Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Daylight saving time, usually referred to as the Horario de Verano in Mexico, begins at 2:00 am local time on Sunday, April 3, 2016. So if you are lucky enough to be enjoying Springtime here in Puerto Vallarta, don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed this Saturday night!

Daylight Saving Time in Mexico

In Mexico, Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 am local time on Sunday, April 3, which means most everyone will be turning their clocks ahead one hour. Some Mexico border communities changed their clocks on March 13th in accordance to the U.S. time change. (For more information, click HERE.)

Mexico adopted Daylight Saving Time (DST) nationwide in 1996, even in its tropical regions, because of its increasing economic ties to the United States. Although the U.S. changed the schedule for DST beginning in 2007, most of Mexico did not go along with it. Daylight saving time for most of Mexico begins on the first Sunday of April, and ends on the last Sunday of October.

In 2010, the ten Mexican municipalities that share a border with the United States started to observe daylight saving time three weeks earlier, on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November. This change in daylight saving time observance was requested by local governments and political leaders to help facilitate commerce with the United States.

Until April of 2010, the state of Nayarit was one hour earlier than Puerto Vallarta and the state of Jalisco. Before that, many tourist related businesses in Nayarit around Banderas Bay would set their clocks to Puerto Vallarta time to prevent confusion. On April 4, 2010, Nayarit initiated a 2 hour time change to coincide with Jalisco.

Therefore, in both states, clocks will be turned forward 1 hour from 2:00 am to 3:00 am on April 3, 2016. Daylight Saving Time will end in the greater Banderas Bay area on Sunday, October 30, 2016.

The observation of daylight saving time for municipalities observing daylight saving time consistent with the United States (which began at 2:00 am local time on the second Sunday in March,) will return to Standard Time at 2:00 am local time on the first Sunday in November, which this year falls on the 6th.