Located about 15 miles southwest of Puerto Vallarta and secluded in a remote cove between the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Madre mountains, Yelapa is an ideal getaway for any intrepid adventurer exploring the Bay of Banderas, Jalisco, Mexico. Its remote location makes it extremely popular among travelers looking to escape the crowds and noise of Puerto Vallarta, and its picturesque jungle landscapes and cascading waterfalls make it a hit among hikers, bird watchers, and naturalists.
How To Get To And From Yelapa & Casa Estrella
Unless you’re prepared to hike over the unpaved Sierra Madres, there’s only one way to get to Yelapa, and that’s by boat.
Water taxis are available from Playa de Los Muertos in Vallarta and “Boca de Tomatlan” a small town about 30 minutes south of Vallarta. From Tomatlan, you can expect a new taxi to arrive hourly, and the journey takes about 30 minutes. If you’re traveling from Los Muertos pier in Vallarta, the journey is about 45 minutes and leaves four times per day. You can purchase tickets from a small box office near Los Muertos pier or with exact cash on the boat (200 pesos one way from Vallarta or 90 pesos from Tomatlan, make sure to save cash for your return boat trip, there are no banks or ATMs in Yelapa).
If you’re heading for Casa Estrella, you’ll need to ask the water taxi driver to drop you off at “Playa Isabel,” on the south end of the bay. If you’ve booked with us, our house manager David will meet you at the beach and help with your bags. Be prepared to get a little wet, as there isn’t a pier for disembarking, just a nice deep sandy beach. Alternatively, you can get off at the town pier and walk about 15 minutes along a single-lane path that takes you along the southern edge of the bay and straight to the entrances of “Casas Santa Cruz,” four homes that include Casa Estrella at the very top.
Be aware that water taxis stop running at 5:00 p.m., so unless you’ve booked your stay in Yelapa overnight, you’ll want to plan your return to Vallarta before that time. David, our Property Manager, can assist you in determining the best return water taxi for your departure and will ensure you and your bags get there safely.
Why Visit Yelapa?
Yelapa is truly a sight to behold. It’s replete with towering trees and tropical flowering plants, and it comprises a tropical dry broadleaf forest with a rainy season that lasts almost half the year. In addition to boasting one of Mexico’s most beautiful and easily accessible waterfalls, it’s also a great place to get up close and personal with a wide range of tropical wildlife like iguanas, land crabs, and wild parrots. As there are no roads, cars, or ATMs, and basic infrastructure is minimal, it’s like a beach community frozen in time, which is exactly what makes it so appealing.
The high mountains behind Yelapa have not been crossed by roads, so the only ways to get here are to come by boat from a nearby town, such as Puerto Vallarta, to walk or ride a horse or mule on the long, rocky coastal route, or to come down on the trail or dirt road from Chacala. There are no roads per se in Yelapa. Some trails are now paved with cobblestones, but most remain as natural paths.
Modern conveniences are very recent. Electricity and Internet arrived at the town center in 2001 and can still be unreliable. Water is carried to the village from the nearby waterways through pipes or plastic tubing for inside plumbing. There is no underground water delivery system, meaning water is not continuously available to all households. In the dry season, in May and June in particular, some areas can be dry for extensive periods. There is no sewer system either, with sanitation being supplied by septic tanks.
All of this means that the most basic living tasks - walking, cleaning, carrying and building, and certainly bringing needed items in - can quickly acquire a new meaning of importance here in Yelapa. For visitors, it’s a unique opportunity to live more simply and holistically. Yelapa can often seem to foreigners like an island outside of time and space. We believe that living more simply contributes to the rich experience…and the collective that stewards the land holding “Casas Santa Cruz” (including Casa Sol, Casa Luna, Casa Libélula, and Casa Estrella) has been doing so for over twenty years!
A Brief History of Yelapa
The name “Yelapa” is believed to derive from an old indigenous word meaning “where two rivers meet the sea.” This seaside town is a quiet fishing village that makes up one of the lushest bioregions in the world. The community was founded by four families about 150 years ago, the descendants of whom make up most of Yelapa’s current population. Today, it remains one of the few communities on Earth still owned, inhabited, and maintained by the original residents and their families. Only about 1,500 people call Yelapa home, and thus it remains unsullied. As a “Comunidad Indigena,” this area shares a unique status: it is a land grant or reservation, which is legally set aside and protected for the indigenous people who are recognized as having always lived there. The land is held collectively by the community as a whole. There is no private land ownership by anyone, even its indigenous residents. However, it is possible for families to occupy and claim land by using it, cultivating it, or leasing it. Outsiders, however, may not buy or stake claim any land in Yelapa. This unique place, therefore, is one to support and enjoy rather than to claim and own.
The first recorded contact with outsiders was a military party led by Francisco Cortes, cousin to Hernan Cortes, the famous conqueror of Mexico. In 1524 Cortes led a party from Colima north through Autlan as far as Tepic, returning the next year down the coast to the Bay of Banderas, home of the community in present-day Puerto Vallarta. We have diary accounts by the party’s cleric, Father Tello, of this hot and weary army bludgeoning their way through the valley, finally capturing about 100 Indians for guides on their climb into what Tello, called “La Provincia de Los Frailes,” the coastal and mountain lands culminating in Cabo Corrientes. As they made their weary way into the mountains near what today is El Tuito, their journey took on a surprising tone. They were met by a large welcoming group of friendly natives. Tello describes them as “dressed in elaborate feathered headdresses and bearing large crosses made of white wood and cane, all of which he writes, “… was truly much to see.” (This vision of the feathered headdresses lent the group the name Los Coronados, or the crowned ones, a name that often appears in the historical literature printed afterward and which was passed down and is still remembered by some of the elders in the community.)
The natives pleaded with Cortes to remove his army from their lands, stating they were a peace-loving people wishing only friendly relations. Cortes was apparently taken aback by this overture of friendship. He subsequently laid down his arms and took advantage of their hospitality. The historical accounts speak of feasting and dancing and the Spaniard’s praise of this tranquil and happy place. He then left the area untouched and free, thus sparing this group of Indians the fate of enslavement that fell to their compatriots all over Mexico. In 1527, Cortes returned to El Tuito and called the inhabitants together at the newly built church of El Torito (Santa Cruz de Los Ramos) to celebrate its first mass. He then established initial contact with two other villages some distance from the church, Tomatlan, and Piloto. These early contacts proved important for the ultimate preservation of Yelapa, as they helped provide the legal basis for the natives later obtaining official recognition from the King of Spain of their right to their own lands.