.

Most of the gay spots are on the level ground where the Rio Cuale (Cuale River) empties into Vallarta’s Bandaras Bay. This area, a zone often called South Side or Zona Romantica over last few years.

If you could not find it by its blue chairs, the area is marked by a proud pride flag waving in the sea breeze. The beach has since expanded south to occupy the “Green Chairs” of Ritmos Café and the Mantamar Beach Club, as well as north to the Sapphire Ocean Club.

Puerto Vallarta is a great place to be gay. You can be naughty and stay up all night, or relax in the shade and sip margaritas. There’s a little bit of everything here, and as such, it has become a go-to beach destination for spring breakers to large groups of gays coming from all over the world.

For those living in Canada, where winters are long and temperatures can be extreme Puerto Vallarta feels like a refuge. Here, Canadians find stunning beaches, a relaxed atmosphere, and a friendly local community

If Puerto Vallarta is the “San Francisco of Mexico,” then consider Zona Romantica the city’s Castro district. Packed with dance clubs, more than 20 gay-friendly bars, saunas, gay boat tours, cabarets, a gay beach, a gay bar hopping tour, and a thriving arts and culture scene, it is the official gayborhood in Puerto Vallarta. The Mexican colonial charms of the Puerto Vallarta gay zone are similar to San Francisco and Ibiza.

Puerto Vallarta is positioned as one of the 10 “Friendliest Cities in the World” 2023 https://promovisionpv.com/puerto-vallarta-is-positioned-as-one-of-the-10-friendliest-cities-in-the-world/

Tourists should always exercise caution when visiting other places. While Puerto Vallarta is generally safe, there are some areas that are considered optimal for tourists to frequent. This includes the Hotel Zone, Downtown, Zona Romantica, Nuevo Vallarta, and Marina Vallarta.

LGBTQ Vacations in Puerto Vallarta – Riviera Nayarit https://promovisionpv.com/lgbtq-vacations-in-puerto-vallarta-riviera-nayarit/

The center of the daytime action normally begins around 2pm until sunset at the end of Playa Los Muertos, centered in front of the world famous Blue Chairs Resort. Keep walking until you see the clusters of men in Speedos sitting on blue chairs or lounging on the beach. The newer Mantamar beach club next door offers a great day pass with a large beachfront infinity pool, several jaccuzzis, and fantastic food and service. Northward, Lido Beach club is currently constructing a modern upscale beach club.

Like most places in Latin America, nightlife only gets going around midnight and most places peak around 2 am. Latin Fever is contagious, so pace yourself, it’s going to be a long week! The dance clubs, strip clubs, and saunas are centered within an easy, safe walk from the gay beach on Lazaro Cardenas street. The city has invested millions in widened, lighted sidewalks for a safe easy walk around the city’s gay zone.

Notable gay bars and LGBTQ-friendly nightclubs include Bar Frida, CC Slaughters, Garbo, La Catrina Cantina, La Noche, Mr. Flamingo, Paco’s Ranch, and Reinas Bar. Paco’s Ranch was established as Club Paco Paco in 1989.

Puerto Vallarta four awards during the LGBTQ+ Travel Awards https://promovisionpv.com/puerto-vallarta-four-awards-during-the-lgbtq-travel-awards/

Puerto Vallarta is a top beach destination for Mexican tourists as well as foreigners, so visiting during large public holidays like Semana Santa and Latin Fever (Thanksgiving and New Years) will ensure the town is extra-packed. Peak travel season coincides with the colder climates up north — “the gays” tend to start migrating really south starting in October! The summer months between June until October provide daily tropical, refreshing rains to cool down some of the humidity. Puerto Vallarta also hosts one of Mexico’s largest gay pride festivals each year in May.

Vallarta Pride 2025 will take place from May 17 to 25.

But no matter when you visit, Puerto Vallarta has something to offer everyone, and it’s a destination city unlike no other in Mexico. Read on for some of our personal recommendations and tips and to check out our Gay Travel Celebrity Gurus making some memories of their own in Puerto Vallarta.

We provide information and resources for visitors to Puerto Vallarta, areas of The Riviera Nayarit and other destinations in both states of Jalisco and Nayarit . You will find variety of content, including articles, blog posts, videos, photos, descriptions and interviews, all of which are designed to help visitors plan their trip, including attractions, restaurants, and events. https://promovisionpv.com/