La Cruz or by its full name, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle is a relatively non-touristy town located near the top of Banderas Bay.  Originally a fishing village but it now has a large marina.  This is the town in which we stayed.

Bucerias is the largest town near La Cruz and a main shopping and tourist centre.  They were having an Art on the Street Festival which involved a competition of street pavement artists.

A drive south to explore old Puerto Vallarta and the beach front Malecon and then further south of Puerto Vallarta where the road follows the coast tightly and the plants are quite different from the area north of Puerto Vallarta

We made a 2-hour drive inland to explore the beautiful old mining town of San Sebastian

Small towns north of La Cruz; all are on the open Pacific so their beaches have real surf. Most are less "touristy" than the towns further south, closer to Puerto Vallarta.