Coastal Trail from Boca to Quimixto

We love to hike, so we were happy to learn of a two-mile trail along the coast from Boca de Tomatlán to Las Animas. Most tourists go by water taxi (panga) to Las Animas, Quimixto and Yelapa, coastal villages west of Boca. We asked about the trail in town and were told that it goes beyond Las Animas to Quimixto, over four miles (measured on Google Earth). We planned to start early, stop for lunch along the way and return to Boca by water taxi in the afternoon. We packed light, took several liters of water and snacks, wore sturdy trail shoes and started before the sun was over the hills behind Boca.

Start of the trail

The trail is narrow and steep where it ascends and descends the rocky hills that come down to the water. There are rickety wooden bridges and concrete stairs. And it disappears in the coves and sandy beaches, which, at high tide or when coastal streams are flowing in the rainy season, could require wading. We had a dry, if sweaty, hike.

Coastal trail

We got to Colomitos when a panga was dropping a tourist family off for a swim on a deserted beach. Just about every tourist panga stops at that beach, so it wasn't deserted long. We hiked most of the morning in the shade of the tropical dry forest without seeing anyone else on the trail.

Secluded beach near Colomitos

Secluded beach

Colomitos looking east to Los Arcos (offshore rocks in the distance)

Near Las Animas, a group of men were building a house on the rocks above the beach. We had seen concrete blocks, bags of cement and wooden poles being loaded into pangas at the pier in Boca and this looked like their destination. Las Animas came into view as we worked our way around the rocky point in front of the house.

Las Animas

Las Animas is set up for tourists that arrive by boat. Most of the businesses that face the beach are restaurants or shops that rent kayaks and jet skis. We were looking for a tienda (small store) to augment our water with some juice so we followed a street leading away from the beach only to be told by some locals that it was private property and we had to go back to the beach. Welcome to Las Animas. It was mid-morning and boats were dropping off tourists at the pier. We didn't find any open stores so we continued west.

Fisherman setting a net nearshore

Beyond Las Animas the trail is not heavily used and in several places we had to guess or improvise by walking through someone’s property or passing through an exclusive resort. At one place I stepped over a rope fence to take a picture of the beach and was immediately approached by a uniformed guard. He said I was standing on private property and had to get back on the path; they just can't have sweaty, cheapo tourists disturbing the high-paying guests.

Exclusive resort

Then the pirate ship appeared. Just about every day we were in Puerto Vallarta we saw a pirate ship motoring (no sails were ever raised) across Bahía de Banderas. Occasionally it would fire a cannon and we could see the smoke and hear the delayed boom (link). 

 Miragalante Galleon

Now here it was close to the shore. As we rounded the point, we saw a small launch carrying young men and beach umbrellas to a beautiful, deserted beach. The launch made repeated trips to get people off the ship. Mexicans have found all sorts of ways to separate tourists from their pesos; this has to be one of their more fatuous devices.

Tourists landing on a beach

Nearing Quimixto we passed a couple small concrete block houses with thatched roofs and a six-table restaurant under a palapa on a beautiful beach. There were umbrellas and beach chairs on the sand and, except for the owner and the cook, the place was deserted. We stopped for lunch and a beer.

This is not a beer commercial; it's the real thing

Most of their clients must arrive by boat because we didn't see anyone on the trail from Las Animas or from Quimixto. A woman was tending a horse at a house. Later, a man walked the horse down to a small stream with a large floodplain near the restaurant. The only thing we could hear was the sound of the breaking waves. We stayed there for over an hour watching birds and a few boats go by.

Tending a horse near Quimixto

Watering a horse near Quimixto

We left the restaurant in the heat of the afternoon and followed the river to an estuary near its mouth. There was no trail. Two young boys were breaking coconuts with rocks to get the white meat inside. We stopped to chat and they offered us some coconut meat. Rande asked them how to get around the estuary. One of the boys led us along a barbed wire fence, through a gate, across the patio of an empty house to another gate from where we could see Quimixto. We gave him 10 pesos.

The man returning to Quimixto told us where to catch the water taxi (pier in the distance)

Quimixto is similar to Las Animas, only smaller and quieter. On the far side of the small bay we could see the pier where the water taxis stop. We were not in a hurry because the water taxis ran until dusk, which was after 7 PM, and people in Boca said it would be easy to get a ride back. They were wrong.

Quimixto from the pier

We arrived at the pier before 5 PM and over the next two hours watched half a dozen boats full of people coming from Yelapa going to Boca pass by without stopping. Several boats stopped to drop people off, but they wouldn't take anyone else. A couple were company boats that only shuttled their workers to and from the coastal towns. The others were water taxis full of people – some of the four- and five-seat pangas carried upwards of 20 people.

Where old boats come to die in Quimixto

A guy got off one boat carrying his mascota (pet), a large green iguana. We've seen men carrying iguanas in tourist areas. They hand the animal to tourists for pictures and collect a small fee. On the malecón (boardwalk) in Mazatlán, a guy tried to put a green iguana on my head.

Man with a green iguana

Also waiting for a ride on the pier were two young men whom we had seen along the waterfront in Boca. They had a day job in Quimixto and were waiting for a boat just like us. An older man in a Vallarta Adventures tee-shirt (link) walked out on the pier and asked us if we were going to Boca and if we had a ticket – yes and we didn’t. He said a boat would come and walked back to Quimixto.

Quimixto

Half an hour later he returned with a woman and pointed to a man getting into a panga near the beach and said that he would take us back to Boca. But the motor wouldn't start. After a couple minutes of unsuccessful attempts, the boatman got into another panga, started the motor and headed for the end of the pier. The two young men, the woman and the two of us got into the boat and headed to Boca. Here are some pictures from our boat ride.

Resort near Quimixto

Trail along the coast between Quimixto and Las Animas

Resort near Las Animas (I stepped over the rope fence here)

Colomitos