Bucerías meaning “place of divers”, is a small Riviera Nayarit beach resort town on the Bay of Banderas, between Punta de Mita 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, Catholic churches, and many services for visiting foreigners, and features a wide array of restaurants. It has an uninterrupted beach that continues north and south for a total of more than 29 km (18 miles).
Once a quaint fishing village incorporated in the 1930s, Bucerías became a simple tourist town in 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 basic way. Buildings rarely exceed seven floors, and the units are condominiums, rather than hotel style.
Town Vibe and Culture
Bucerias, as a town where the highway is close to the ocean, has a split personality. On the beach side of the highway, you will find many smaller hotels and plenty of houses and bungalows to rent for a week or a season, but on the other side of the highway, you have a typical Mexican village full of locals who work at the myriad of resorts along the Nayarit coast from Nuevo Vallarta to Punta de Mita, either of which is a 10-15 minute bus ride away.
I lived in Bucerias, on the Mexican side of town, and was paying MX$5000 pesos (at the time it was about US$300) a month for a three bedroom 2 ½ bath condo. It was brand new (I was the first occupant), and was unfurnished. If I had chosen to live on the beach side of the highway, I would be paying this amount for a 3-4 day stay! Yes, the price differences are that stark.
Beach(es)
Bucerias has a wide, long beach that stretches for miles in either direction from the main plaza. In most places, the Bucerias beach has a beach break (i.e. the waves break right at the beach), and in many places it is a steep beach and drops off fast, so it is not very good for surfing. In other places (it is almost 30 km after all), the beach is flatter, and although mostly a beach break, the waves are not as intense, making for a better swimming experience. It never ceases to amaze me how you can walk 100 yards/meters down a beach and get an entirely different swimming experience.