PuntA de Mita
This town offers the opportunity for the interested tourist to get to know Mexican life in a tourist location. You are going to be in an area highly developed for tourism but if you choose to stay in a place other than a resort you are going to see what happens in day to day life in a Mexican beach town, which is going to include talking to people who work in these tourist sectors that we tourists like to frequent when on vacation. And you are going to experience how families from other parts of Mexico travel to Punta de Mita for vacation. So often when we are on our easy going vacations we miss to appreciate the whole complex community that comes with a place. So to me Punta de Mita felt like an opportunity to see all the interwoven strands that create a place.
PUNTA MITA OR PUNTA DE MITA? WHAT ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT?
Punta Mita
When you hear about Punta Mita you hear about the somewhat newly developed luxurious gated community that consists of a St. Regis and Four Seasons resorts, beach clubs and villa. The majority of people would consider a vacation behind these gates as out of their price range. But a few wealthy people have the money and actually need this amount of security and privacy to enjoy a vacation in Mexico. People rent golf carts to get around between villas, to and from beach clubs, and different restaurants. Before we visited Punts de Mita I thought we would make an effort to go see what is going on inside the gated area but once we actually were in Punta de Mita it became clear that the town outside the gates had enough to offer for our young family that we never attempted to visit this luxurious haven. So I am not able to give you any information about hotels, beach clubs or restaurants in Punta Mita. But I also don't think that is necessary since this part of town is promoted in many ways all over the internet so if you are interested in that you just have to google, or use social media.
www.forbes.com/sites/stephanrabimov/2018/03/20/6-reasons-why-punta-mita-is-the-ultimate-luxury-travel-destination/#3df5e8664f17
www.forbes.com/sites/stephanrabimov/2018/03/20/6-reasons-why-punta-mita-is-the-ultimate-luxury-travel-destination/#3df5e8664f17
Punta de Mita
What is now referred to as Punta de Mita used to be known as the town Emiliano Zapata and the village Corral de Risco. Some residents and a California expat told me that this whole area used to be a sleepy beach town. A dried out river bed still marks these two different areas of town.
Emiliano Zapata and former village of Corral del Risco with the beach El Alocote, divided by a dry river bed. Emiliano Zapata side seems to have more local flavor, cheaper prices, and less influenced by tourism. Apparently used to be a sleepy beach town. This is what some residents and also a California snow bird has told me, the town of Corral del Risco was moved closer to Emiliano Zapata to make space for the gated community of Punta Mita. Now the towns of Emiliano Zapata and Corral del Risco are combined into Punta de Mita, but still have two different mayors. This history cannot really be traced on the english language world wide web, but one can find bits and pieces in older posts on the tripadvisor forum.
I would describe the Corral del Risco part as more touristy, with beach restaurants, vendors and the harbor where you can arrange fishing tours, snorkeling and whale watching. The beach is more narrow and rocky on this side. Still beautiful to look at, just not as nice for walking. The Emiliano Zapata side has the nicer, wider and more sandy beach. You can also find restaurants in this part of town but you have to walk to the streets.
In this article I am going to refer to this town as Punta de Mita.
Emiliano Zapata and former village of Corral del Risco with the beach El Alocote, divided by a dry river bed. Emiliano Zapata side seems to have more local flavor, cheaper prices, and less influenced by tourism. Apparently used to be a sleepy beach town. This is what some residents and also a California snow bird has told me, the town of Corral del Risco was moved closer to Emiliano Zapata to make space for the gated community of Punta Mita. Now the towns of Emiliano Zapata and Corral del Risco are combined into Punta de Mita, but still have two different mayors. This history cannot really be traced on the english language world wide web, but one can find bits and pieces in older posts on the tripadvisor forum.
I would describe the Corral del Risco part as more touristy, with beach restaurants, vendors and the harbor where you can arrange fishing tours, snorkeling and whale watching. The beach is more narrow and rocky on this side. Still beautiful to look at, just not as nice for walking. The Emiliano Zapata side has the nicer, wider and more sandy beach. You can also find restaurants in this part of town but you have to walk to the streets.
In this article I am going to refer to this town as Punta de Mita.
Outside the gates
nourishment
At some point during our visit I stopped counting how many little grocery stores the town had, there were just so many. You are not going to starve in Punta de Mita. Some stores had more choices than others, not that many fresh food choices, but some.
Mercado Olin caters to American tourists, especially if you have special dietary needs. As someone who eats glutenfree I was able to find many familiar brands on the shelves. The store is still not going to have everything that a Whole Foods shopper might be looking for but it is nice to know that it exists in the town. Mercado Ollin even offers a grocery delivery service. I also read on a tripadvisor forum that Mercado Ollin will also try to arrange to get specific foods that you ask for.
Mercado Olin caters to American tourists, especially if you have special dietary needs. As someone who eats glutenfree I was able to find many familiar brands on the shelves. The store is still not going to have everything that a Whole Foods shopper might be looking for but it is nice to know that it exists in the town. Mercado Ollin even offers a grocery delivery service. I also read on a tripadvisor forum that Mercado Ollin will also try to arrange to get specific foods that you ask for.
A mexican community in a touristy Spot
During our time in Punta de Mita we felt like we were in a real Mexican town, that just happened to be a location that is interesting to tourists. When we would step out of our somewhat gated and protected condo building we would find stray dogs and chicken on the streets, cobbled streets that unfortunately didn't always hold up well in the rain, a very lively street market, homes of people, some of them turned into different kinds of businesses throughout the day. It's not a busy town, maybe even quite sleepy but charming and friendly. When you spend time on the beach you will find locals and tourists alike. Especially on the weekend locals were enjoying themselves on the beach, inside and outside the water, young and old. And this is not just a location for American tourists, but Mexican tourists, also. A few of the families we met in Punta de Mita were from Guadalajara. Whale watching was also a weekend activity for Mexican tourists, many people seemed to enjoy the boat tours on the Saturday morning our family went out into the bay.
whale watching and more water activities
the restaurant scene
cash or credit card
The pricier restaurants will all accept credit cards, everyone else will most likely only accept cash. You are probably going to be able to pay is US Dollar, but you will probably get a better deal if you pay in pesos. Maybe this was just our unlucky experience but when we needed cash in our last days in town, and we were not able to get any from the two ATMs in town. They were simply out of cash. So my advice would be to make sure you arrive in Punta de Mita with a sufficient amount of cash.
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