Everything guests ask about Los Chonchos

There is no instant booking here, on purpose. You send us your dates and a little about who is coming, and we reply within two days. If the dates are free and the fit is right, we send a secure payment link.

Because this place suits some people and not others, and it is better for everyone to find that out before any money changes hands. It is a wet landing, no shop, no housekeeping, no air conditioning and no road. Guests who know that in advance have a wonderful time.

In full, by card, once the dates are agreed. Not a deposit. We do not take card details at the request stage.

Three nights. Guests who come for three routinely tell us they wish they had come for six.

A full refund, less Stripe’s processing fee, if you cancel more than 72 hours before your arrival date. Cancel inside 72 hours, up to the end of the day before you arrive, and you get 75% of the accommodation with nothing deducted. On the day you arrive, or if you do not come, there is no refund and the booking is charged in full. Changes and cancellations must come from the cardholder. Refunds take up to two weeks to come through.

The booking must be made by someone aged 21 or over. Children are welcome with a parent or legal guardian, who is responsible for them.

Tax, and one five-gallon jug of filtered drinking water for the bungalow. Each additional jug is 200 pesos. Getting here is not included — the water taxi, a private boat and the mules are run by other people, not by us.

No. The rate is the same all year, including whale season. What changes in high season is availability, not price.

Yes, and families, groups of friends and small teams do. Everyone still travels as individual guests and provisions themselves, or arranges a cook for the group. We can put you in touch with a private boat captain for a larger party, though we do not run a boat of our own. A buyout takes 5% off the total.

Fly into Puerto Vallarta — about four and a half hours direct from most major North American cities. Taxi or Uber thirty minutes south from central Puerto Vallarta to Boca de Tomatlán. The water taxi leaves Boca at 8am and takes about an hour, calling at Yelapa and Pizota before Los Chonchos.

Rarely. The water taxi goes once a day at 8am, so most guests spend the night in Puerto Vallarta and use the evening to buy provisions. If you do land early enough and get the shopping done, a private boat — or a taxi or Uber to Chimo and the trail in — can still bring you over the same day.

Sometimes the swell is too high to land on the sand. The water taxi captain makes that call on the day — nobody can forecast it in advance. When it happens the boat runs to Chimo instead and you come over the mountain on foot, about fifty minutes, with mules carrying the luggage. Leave room in your plans both ways so a rough morning does not cost you a flight.

Yes. You can take a taxi or Uber from Puerto Vallarta all the way to Chimo — about a three-hour drive — and walk in over the mountain trail from there, with mules for the luggage. A private boat can also be arranged from Boca or the Puerto Vallarta marina with notice.

Preferably soft bags. A rolling case is not ideal for a beach landing, and worse on a mule — though plenty of guests have brought hard cases without any trouble. A backpack for what you want with you, and a soft holdall for provisions, is the usual arrangement.

There is parking near the waterfront at Boca de Tomatlán. Most guests skip it and take a one-way transfer from Puerto Vallarta instead.

The captains are local mariners who have run this stretch of coast for years. They will delay or reroute rather than take an unsafe crossing, which is exactly why the decision is theirs and not ours.

There is no dock, so the boat noses into the shallows and you step off into ankle-deep water. Staff meet every boat: they help people on and off it and they handle the bags, so you are not carrying luggage through the surf. Bring shoes or sandals you do not mind getting wet, and keep phones, cameras and documents in a dry bag.

Earlier than check-out. Check-out is 9am to match the water taxi, but be on the beach before then. The boat runs reliably; what varies is the timing — if there is nobody to drop off or collect at Chimo it does not carry on there, it turns around at Los Chonchos and heads straight back, which can be earlier than you expect. Staff will tell you the night before exactly when to be ready, and especially if the sea is rough and you will be walking out to Chimo instead.

You walk out to Chimo over the mountain and take the boat from there. Staff walk out with you and help with the luggage, though a heavy load may mean hiring a mule. It is the same route as the one guests sometimes arrive by, in reverse.

The public water taxi is 300 pesos per person, the same fare in either direction. A private boat is 2,500 pesos to or from Boca de Tomatlán for up to six people, or 3,500 pesos to or from Puerto Vallarta. A mule to carry your bags over the mountain is 500 pesos, Chimo to Chonchos or Chonchos to Chimo. If the swell is too high for the taxi to land at Los Chonchos it runs to Chimo instead, at 350 pesos per person, plus 50 pesos per person to transfer you and your bags to shore by canoe — there is no dock or beach landing at Chimo. We do not operate any of these services or set their prices, and all of them can change at any time without notice.

A private kitchen with a gas stove, a fridge and a French press. A hot shower and a flush toilet. Solar power. Gravity-fed mountain spring water. A palm thatch roof, open to the air on the ocean side. A view of the ocean, and whales in season. Filtered drinking water on a dispenser. Bedding and towels.

In how many they sleep, how the beds are arranged, whether there is Wi-Fi, how the hot water is made, and how many decks they have. Casa Huesos is the only one with a soaking tub. Casa Sara is the most private. Casa Sonido Del Mar sleeps eight. Everything else is the same across all six.

Satellite Wi-Fi in four of the six: Casa Sonido Del Mar, Casa Palmas, Casa Zadro and Casa Sara. Guests describe it as fast and dependable. Casa Huesos and Casa Cactus have none at all, deliberately. Cell signal is a separate thing and far less reliable — it comes and goes, in some spots, and you should never count on it.

No. Your bungalow is prepared before you arrive and not cleaned during your stay. One or two people work on the property from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday — they meet the boats and help with arrival, departure and anything you need.

Check-in is 1pm. Check-out is 9am, to align with the water taxi departing. A later check-out can usually be arranged — just ask.

Every bungalow is on the sand or a two-minute walk from it.

Yes, in normal conditions. Each bungalow has its own solar panels and battery bank, sized for lights, the fridge and charging devices. Several consecutive days of heavy cloud in the rainy season can draw the batteries down, which is why everyone should bring a headlamp.

Phones, laptops, cameras, a speaker, a USB rechargeable fan. Not anything that makes heat — hairdryers, electric kettles, irons — and not a mains-powered fan.

The spring water is gravity-fed from the mountain and has been tested clean, and plenty of guests drink it straight from the tap. Every bungalow also has a five-gallon bottle of filtered drinking water on a dispenser. It carries over between stays rather than being replaced each time, so yours may be part full when you arrive — when it runs out, ask and we will bring more.

The bungalows are open to the air under a palm thatch roof, and the sea breeze does the work. Guests in February report mid-70s to low-80s and comfortable. In the hottest months the middle of the day is warm, which is what the hammocks and the water are for.

This is jungle, so there are insects, and bark scorpions exist on this coast as they do all along it. In practice they are rarely seen — people have lived here for years without a single sting. Shake out shoes, clothing and towels, keep a flashlight by the bed, and bring repellent because there is nowhere here to buy it. A sting is painful but almost never dangerous. Mosquitoes here are seasonal — they come with the rains from about late June and tail off through October, and outside that window there are few if any. Bring repellent anyway, mostly for the sand flies.

Someone is on the property from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Outside those hours it waits until morning.

Provision in Puerto Vallarta before you cross. Chimo, ten minutes away by boat, has two small stores with a limited selection — vegetables, tortillas, chips, ice, beer, some meat — and particular items are not always in stock. Fresh fish comes from the pescadería or from locals in the town. Anything from Chimo can come over by boat, or often be walked in by the staff the next day, and delivered to your bungalow. There are also two restaurants in Chimo, a cook who will come and cook in your kitchen, and meal delivery by boat.

No. Not at Los Chonchos, not in Chimo, not anywhere in between. Everything is cash. Draw pesos in Puerto Vallarta and bring more than you think you need.

Nothing is sold at Los Chonchos. Bring what you want from Puerto Vallarta, or have beer brought over from Chimo by boat.

Ask the staff before you go without — there is often something they can lend you. Otherwise, the two stores in Chimo cover a few basics, and beyond that you manage.

End of October through March, and most frequent from mid-December to mid-February. You do not need a boat or a tour — the channel runs straight out from the bungalows.

There is no such thing as a private beach in Mexico, and we will not pretend otherwise. What is true is that nothing is built on these three beaches — no bar, no loungers for hire, no vendors — and there is no pier, so yachts and day boats have nowhere to tie up. Almost everyone on the sand lives here or is staying here, and guests very often have a whole beach to themselves.

Yes, and the water is warm every month of the year. Mornings are calmest. Visibility for snorkeling is better in the low and rainy seasons than in the dry winter months.

Kayaks are usually available. Snorkel and fishing gear are not — bring your own, though it is always worth asking the staff.

No, and we would rather say so. It suits people who want to be unreachable, who can cook, and who find a day with nothing in it restful. It does not suit anyone who needs air conditioning, constant signal, a restaurant downstairs or someone to make the bed.

Honestly, no. There is a wet landing from a boat, sand to cross, uneven paths and steps. Several guests have said so in their reviews unprompted.

Yes, and plenty of guests come with them. Parents are responsible for their own children. This is jungle, and the bungalows are open-sided above the sea.

From the four bungalows with satellite Wi-Fi, yes — guests have done it. Plan around the Wi-Fi rather than cell signal, which is not reliable enough for calls.

None at Los Chonchos. The nearest clinic and pharmacy are in Puerto Vallarta — an hour by boat, then thirty minutes by road. Bring any medication you take. There are first aid kits on the property, so you do not need to pack one.