Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas (Banderas Bay).
Puerto Vallarta lies on a narrow coastal plain at the foot of the Sierras Cuale and San Sebastián, parts of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
The city proper comprises four areas: the hotel zone along the shore to the North, Olas Altas - Col Zapata to the South of the Cuale river, the Centro along the shore between these two areas, and a number of residential areas to the East of the hotel zone.