Los Arcos del Malecón: The Backdrop to the Amphitheater

Stretching for more than a mile along Banderas Bay, El Malecón is a great place to stroll any time of day, but especially in the evenings. Along the way, visitors will see everything from sand sculptures and bronze sculptures to the iconic Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. This place is also home to the Los Arcos (The Arches), another iconic symbol of Puerto Vallarta.

Los Arcos del Malecón (The Arches of the Malecón) are four large decorative stone arches that were brought to Puerto Vallarta from a colonial hacienda close to Guadalajara. Over the time, they have become almost as worldwide recognizable as the El Caballito sculpture.

Located on the southern end of the Malecón first section, Los Arcos are the backdrop to the open-air theater (Los Arcos Amphitheater) located down there, where hundreds of kids and families enjoy free shows, musical and altruistic festivals, clowns and even folkloric dance displays that take place here on this seaside place.

Over the years, Los Arcos del Malecón have been used in most of Puerto Vallarta promotional touristic material, so it was a terrible loss when the Kena Hurricane dragged them away into the sea in October 2002. So, a replica was placed there by artist and sculpture Martín Distancia and his assistances (Manuel Palos and Martín Yepez) in December 2002.