La Cruz Yacht Charters: Marina La Cruz, the Marietas Islands and the North Shore of Banderas Bay

Forty minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, past Bucerías, the road drops into a fishing village with a very good marina and the shortest run in the bay to the Marietas Islands. La Cruz de Huanacaxtle is where sailors winter, where the Nayarit charter fleet is based, and increasingly where visitors staying anywhere north of Nuevo Vallarta should be boarding their boat. This is our guide to La Cruz yacht charters: what leaves from Marina La Cruz, where it goes, what it costs owner-direct, and how it compares with departing from Marina Vallarta or Punta Mita yacht charters further up the peninsula.

Why La Cruz Is the Sailor's Marina

Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz opened in 2008 with 340-odd slips, a deep entrance and a breakwater that makes it the calmest basin on the bay. It is the base for the cruising boats that come down the Baja coast every autumn, for the Banderas Bay regatta, and for a fleet of charter catamarans and motor yachts that live here precisely because the north shore and the Marietas are on the doorstep. There is a lighthouse you can climb, a Sunday farmers' market on the dock, a fish market where the pangas unload at dawn, and a row of restaurants that face the boats rather than the road.

Practically, La Cruz beats Marina Vallarta for anyone staying in Bucerías, La Cruz, Punta Mita, Litibú, Sayulita or San Pancho. You save an hour of road each way and, on the water, you save an hour of transit to the Marietas.

What Leaves From Marina La Cruz

The owner-direct listings for La Cruz on BYRBO are a compact, high-quality fleet:

• 42 ft Lagoon catamaran "Elevate Your Escape" — 20 guests, four cabins, four heads, overnight capable, from about USD 1,600 a day. The boat most families and groups end up on.
• 58 ft Sunseeker flybridge — 15 guests, two cabins, from about USD 3,975 a day. Fast, air-conditioned, the one for a luxury day to Punta Mita.
• 60 ft Baltra B6 — 20 guests, overnight capable, from about USD 3,530 a day.
• 65 ft Chris-Craft vintage motor yacht — 16 guests, from about USD 2,900 a day, and the most photogenic boat on the north shore.
• 80 ft Azimut "Your Floating Luxury Mansion" — 30 guests, four cabins, from about USD 7,060 a day.
• 84 ft Montefino — 25 guests, three cabins, from about USD 7,500 a day.

Alongside them, several Marina Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta boats — the 75 ft Hatteras for 50 guests among them — will pick up at La Cruz on request for a repositioning fee. The full Puerto Vallarta yacht charter fleet shows which.

Where a La Cruz Charter Goes

The Marietas Islands (45 minutes)

The islands are a federal biosphere reserve: volcanic, hollowed by wave-cut arches and tunnels, home to blue-footed boobies and the Playa del Amor "hidden beach". Landing on the hidden beach is limited to a small permitted number daily; anchoring off the islands to snorkel Playa La Nopalera and the caves is not, and it is the best snorkelling in the bay. A six-hour catamaran charter from La Cruz gives you two full hours at the islands with lunch aboard.

Punta Mita and the north-shore beaches (30 minutes)

Round the point past the resorts and the coast turns into a run of small, empty coves — Playa Anclote for lunch on the beach, the surf breaks off El Faro and La Lancha, Litibú beyond. Calm water, warm, and most of it invisible from the road.

Whale watching (December 8 – March 23)

Humpbacks favour the deep water between La Cruz and the Marietas, so this stretch is the bay's best whale-watching ground, and a private boat that idles and waits sees more than a tour boat that keeps moving.

Across the bay to Yelapa (1 hour 15)

With an eight-hour charter and a motor yacht you can cross to the south shore for Los Arcos and Yelapa and come back in the afternoon light. The Sunseeker 58 does it comfortably.

La Cruz vs Marina Vallarta vs Punta Mita: Which Departure?

The honest comparison, because the answer depends on where you sleep:

• Marina Vallarta has the biggest fleet and the best access to Los Arcos, Las Ánimas and Yelapa. Choose it if you are in Puerto Vallarta proper. The Puerto Vallarta yacht charters page is the place to start.
• La Cruz has the shortest run to the Marietas and the north shore, a calmer basin, and prices that are usually a notch lower than Punta Mita for a comparable boat. Choose it for Bucerías-to-Sayulita stays.
• Punta Mita has the shortest run of all to the islands and boats that come to the resort pier, at a premium — the resident 85 ft Azimut lists from about USD 7,810 a day. Choose it if you are inside the peninsula.

What It Costs From La Cruz

Because listings are owner-direct, the rate you see is the owner's rate. Low-season day charters (4–8 hours) run from about USD 1,600 for the 42 ft Lagoon to USD 7,500 for the Montefino 84; high season (December–April) adds 20–35 percent. Fuel for the standard route, crew, ice, water and basic snorkel gear are included on almost every listing; provisioning, alcohol, dock fees at another marina and the crew tip are extra. Sportfishing from La Cruz — the Marietas and the Punta Mita points are excellent inshore roosterfish grounds — is covered on the fishing charters in Puerto Vallarta page, and the 60 ft Mikelson sportfisher will run north on request.

Overnight and Multi-Day Charters From La Cruz

La Cruz is the one marina on the bay where overnight charters are routine rather than exotic, because the cruising boats that winter here are set up to live aboard. Four of the six resident listings are overnight capable — the Lagoon 42, the Baltra 60, the Azimut 80 and the Montefino 84 — and a two-day itinerary is a genuinely different experience: anchor off the Marietas for the sunset and the boobies coming home, sleep in the lee of Punta Mita, and have the islands to yourself at seven in the morning before the day boats arrive. Owners quote overnights on request; expect roughly 1.6 to 1.8 times the day rate plus provisioning, and book well ahead in the whale months. For a single family the Lagoon's four cabins are the sweet spot; for a bigger party the Azimut's four staterooms and 30-guest day rating let you host a sunset crowd and then sleep six.

What to Bring and How to Provision

Owner-direct boats include ice, water and basic snorkel gear, and most will arrange a lunch or an open bar for a per-head price if asked when booking; otherwise the La Cruz supermarket and the fish market on the dock are a five-minute walk from the slips, and a ceviche bought at eight in the morning travels perfectly in the cooler. Bring reef-safe sunscreen (the Marietas are a reserve and the crews will ask), a hat that will not blow off, water shoes for the rocky landings, a dry bag for phones and a light layer for the run home. A La Cruz yacht charter can put a private chef aboard on the larger boats; ask the owner rather than the chef, since galley space varies.

Booking a La Cruz Charter Owner-Direct

The mechanics are simple. Open the La Cruz listings, check the certified capacity against your headcount, read the "included" line, and message the owner with your date and the route you want — Marietas, north shore, whales, or a sunset. Most owners here are the captains and reply the same day. Confirm with a deposit. On the morning, arrive at the marina office twenty minutes early; parking is easy and the coffee at the dock is good. If your group is Spanish-speaking, the renta de yates en Puerto Vallarta pages list the same boats.

Making a Day of It in La Cruz

Come early for the fish market and breakfast at the marina, charter from ten to four, and stay for dinner: the town has some of the best casual seafood on the bay and a lively music scene on weekends. On Sundays, the market on the dock runs from nine to two and pairs neatly with an afternoon sunset charter. For an overview of everything else on the water here, see our boat tours in Banderas Bay guide, and for the tip of the peninsula our Punta Mita yacht charters note.

For a broader search — every marina, every boat type — the private boat rentals in Puerto Vallarta page is the master list, and the Puerto Vallarta destination guide on BYRBO explains the bay for first-time charterers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far is La Cruz from Puerto Vallarta?

About 25 km / 40 minutes by road from the airport, and the La Cruz yacht charters are worth the drive for the north shore, longer from the Zona Romántica.

How long to the Marietas from La Cruz?

About 45 minutes by catamaran, 30 by motor yacht, versus roughly 90 minutes from Marina Vallarta.

Can I land on the hidden beach?

Only with one of the limited daily permits, usually via licensed operators. Private charters anchor off the islands and snorkel; the captain will explain the current rules.

What does a La Cruz yacht charter cost?

Owner-direct yacht charters from La Cruz run from about USD 1,600 a day for a 42 ft catamaran to USD 7,500 for an 84 ft motor yacht, owner-direct, plus 20–35 percent in high season.

Are La Cruz charters cheaper than Punta Mita?

Usually, for a comparable boat, because Punta Mita yacht charters carry the resort premium.

Is La Cruz good for whale watching?

It is the best departure on the bay for it, December 8 to March 23.

Can a Marina Vallarta boat pick me up in La Cruz?

Several will, for a repositioning fee; ask the owner.

Is there parking at Marina La Cruz?

Yes, ample and free or nearly so, right by the marina office.