Two departure points
Boats leave at 5:30 PM from both Nuevo Vallarta and Puerto Vallarta. You choose which one when you book, and they are not interchangeable on the night. Check your confirmation before you set off.
- Puerto Vallarta — 5:30 PM. Vallarta Adventures Terminal, Puerto Vallarta
- Nuevo Vallarta — 5:30 PM. Vallarta Adventures Center, Av. Las Palmas 39, Nuevo Vallarta
Arrive 45 minutes early
That is the operator's instruction and it is not padding. There is check-in to clear, the port access fee to pay, and a large number of people boarding one boat. On general boarding in particular, arriving early is what gets you a better spot on the deck.
The boat leaves on time. It is crossing open water to a site with no road, and the show runs to a schedule at the other end — there is no holding it for latecomers.
What to have with you
- Your booking confirmation, on your phone is fine.
- A card or cash for the port access fee: $20 per adult and $10 per child, collected at the pier by the operator. This is separate from what you pay us.
- Photo ID for the lead traveler.
- A layer for the crossing — it is cooler on the water than on shore.
Getting there
Both terminals are straightforward by taxi or rideshare, and every driver in Vallarta knows them. Give yourself more time than the map says during high season — the airport road and the hotel zone both back up in the late afternoon, which is exactly when you will be travelling.
Which departure point should you pick?
Pick the one nearer where you are sleeping, not the one nearer the cove — both boats leave at 5:30 PM and both arrive the same evening, so the only thing your choice changes is how far you travel beforehand, in late-afternoon traffic, with a hard deadline.
As a rule: staying in Puerto Vallarta proper — the Romantic Zone, downtown, the hotel zone — take the Puerto Vallarta departure. Staying in Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerías, Flamingos or further up toward Punta Mita, take Nuevo Vallarta. Crossing between the two in rush hour to reach a boat that will not wait is the mistake worth avoiding, and it is why Puerto Vallarta is what the booking form selects by default.
What check-in actually involves
You are not walking straight onto a boat. There is a desk to clear, the port access fee to pay at the pier, and a substantial number of people boarding a single vessel at once. 45 minutes is what that takes when it goes smoothly.
Boarding order is also where your ticket tier first shows up. Classic is general boarding, VIP is preferential and Premier is priority — and because seating fills from the best positions outward, that order is most of what an upgrade buys you. The tier comparison goes through it properly.
The return
The return crossing is included in every package and everyone comes back on the same boat — there is no early exit, because there is no road. Plan on being back at the pier roughly 5 hours after check-in, then add however long a taxi takes at that hour. If you have an early flight the next morning, this is the part to think about before you book.
Taxis wait at both terminals when the boat comes in, but so does everybody else who was on it. If you would rather not queue at the end of a long night, arrange a pickup before you leave.
Parking and driving
You can drive to either terminal, but you will be leaving a car there for the best part of 5 hours, returning to it late, and an open bar is included in every package. A taxi or rideshare each way is the simpler answer and usually the cheaper one once parking is counted.
If something goes wrong on the night
Call us. We booked your seats and we can talk to the operator on your behalf faster than you can from a taxi. Our contact details are on your confirmation.
If you are running late, call before you think you need to. There is occasionally something that can be done while the boat is still boarding and nothing at all that can be done once it has left — and it does leave on time.