Punta de Mita

Punta de Mita is the public village at the northern tip of Banderas Bay — not the same place as Punta Mita, the private, gated resort development beside it, home to the Four Seasons, the St. Regis and two golf courses behind their own gates. The village keeps its own beaches, surf shops and seafood restaurants along El Anclote, where boats leave for the Marietas Islands.

The wider territory holds real differences within it. Litibú, ten kilometers up the coast toward Sayulita, is still mostly undeveloped beach, only now being built out. Veneros, a surf cove south of the gates near Rancho Banderas, sits inside a private beachfront community with a public path to its break. One name, several genuinely different places to actually stay.