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For years, luxury travel in Nayarit meant one thing: a gated resort on the Punta Mita peninsula, a golf cart, and a stretch of Pacific to yourself. That version still exists, and it is still very good. It is just no longer the whole story.
The Mexican state that sits on the Pacific coast just north of Puerto Vallarta is in the middle of a real shift, and a new airport is the clearest sign of it. Tepic-Riviera Nayarit International Airport (TPQ) expanded and began international service in 2025, with direct flights from cities including Los Angeles, Houston, and Vancouver. For the first time, travelers can fly straight into the interior of the state instead of routing everything through Puerto Vallarta. That single change opens up a version of Nayarit most people have never seen: wine country in the mountains, a run of award-winning kitchens, and nine Pueblos Mágicos spread across the map.
I cover design destinations for a living, and what catches my attention about Nayarit right now is not the resorts. It is everything happening around them.
The Coast You Already Know, and the Design Worth a Second Look
Let’s clear the familiar part first, because it is still the anchor. Punta Mita, the private peninsula at the north end of Banderas Bay, is home to the Four Seasons and the St. Regis, along with a tight cluster of villas, golf, and beach clubs that made it a fixture on every luxury planner’s short list.
What is newer, and more interesting to me, is the design conversation happening just north of there. One&Only Mandarina built itself into the jungle and the cliffs in a way that reads as architecture first and hotel second. Riviera Nayarit has since added Rosewood Mandarina, and the coast now has a small run of properties that treat the landscape, the local Wixárika (Huichol) culture, and contemporary design as the whole point rather than the backdrop. For a design-minded traveler, that stretch is the part of the coast worth studying.
The Food is the Reason to Leave Your Hotel
The strongest argument for getting out of your resort in Nayarit is dinner.
The state’s kitchens have pulled in some serious names. Enrique Olvera, of Pujol fame, is behind Carao at One&Only Mandarina. Daniela Soto-Innes, once named the world’s best female chef, runs Rubra in Punta de Mita. And the Blouet family, long tied to fine dining in this corner of Mexico through Tuna Blanca, recently expanded with La Casa by Thierry Blouet in Bucerías, led by Vanessa Blouet, whom Food & Wine en Español named among its best new chefs of 2026.
The common thread is Pacific seafood and local produce handled with real ambition. You do not need a table at every one of these to feel the shift. One good dinner out makes the case.
Wine Country in the Mountains, Which Nobody Expects
Here is the part that stops people. Nayarit has a wine region.
Up in the mountains near the Ceboruco volcano, about 90 minutes from Tepic and next to the Pueblo Mágico of Jala, a vineyard called Meseta del Cielo has been coaxing Syrah and Macabeo out of volcanic soil since 2019. Its bottles have started turning up on national best-of lists. You can tour the vineyard, taste, and do pairings with the mountains in view. Add Jala’s old center and its heirloom-corn traditions, and you have the kind of inland day that simply was not part of a Nayarit trip a few years ago.
Nine Pueblos Mágicos, and Art You’ll Want to Bring Home
Nayarit holds nine Pueblos Mágicos, one of the highest counts of any state in Mexico, and they are genuinely different from one another. Sayulita is the surf-and-galleries town. Compostela carries the colonial history. Mexcaltitán is a tiny island community. Jala sits under the volcano.
The cultural thread I would follow is the Wixárika heritage. Their beadwork and yarn art is some of the most distinctive craft in the country, and the 2026 Best of Mexico awards singled out the travel route that traces this heritage across the state. If you care about design and craft, that is the souvenir, and the story, worth planning a day around.
Getting There is Finally the Easy Part
None of this used to be simple to reach, and that is the real headline.
With TPQ now flying international routes and a new highway shortening the drive between Tepic and Puerto Vallarta, you can land at one airport, work your way across the coast and the interior, and fly home out of the other. The open-jaw routing that makes a multi-stop trip painless is suddenly on the table.
Nayarit Luxury Travel FAQ
When is the best time to visit Nayarit? The dry season, roughly November through May, is the classic window: warm, sunny, and dependable. The shoulder months are quieter and greener.
How do you get to Riviera Nayarit? Two airports now serve the region. Puerto Vallarta International (PVR) remains the main gateway for the southern coast, and Tepic-Riviera Nayarit International (TPQ) added international flights in 2025, opening up the interior and the northern coast.
Is Nayarit just Punta Mita? No. Punta Mita is the luxury anchor, but the state also covers Sayulita’s surf scene, inland wine country near Jala, nine Pueblos Mágicos, and strong Indigenous art traditions.
Is Nayarit good for a luxury trip? Yes, and the definition is widening. Alongside flagship resorts, the state has layered in chef-driven restaurants, private villas, wellness, and cultural routes for travelers who want more than a beach.
Takeaway
Nayarit’s tourism board is leaning hard into this wider story, and the pitch holds up. The coast is still the draw, but the interesting trips now string the resort together with a vineyard, a chef’s table, and a Pueblo Mágico or two. The next time Mexico is on your list, it is worth looking past the beach.
Start planning through Riviera Nayarit and Visit Nayarit.
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