Road to Mismaloya

Heading south from Old Town or the Romantic Zone lies an eight mile stretch of roadway that winds its way down to Mismaloya where John Huston filmed “Night of the Iguana” back in the early 60’s. This majestic and ultra scenic eight mile stretch of roadway, where the Sierra Madres cascade down into the crystal blue waters of Banderas Bay, probably equals in beauty to any other eight mile drive on the planet, surely the most spectacular views that exist along the entire Mexican Riviera. Although this stretch of roadway was the first to be developed in the Vallarta area with luxury villas, condos, and hotels, there is still plenty of mountainside land available for future construction projects. Whereas most of the real estate values around Banderas Bay have at least tripled in value during the past decade, they have risen perhaps five-fold along this prime stretch of real estate and will probably double again during the next five years as the development boom continues. Needless to say, resale values in this area are hard to beat.

The first two communities along this route are Alta Vista and Amapas, both within walking distance of the Romantic Zone with all of its world class restaurants and entertainment. These two communities are currently experiencing a luxurious mountainside condominium construction boom with prices ranging from around $400,000 to well over a million dollars. Virtually all of these condos have 180* panoramic views of the bay and the entire downtown Vallarta area.

A couple miles south of the Romantic Zone lies the prestigious neighborhood of Conchas Chinas, longtime referred to as the “Beverly Hills” of Puerto Vallarta. Many say that the most awesome views of the entire bay area are from the mountainside in Conchas Chinas. The typical view from an elevation of 300 to 1,000 feet is basically a 360* view with half being the mountainside with its tropical vegetation of palms, amapas, bougainvilleas, orchids, etc., and tropical birds and parrots of every color of the rainbow. The other half being the bay from Los Arcos to the south, all of El Centro, and all the way to the most northern point of the bay at Punta Mita. Being situated a mere three minute drive to downtown, Conchas Chinas offers many condos in the $500,000 to million dollar range, but is famous for its abundance of multi-million dollar villas and haciendas from the beachfront to the top of the mountain. There is still some land available in Conchas Chinas where new infrastructure is being added for the construction of future million dollar villas. On the surface, prices for villas in this area may seem high for Mexico, however a $3,000,000 villa in this area would be comparable to a $15,000,000 villa located along the California coastline and it continues to appreciate daily.

Although million dollar beachfront villas are located the entire length of this eight mile stretch of Paradise, the next major neighborhoods of significance are Sierra Del Mar, Punta Negra, and Garza Blanca, about five miles south of Conchas Chinas. All three of these areas have plenty of land available for future growth with virtually all homes over a million dollars.

Continuing south to Mismaloya, the shoreline with its stunning white sand beaches, rock outcroppings, cobblestones, and crystal blue water, has been pretty well been fully developed with multi-million dollar villas and exclusive condominiums.

At the southern end of this eight mile drive lies Mismaloya, the beautiful beach where “Night of the Iguana” was filmed. In the hills and jungle above the beach, “Rambo” and the “Terminator” were filmed and there is still plenty of prime real estate available for future growth. All of these areas overlook Los Arcos, the huge rock outcropping about a quarter mile offshore, large enough for boats to pass under and through. This area is well known to scuba divers because of its abundance of underwater sea life and crystal blue waters and is majestically picturesque from the shoreline or hill side. In this area, as in the other areas on the road to Mismaloya, virtually every sunset provides a world class “photo-op”. This entire eight mile area is exactly what you would expect in Paradise.