Where to Stay in Punta Mita: Areas and Communities

Punta Mita is a private development: a gated resort and residential community of about 1,500 acres on a peninsula at the northern point of Banderas Bay. Inside it are two resort hotels and a long list of separately named residential communities, from beachfront estates to golf-course condominiums. Just outside its gates is the town of Punta de Mita, and beyond that the rest of the coast. This guide to where to stay in Punta Mita explains how those areas differ, so you can choose the right base. If you’re still deciding whether Punta Mita suits your trip, start with our Punta Mita travel guide.

The peninsula at a glance

Inside the gates are the Four Seasons and St. Regis resorts, two Jack Nicklaus golf courses, the residents’ beach clubs, a tennis center and almost four miles of recreational trails. The residential communities sit among these, each with its own name; some have their own gated entry or beach club.

Punta de Mita, the town just outside the gates, is a fishing village with casual restaurants along its beachfront, surf schools, dive guides, markets and shops. The development and the town are both in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, in the state of Nayarit, and Mexico’s statistics agency lists the town as Corral del Risco (Punta de Mita). In this guide, “the development” means the gated community, and “Punta de Mita” the town.

Farther along the coast, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Sayulita are roughly 25 and 30 minutes away by car. Puerto Vallarta’s airport is about 45 minutes to an hour away, depending on traffic and where you’re staying.

Villas inside the development, by what matters to a stay

The community names are mostly a real-estate distinction. What changes a stay is where a community sits — on the sand, along a fairway or up a hillside — and which beach club its homes can use. The names below are the ones the development’s official real-estate center uses.

Beachfront homes

These communities sit on sand beaches. Kupuri, on Litibú Bay on the peninsula’s north-facing side, has home sites along white sand beaches and its own residents’ beach club. Ranchos Estates and Bahia Signature Estates line the beach on Banderas Bay, and the three Signature Estates front what the development describes as its widest white sand beach, on the Pacific side. Hacienda de Mita, a gated group of condominium buildings beside the Pacifico course, is described as having direct beach access and its own beach club.

Other communities are described as oceanfront: on the water, though not necessarily on sand. They include La Punta Estates, on the point where Banderas Bay meets the Pacific; Pacifico Estates, facing west over the Pacific beside the Pacifico course’s eighteenth fairway; Porta Fortuna, next to the Punta Mita pier; and Iyari, on Iyari Point, whose homes have their own access to Playa Iyari, a soft sand beach.

If swimming matters, ask what the water is like in front of a specific home before you book: conditions change from one stretch of coast to the next.

See how the beaches compare.

Golf-course homes

Many homes line the development’s two Jack Nicklaus courses. Las Palmas, La Serenata, Lagos del Mar, Las Terrazas and Hacienda de Mita sit along the Pacifico course; 7 Eight Bahia Golf Residences and Las Marietas, named for its view of the Marietas Islands, sit along the Bahia course. Las Palmas Golf Estates overlooks holes on both.

A home on a fairway doesn’t by itself mean you can play. The development reserves tee times for club members, residents and guests of the two resorts. If golf matters to your trip, confirm with your rental company or hotel what access your stay includes and how tee times are booked.

Hillside homes and views

Higher ground trades beach frontage for views. IYARI Villas sit on the hillside above Iyari, with private access to Playa Iyari through a community beach cabana. Bellavista is set in the hills, with views of the Pacific and the golf courses. Las Vistas Estates occupy the Careyeros hill, with panoramic views over Banderas Bay, and El Encanto, a gated community, lies along a gentle slope looking toward the bay and Puerto Vallarta. The Four Seasons villas and residences, described below, also step down a hillside.

Ask how you’ll get from a hillside home to the beach, and to the beach club the home uses.

Traveling with children

Family facilities are spread across the development. The Pacifico Beach Club has a second pool for families and children, beside a playground, and the Kupuri Beach Club has a kids’ club with a shallow wading pool. The Four Seasons runs children’s programs. Which of these you can use depends on your stay’s access to the clubs and the resort, so ask before you book.

Beach clubs and what access means

The development’s residents’ beach clubs are reserved for property owners and their guests. There are four: the Pacifico Beach Club; the Kupuri Beach Club, on Litibú Bay; the Sufi Ocean Club at Porta Fortuna, which has direct access to the calm water of Banderas Bay from the Punta Mita pier; and the Sea Breeze Beach Club at the St. Regis. Some communities also have their own beach facilities, such as Hacienda de Mita’s beach club and the Iyari cabana.

Club Punta Mita is the private membership behind these clubs, the golf courses and the fitness facilities, and some communities carry benefits of their own, such as Sea Breeze access for owners at Las Marietas and Pacifico Estates. If you’re renting, ask which clubs and facilities your rental includes, and get it in writing before you book.

Villas and residences within Four Seasons Punta Mita

The Four Seasons villas and residences are privately owned homes within Four Seasons Punta Mita. They sit in enclaves that step down a hillside, with wide views over the peninsula and the Pacific.

Villas and residences within Four Seasons Punta Mita come with access to the Four Seasons hotel’s pools, restaurants, bars and spa, and to Punta Mita’s community amenities. Access does not mean that meals, drinks, spa treatments, golf or other services are included in the rental price. Ask what a specific home includes, such as housekeeping or a golf cart, rather than assuming.

The two resort hotels

Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita and The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort are the development’s two hotels. A resort stay suits you if you want daily housekeeping, on-site dining and staff who handle the logistics, from restaurant reservations to tee times, and guests of both resorts can play the development’s two golf courses. Both also have villas of their own: the Four Seasons rents villas and residences through the resort, and the St. Regis has villas with a private pool and a full kitchen. What a given rate includes varies, so confirm it when you book, not after you arrive.

Outside the gates: the town and the wider coast

In short, where to stay in Punta Mita comes down to beach, privacy and how much resort access you want. Staying in or near Punta de Mita puts you beside the town’s restaurants and beachfront, in a village setting rather than a resort one, though it usually means doing without the development’s golf courses and residents’ beach clubs. Lodging in the wider area ranges from large resorts to small hotels and rentals. As with any property, compare its location, layout, services and what the rate includes.

How to choose where to stay in Punta Mita

• For the beach: a beachfront community, or a home with access to a beach club on the sand.
• For golf: one of the two resorts, whose guests can play both courses, or a rental whose golf access you’ve confirmed in writing. A fairway home adds the view, not the access.
• For views: a hillside community.
• For children: a home with access to the Pacifico or Kupuri beach club, or a stay at the Four Seasons, which runs children’s programs.
• For a villa with a resort’s facilities: a villa or residence within Four Seasons Punta Mita, or a villa at the St. Regis.
• For a hotel room: one of the two resorts.
• For the town’s restaurants and a village setting: Punta de Mita, outside the gates.