Bucerías, Nayarit

Av. México in Bucerías showing many street vendors

One of the beachfront restaurants in Bucerías, with Puerto Vallarta in the background

Bucerías meaning "place of divers", is a small beach resort town in Nayarit on a stretch of Mexico's Pacific coast known as the Riviera Nayarit, on the Bay of Banderas, between La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Nuevo Vallarta. It has a population of about 9,000 residents (seasonal influxes double that number) and is a typical town of the region with cobblestone streets, the main square, church, and many services for visiting foreigners, and features a wide array of restaurants. It has uninterrupted beach that continues north and south for a total of more than 29 km (18 miles)

Bucerías is bisected by the Arroyo del Indio, a mountain run-off that remains dry most of the year. The Arroyo also serves as an unimproved roadbed under Fed 200 overpasses and can be navigated by car far up into the foothills. The half of Bucerías north of Fed 200 mostly consists of citizens; the other half south of Fed 200 beach-ward consists of primarily foreign residents, both permanent and part-time. Once a quaint fishing village incorporated in the 1930s, Bucerías has become a quaint tourist town since the 1980s, when primarily Canadian residents began coming for extended stays with RVs and fifth wheels; Canadians remain a very large part of the seasonal population. The boom of all-inclusive hotels to the south in Nuevo Vallarta--a development extending from the north end of Puerto Vallarta--has driven building in Bucerías as well, although in a more muted way. Buildings rarely exceed seven floors, and the units are a condominium, rather than hotel style.

Each January the town celebrates Our Lady of Peace (La Virgen de la Paz), who is the patron of the local Catholic church. There is a large and vibrant street bazaar featuring traditional regional art & textiles.