| | |  Travel & Outdoors 
Some of Puerto Vallarta's Best Kept Secrets
 Victoria H. - Gather
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May 06, 2010
| | On the Trail of the Iguana - John Huston's behind-the-scenes look at the making of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana in 1964. (These clips include great footage of Puerto Vallarta at the time of its "discovery" by the outside world.) See Part Two | |
In 1963 John Huston, the American film director, already a legend in his own time, set up shop in a small resort town on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Puerto Vallarta, a beachfront community on the Bahia de Banderas, was known primarily as a refuge for American and Mexican artists, writers, and composers who found the area’s seclusion and natural beauty inspiring and relaxing. When Huston began filming Night of the Iguana, Puerto Vallarta abruptly entered the mainstream of American and European tourist destinations, a process that continues today, forty-seven years after the first of Huston’s cameras began to roll.
Night of the Iguana starred the Welsh actor, Richard Burton, and popular American actresses, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr, but the straw that stirred the drink during the shooting of Night of the Iguana and who put Puerto Vallarta at the center of world attention, was Burton’s girlfriend who had accompanied him to the filming, Elizabeth Taylor Fisher. The blazing affair between Burton and Taylor would be captured on film by the paparazzi and chronicled daily by hundreds of Hollywood gossip writers. The daily dateline, Puerto Vallarta, cast the small city into the limelight, and the Puerto Vallarta beaches became a “must see” destination for thousands of American and European tourists.
For an area that was accessible only by sea and mule train as late as 1942, and which did not have widespread electrical power until 1958, Puerto Vallarta almost instantly exploded into an international tourist attraction.
Recognizing the opportunity for development, the government of the state of Jalisco quickly moved in the late 1960s and early 1970s to improve the infrastructure of the city. New highways, bridges, water and sewage systems, and the construction of an international airport made Puerto Vallarta visible and accessible to a tourist industry clamoring for the opportunity to walk on the same beaches as Burton and Taylor.
In 1970 Puerto Vallarta received another healthy shot of international exposure when U.S. President Richard Nixon and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz met there to discuss some border location issues between the U.S. and Mexico. During the two-day presidential meeting news reports focused on the scenic beauty of the Puerto Vallarta area and the newly opened Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport.
Puerto Vallarta continued to grow as a tourist beach resort throughout the last two decades of the twentieth century. Today the city is the fifth largest city in the state of Jalisco. Nearly 50% of the city’s workforce works in tourist-related industries. Puerto Vallarta has become one of the msot popular destinations for cruise ships along the American and Mexican Pacific coast.
The tourist appeal of Puerto Vallarta is found largely in the pristine beaches, the warm climate, and the sparkling blue Pacific waters. The bustling street markets of the city also find their share of tourist dollars. There are several notable landmarks in Puerto Vallarta that should be on the itinerary of any tourist visiting the city.
• The Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Guadalupe with its unique crown set atop the main tower of the church dominates the Puerto Vallarta skyline.
• Several natural rock formations have historically drawn the interest of visitors. Pulpito and Pilitas make a visit to Muertos Beach extraordinary.
• The Malecon, a paved walkway along the beach featuring a collection of contemporary sculptures by area artists is a popular tourist walk.
• Mercado Isle Cualo and Mercado Munipal Cuala are two public markets where local arts and crafts are for sale.
• The Playa Conchas Chinas is one of the most fabulous strips of beach and resort hotels in the world.
• The Puerto Vallarta Botanical and Zoological Gardens contains a botanical research center in a lovely setting while the zoo has nearly 500 species of wildlife represented.
• The Cuale Archaeological Museum offers a collection of pre-Hispanic and contemporary art.
• The John Huston statue on Isla Cuale memorializes the American film director’s contributions to the city. Huston maintained a home in Puerto Vallarta and his children, still direct an annual film festival in Puerto Vallarte.
• Plaza de Armas is a public square where concerts are performed.
• The Puerto Vallarta City Hall is an exceptional building of modern architecture style and contains a tourist office as well as a mural by local artist, Manuel Lepe.
• Saucedo Theatre building, built in 1922, originally was used for the presentation of live shows and films. A large ballroom was a popular site for dances and weddings. The building has been converted to retail shops.
On the road entering Puerto Vallarta from the neighboring state of Nayarit, a sign reads “Puerto Vallarta: La Ciudad Mas Amigable en el Mundo.”
“Puerto Vallarta: The Friendliest City in the World.” Puerto Vallarta its beaches, sunshine, and blue waters, and unique attractions, await you. |
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