Another mile south, you can enjoy the extravagant isolation of the Dreams Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa (reserve at Playa de las Estacas, tel. 322/226-5000, U.S./Can. tel. 866/2DREAMS, fax 322/221-6000, www.dreamsresorts.com) at correspondingly extravagant prices. The region’s first world-class hotel, the Dreams Puerto Vallarta (formerly the Hotel Camino Real) has aged gracefully. It’s luxuriously set in a lush tropical valley, with polished wooden walkways that wind along a beachside garden intermingled with blue swimming pools.

The totally self-contained resort on a secluded, seasonally narrow strip of golden-white sand offers a host of vacation delights: luxury view rooms in the main tower ($170 per person low season, $250 high) or the Royal Beach Club tower (about $70 more per adult), all in-house food and drinks, water sports, restaurants, bars, live music every evening, shows, and supervised children’s activities for one all-inclusive price. Rooms in the Royal Beach Club tower have hot tubs and wheelchair access.