What's happening in Puerto Vallarta this week?

Wednesday night is where Puerto Vallarta's week starts in earnest. From 6pm to 10pm, the galleries on Calle Morelos, Calle Aldama and Calle Corona in Centro open for the Art Walk, which runs through the high season and pauses for a summer break, with Galería Pacífico on Aldama as the steady anchor. Expect mezcal in plastic cups, cold tile floors under your sandals and the smell of fresh varnish on canvases priced in US dollars. It is free, and it is the best first night out for a newcomer, since the route is a 1 km loop that ends on the Malecón. Saturday from about 9:30am to 2pm, the Old Town Farmers Market sets up in the Zona Romántica, south of the Río Cuale. Go for the tamales, the cold-brew stalls and the mango with chile, and arrive by 10am, when the bread usually runs out.

Sunday belongs to locals. After 6pm, Vallarta families take over the Plaza de Armas below the crown-topped tower of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe: the bandstand fills with brass, elote vendors scrape corn off the cob with a dry rasp, and older couples dance on the warm paving stones. It is the most Mexican hour of the week in Centro, and it costs nothing. For a view to pair with it, climb the stairs on Calle Matamoros to the Faro de Matamoros lighthouse for sunset over the Bay of Banderas. The stairs are steep, so allow 15 minutes and carry water.

Weather sets the daily rhythm this week. A recent 11pm reading showed 26.1°C with 86% humidity, and it felt like 31.5°C, which is typical of Vallarta as the rainy season winds down. Mornings before 10am are your walking window for the Malecón and the Río Cuale island, and afternoons belong to the sea, which is close to its warmest of the year at around 29°C. Storm cells can still build over the Sierra Madre after 4pm, so keep those hours for indoor plans like the ChocoMuseo on Calle Allende. Hurricane season is still officially open, but the risk tends to fall once the peak storm weeks have passed. Pack a light rain shell anyway.

Monday is the one day to plan around. The Vallarta Botanical Gardens, 30 km south past Boca Tomatlán, tend to close on Mondays outside high season, so aim for Tuesday through Sunday and catch the orange bus from the corner of Basilio Badillo and Constitución. Some family restaurants on Basilio Badillo close one weekday as well, and a few still take an annual low-season break of several weeks, so check the handwritten sign on the door before committing. For the best use of a Monday, take the 10am water taxi from Los Muertos Pier to Yelapa: the ride takes about 45 minutes, a one-way ticket runs around MXN 400, roughly US$22 at 18.48 pesos to the dollar, and you'll want to bring cash because Yelapa's raicilla stands and pie ladies do not take cards.