History of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Los Muertos Beach

The most popular beach in PV, there are many stories as to why it is called Los Muertos Beach. At one time the beach was used to transfer gold and silver ore onto ships and one story is that pirates killed all the workers and stole the ore. Another story states that Indians attacked and killed the sailors as they were transferring the ore to the ships.

The most recent and widely accepted story is that the area surrounding the beach was an Indian burial ground and when excavations were started in order to build the buildings along the beach, bones and pottery shards were found. When the area started to become a tourist attraction, officials tried to change the name of the beach, but the traditional name stuck.

Gringo Gulch

Gringo Gulch is located along the Río Cuale behind the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, John Huston and Deborah Kerr lived there during the filming of Night of the Iguana; houses are still there today and are available as vacation rentals.

Filmed on Location

Many movies have been filmed in Puerto Vallarta. The two best known are Night of the Iguana and Predator. You can visit the location where Predator was filmed by taking a taxi to the El Eden restaurant, where there is also a waterfall and swimming hole located in the rain forest.