Destiladeras, Riviera Nayarit real estate: properties for sale

Destiladeras, la playona to locals, is the five-kilometre white-sand beach at kilometre seven of the La Cruz to Punta de Mita road, the North Shore's family beach: a shallow shelf, fine sand, kiteboarding and boogie boards, surf up to two metres at the south end, and an afternoon wind. The MLS bucket is small and mixed. La Playa Estates is the boutique gated beachfront community of a handful of large houses on the sand. Destiladeras itself covers the hillside and inland gated pockets and the Nahui master plan of 2,100 acres at the beach's entrance, with its hillside lots and beachfront condos. Buyers should map the address, not the MLS label: listings in Punta del Burro, Punta Pelícanos and Bolongo sometimes carry the Destiladeras tag though they sit in neighbouring areas.

Buyers are North American second-home owners who want a big beach house or a new beachfront condo with the fewest neighbours on the bay.

Practical points. The airport is about forty kilometres and forty to forty-five minutes on the new direct road; downtown Vallarta fifty to sixty. Most beach access points are controlled by the gated communities; the public parking and palapa restaurants are through the Nahui entrance. La Cruz's marina and fish market are ten minutes east, El Anclote fifteen to twenty west. No clinic in the pocket; CMQ in Bucerías is twenty to twenty-five minutes. Check the status of any timeshare or resort component a master plan promises before you price a lot on its amenities.

— John Forget, Mexico Life Realty