Cobblestoned and whitewashed Puerto Vallarta is one of the central Pacific coast's best-known beach resorts.  It is a family favourite with foreigners and mexicans alike.

The city has mutated from a sleepy seaside village into an international resort so quickly that it is fashionable to deride its spoilt charms, but it's almost impossible to dislike its lively bars, romantic restaurants, mushrooming gallery scene and bustling  marine life.

There are dolphins in the bay year-round, and humpback whales  between November and March. Locals insist that if you stand on the seafront in  April, you can see giant manta rays leaping into the air during their mating  rituals.