Costalegre Mexico Beyond All-Inclusive Resorts on the Pacific Coast

This Costalegre Mexico travel guide by award-winning writer Anita Draycott goes beyond the all-inclusive, from secluded beaches and colourful boutique hideaways to fresh-caught seafood and even a date with a shaman.

Discovering the quieter side of Mexico’s Pacific coast along the Costalegre, or “Happy Coast,” from luxurious Las Alamandas to laid-back La Manzanilla and colourful Careyes.

Call me fussy, but I don’t want to spend my well-deserved winter vacation wearing a tacky plastic bracelet that entitles me to unlimited buffets and watered-down drinks at an all-inclusive resort. I’d rather fork over a few more pesos and have the catch of the day served by someone who knows my name—and how I like my morning coffee. Why sleep in a cookie-cutter hotel room that I need a map to find when I can stay somewhere unique with tropical style, perhaps a casita on an almost-deserted beach?

If you’ve had it with massive resorts, crowded beaches and deafening discos, consider Mexico’s Costalegre, or “Happy Coast.” This relatively unspoiled stretch of Pacific coastline between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo offers secluded beaches, tiny coastal communities and distinctive places to stay, with options for both scrimp-and-splurge budgets.

Here are some of the places that convinced me there’s another way to vacation in Mexico.

Mexico Beyond All-Exclusive Resorts – Escape to Las Alamandas Mexico on the Costalegre

Driving south from Puerto Vallarta on winding Highway 200, my husband spies a small sign: “Las Alamandas.”

We turn, check in with the security guard and suddenly find ourselves surrounded by manicured green lawns and gardens fragrant with gardenias, jasmine and the brilliant yellow alamanda flowers for which the resort is named.

It’s like a technicolour mirage.

If luxury is all about time and space, we’ve hit the jackpot. Set within a 2,000-acre ecological reserve, Las Alamandas gives a maximum of just 45 guests access to four pristine beaches, secluded lagoons and a landscape filled with tropical flora and wildlife. More than 100 species of birds have been recorded here, including Inca and white-tipped doves.

This private paradise, about two hours south of Puerto Vallarta, is the vision of owner Isabel Goldsmith, who inherited the property from her grandfather, Bolivian tin magnate Don Antenor Patiño.

Her grandfather envisioned a mega-resort. His granddaughter took a very different approach, choosing instead to preserve the environment and share the property with a relatively small number of guests.

You won’t find group salsa classes on a crowded beach or nightly talent shows beneath the pergola.
Las Alamandas is a romantic hideaway, perfect for the avid idler who wants to curl up in a hammock with a good book, ride horseback along a quiet beach, take binoculars and a picnic to the bird sanctuary or indulge in some pampering at the spa.

For the more energetic, there are tennis and pickleball courts, kayaks, surfboards and mountain bikes.

Bold Mexican Design and a Villa by the Pacific

The architecture and décor at Las Alamandas are bold, bright and authentically Mexican, presented in a fearless rainbow of mango, papaya, banana, turquoise and rosa mexicana—a vivid bubble-gum pink that is Goldsmith’s favourite.

Local artisans embroidered cushions, painted bathroom tiles and filled the villas with Mexican folk art. The dazzling colour scheme might clash with Canada’s drab winters, but it sure works on the sun-drenched Costalegre.

Sales manager Victor Lopez greets us and escorts us to Costa del Sol, one of eight villas on the property. He offers us frosty margaritas and refreshing cold towels. Bienvenidas—Spanish for “welcome”—is spelled out in bougainvillea blossoms on the king bed. The bathtub is large enough for a family of four.

Beyond our front lawn, Pacific waves roll rhythmically onto the beach. A hammock sways between two palm trees. Across the lawn, we can see the pool and palapa where breakfast and lunch are served.

We could have dinner delivered to our private terrace with its own Jacuzzi tub, or arrange dinner on a secluded beach complete with a mariachi band and bonfire. Instead, we stroll along illuminated garden paths, past cascading fountains to Oasis restaurant, where we dine beneath the stars to the sound of pounding waves.

Mahi mahi caught by a local fisherman is marinated with herbs, grilled and finished with an eggplant salsa scented with garlic, mint, basil and cilantro, much of it grown organically on the property.

Goldsmith is passionate about her gardens, and here the landscape becomes part of what appears on the plate.

Farm-to-Table Flavours and Empty Beaches

The following morning, a Jeep tour reveals just how much space surrounds us: a private landing strip, secluded corners of the reserve and pristine beaches where picnics and romantic dinners can be arranged.

Next comes the Farm-to-Table Experience.

Chef Alex Aguillaro offers us a drink made with jamaica juice and fresh coconut water as we wander past rows of vegetables and fruit trees heavy with bananas, mangos and avocados. Under the shade of a massive fig tree, we cool off with cubes of mango and papaya.

At the northern end of the property, guests can take a boat ride or kayak along the San Nicolás River, while birders can head out with the resident biologist.

After our tour, we return to the palapa for lunch, followed by a dip in the pool and a siesta in a swaying hammock.

So far, we’ve spotted two other guests.

Late in the afternoon, Victor picks us up and takes us to a mirador high above the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. Tonight, we’ve splurged on a Champagne sunset dinner for two.

A Hideaway Favoured by Hollywood Celebrities

On our third morning, we check out the boutique, games room and reception area, where framed photographs reveal some of the famous faces who have escaped to Las Alamandas over the years.
Robin Williams, Minnie Driver, Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Sting are among them.

We’re told the resort’s first guest was Robert De Niro.

Who knows? Maybe that’s him jogging along the beach this morning.

Discover La Manzanilla and Tenacatita Bay

It’s tough to wave adios to Las Alamandas, but today we’re continuing south on Highway 200.

Wanawana Beach Club on Bahía Tenacatita is our first stop.

Cool beach-vibe music plays as we flop onto a couple of lounge chairs after swimming and snorkelling in the clear water. On the large terrace, we order margaritas and an assortment of tacos.

Upstairs, Wana Coffee brews great lattes, and we’re tempted by a slice of purple taro cake.
About 10 minutes farther south is La Manzanilla, a laid-back little town stretched along a golden half-moon beach.

It flies under the tourist radar, and it will be our home base for the next few days.

There are no mega-resorts here. Instead, we’ve chosen Kokomo, a nine-room boutique hotel a few streets from the beach.

Our smartly designed room has a compact kitchen, king bed and large bathroom. Outside, we have our own plunge pool and seating area. The hotel also has a large communal kitchen and barbecue should we decide to have a fiesta with our neighbours.

This is a very different kind of Mexican beach vacation—and that is precisely the point.

Where to Eat in La Manzanilla

Along the beach, casual open-air palapa restaurants serve the ultra-fresh catch of the day from the town’s fishing cooperative.

I recommend pescado zarandeado, a whole red snapper butterflied and marinated with a blend of chiles, garlic, soy sauce and lime before being grilled over an open flame.

It usually arrives with roasted onions, tomatoes and peppers, along with tortillas and Mexican rice.
Wash it down with fresh coconut water.

One of La Manzanilla’s more unusual attractions is its crocodile sanctuary, where dozens of prehistoric-looking reptiles can be observed from raised walkways through the mangroves.

We also explored the nearby beach towns of Melaque and Barra de Navidad, but La Manzanilla’s pristine beach and tranquillity win us over.

Heck, many of the places we visit here don’t even have websites.

Our best dining and dancing discovery is IMIX, a beachfront restaurant where we arrive in time to soak up a magnificent Pacific sunset. A live band tempts us to practise our salsa steps, and the wood-fired pizza is delicious.

Careyes and a Date With a Shaman

Alas, it’s time to start heading back toward Puerto Vallarta, but not before one final and decidedly unusual stop.

Careyes is a striking coastal community of colourful villas perched high above the sea. Founded in 1968 by Italian artist and visionary Gianfranco Brignone, it feels more like an architectural fantasy than a conventional Mexican resort.

One of its most extraordinary creations is La Copa del Sol.

Brignone reportedly dreamt of a man and woman united by the cosmos while bathed in the light of the setting sun. The physical manifestation of that dream is an enormous concrete “cup of the sun,” approximately 11 metres high and 27 metres in diameter.

And today I have a date with a shaman inside it.

By appointment, we meet Daniel, a spiritual healer who has us lie on mats while he performs a ritual using incense and ancient instruments, including Tibetan brass bowls and conch shells.

We close our eyes and focus on our breathing and the soft breeze as he chants.
The ritual is intended to restore balance and relieve tension.

I feel a bit silly.

But I have to admit that I woke that morning with a runny nose and cold symptoms, and by the time my hour in this enormous concrete bowl is over, they seem to have disappeared.

Make of that what you will.

Lobster Tacos and One Last Costalegre Sunset

We celebrate our spiritual enlightenment with lunch at Lilo Beach Club, tucked into a secluded cove at Careyes.
Passion fruit margaritas and lobster tacos seem a fitting finale to our journey along Mexico’s Happy Coast.

This is a place where the rhythm of the ocean and the gentle pace of life slowly seduce you; where lunches stretch into late-afternoon siestas, followed by technicolour sunsets and tropical cocktails.

I’m feeling rather smug about discovering this off-the-beaten-beach stretch of Mexico. And I’m in no hurry to leave.

No more all-inclusives for me.

How to Get to Costalegre Mexico

Fly into Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR) or Manzanillo International Airport (ZLO) and rent a car to explore the Costalegre.

Highway 200 follows the Pacific coast and provides access to destinations including Las Alamandas, Tenacatita Bay, La Manzanilla and Careyes.

Be careful not to confuse Manzanillo, the larger Pacific port city with an international airport, with the much smaller beach community of La Manzanilla.

Discover more about Mexico: 7-Day Mexico City Itinerary: What to See, Eat and Experience,  Insider’s Guide to Puerto Vallarta Mexico and Mérida, Mexico: A Cultural, Culinary and Nature Guide to the Capital of the Yucatán,

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