Bronze Sculptures on the Malecon, Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is famous for its all-inclusive resorts, beautiful weather, and for its Old Town charm. We can’t recommend highly enough for visitors to jump in a taxi, and take a stroll down the malecon, or the beach walk which contains great shopping, night life, and restaurants. Cuponismo writer Justin Henderson also captures some of the art you will find while taking a stroll down the malecon.
Art on the Malecon – Justin Henderson, photos by
Donna Day.
Resorty Puerto Vallarta has a rep for great beaches and lively nightclubs, yet given the city’s constant, noisy traffic, not many consider it a walking town. But it is:
take a stroll down the mile-long Malecon, Vallarta’s inviting seafront promenade and the city’s social heart. You’ll find
a fantastic array of cast bronze sculptures, ranging from purely romantic to hyper-surrealistic–a permanent collection created over the past few decades that
makes the Malecon not just a great walk but a great art walk.
Dancing Couple
There are in fact so many, that we decided to only highlight a few, as this would literally become a pictorial instead of an article. This should motivate those visitors who are looking for something to do, to walk down and see them for themselves.
Bronze Art found along the Malecon
These days, along with the bronzes, a whole new form of less permanent art has emerged along the beach below the Malecon seawall: sand sculptures. A number of imaginative artists are creating some wonderfully entertaining pieces—Aztec gods and goddesses, giant iguanas, whales– on the narrow stretches of sand below the Malecon. You can watch them work, and offer tips—each has a collection box set up for just that purpose, and they deserve whatever you can afford to give them.
Sand Castle Art
Last but not least, a man has taken to creating stacked rock sculptures on the last bit of rocky beach beneath the Malecon.
Rock Sculptures
At the
south end of the Malecon you’ll find the arches of the Portico, artists making paintings and selling painting, a sunken outdoor theater, and across the street, Puerto Vallarta’s lively, shady central plaza—and for those yearning for a taste of home, a
Starbucks. From here the
Malecon swings seaward, passes the Naval History Museum, bridges the
Rio Cuale, and drops down into Old Vallarta.
a view of Los Arcos
Justin Henderson is the author of nine books on architecture and interior design, travel guides to Costa Rica, Los Angeles, and the Caribbean, and seven murder mysteries featuring amateur sleuth Lucy Ripken. His surfing style is much like his writing, playful, smooth and easy on the eyes.
