As with any preeminent resort destination, Puerto Vallarta offers an exciting mix of outdoor and family-oriented activities. Children are thrilled with the dolphin-encounter programmes held at the dolphin centre, and speeding along a zip line through the rainforest canopy is fun the whole family can enjoy. Golfing and water sports are also well catered for. All of these activities can be organised by local travel agents.

Deep-sea Fishing
Sports-fishing enthusiasts can charter a boat and set out for Bandaras Bay. This is the largest bay in Mexico, and it has hosted a prominent fishing tournament for more than 50 years. Captains know the best place to drop a line, and chartered fishing tours include all the equipment and tackle you'll need.

Golfing
There are several golf courses in the Puerto Vallarta area. Los Flamingos is one of the easier courses, good for a low-key afternoon on the greens; meanwhile, the water features and sand traps of El Tigre are much more challenging. There are seven golf courses in all, rounding out the resort experience of Puerto Vallarta.

Horseback Riding
This activity, excellent for entire families, can be booked at ranches in the surrounding area. Organised tours are led into the inland forests or along the coastline, and most incorporate a stop or two into smaller, outlying villages.

Rainforest Canopy Tours
A great family activity, canopy tours offer a unique perspective on the upper tiers of the rainforest ecosystem. Participants wear a harness and glide along a network of high-hung cables. Along the way are suspension bridges between trees, observation decks and even rope swings between platforms.

Swimming with Dolphins
Take the children to the Nuevo Vallarta Dolphin Centre for a chance to interact with Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Various programmes allow participants to swim and snorkel alongside the dolphins, and even hitch a ride across the pool with a hand on the dolphin's dorsal fin.

Water Sports
The coastal areas around the main resorts offer the entire gamut of water sports. Parasailing, windsurfing and jet skiing are all possible. Snorkelling is popular in the bay as well as offshore of the Marietas Islands, with scuba divers exploring the submerged caverns of Los Arcos. Surfers head for the north-facing shores of Puerto Vallarta.

Whale Watching
Humpback whales arrive in Puerto Vallarta's waters during the winter months. They arrive from the cold waters of the Bering Sea and take refuge in the Bay of Banderas where they mate and give birth to calves. It is possible to see these magnificent mammals breaching from land, especially around the bay. For a first-hand look, join one of the regular whale-watching expeditions that depart from December until April.

Puerto Vallarta's best cultural attractions are designed with the tourism industry in mind, so expect to find galleries displaying work by prominent and up-and-coming local artists. Virtually all of the artwork on display can be purchased, and gallery curators are likely to approach tourists in hopes of making a sale. Actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor appeared here in the 1960s, and their ensuing affair brought a lot of attention to this formerly sleepy village. The house they lived in now houses a museum in their honour.

Casa Kimberly
Now a bed and breakfast, this house was once home to 1960s celebrities, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. It is located in the 'Gringo Gulch', nicknamed for the large expatriate community that once flocked here. Sign up for a tour during regular business hours, and stop by the onsite museum for a glimpse of the actors’ lives in Puerto Vallarta. 
Phone: +52 322 2 13 36

Galeria Arte Latino Americano
This modest art gallery houses a pleasing collection of work by local artists. Onsite dealers are well versed in the story behind each piece. Most of the work is contemporary and in addition to watercolour paintings, the facility also boasts a selection of posters and lithographs. 
Phone: +52 322 2 44 06; www.galeriaal.com

Galeria Pacifico
Situated off the main tourist thoroughfare (the Malecon), this centre for the arts arguably the best in the city. The paintings and other art forms found here represent the work of contemporary artists who live in the area. Be sure to join a guided tour of the particularly whimsical sculpture garden. 
Phone: +52 322 2 19 82; www.galeriapacifico.com

Mascota Museums
Mascota is situated east of Puerto Gallera at the base of the inland mountains. The Mascota Museum chronicles the lives of local celebrities including Jose Maria Roble, a priest who died in an early 20th-century rebellion and Ester Fernandez, a favourite cinema starlet from the region. The adjacent Casa de Cultura is devoted to the recent discovery of ancient petroglyphs in the area nearby.

Museo del Cuale
There's an islet in the Cuale River as it cuts through Puerto Vallarta. The Museo del Cuale is kept here in a one-storey stucco house that dates to the colonial period. Inside is a collection of exhibits exploring thousands of years’ worth of Western Mexico's history, with a focus on the hunter-gatherers that roamed the countryside some 7,000 years ago. Ancient artefacts including primitive weapons and ceramic pieces are on display.

The Malecon boardwalk is the epicentre of Puerto Vallarta’s shopping district. Beyond standard souvenir shops, visitors will find an array of upscale boutiques, large shopping centres and contemporary art galleries. The local community is large enough to warrant a number of practical shopping centres selling everyday goods. There is even a Wal-Mart in town.

Outdoor marketplaces offer an authentic glimpse into the local way of life, and many of the prices quoted by mobile or street-side merchants are fluid, making haggling essential. Two markets (Mercado Municipal Cuale and Mercado Isle Cuale) sell handicrafts and souvenirs along the Cuale River. You can also find handicrafts and folk art in small boutiques along Calles Libertad.

With so much premium beachfront property at their disposal, Puerto Vallarta restaurants are able to capitalise on spectacular views. Sunset dining is popular from the terraces and decks of upscale, waterfront restaurants. Bandaras Bay is home to a particularly swanky collection of first-rate, gourmet restaurants.

Local cuisine comes in many forms, ranging from simple tacos sold from mobile carts to local seafood restaurants with a view. A popular seafood dish in Puerto Vallarta is ceviche, a cold salad featuring raw fish, lime juice and chlili peppers. Another popular dish is huachinango sarandeado, a grilled fish that is first marinated in a paste of garlic and roasted chillies.