The boat gets you there. The pie makes a pretty good case for staying.
South of Puerto Vallarta, Yelapa curves around a golden beach backed by jungle. Small boats bob in the bay. Lunch happens under a palapa. A walk into town has a way of taking longer than you intended.
For our Fall 2025 issue, writer Carrie Honaker arrived by boat, then transferred to a local skiff for the last stretch to shore. Once her feet were in the sand, the pace of the day changed.
Take the walk
With local guide Tatiana PV Meneses Sánchez, Honaker followed trails past mango and papaya trees to a waterfall. Back in town, brightly painted homes gave way to tiled mosaics and the occasional wandering iguana.
They stopped at the village museum, where photographs and artifacts trace Yelapa’s history, including its days as a coconut-oil trading hub. At Micheladas Vicky, they tasted raicilla, the regional agave spirit. Then it was back to the beach for octopus zarandeado at Domingo’s, grilled over coals.
Save room for Chely
As lunch wound down, Honaker spotted the person she had been hoping to meet: Chely Rodríguez, Yelapa’s Pie Lady, walking the beach with a green Tupperware bowl tucked in her arms.
Rodríguez told Honaker she had been baking and selling pies on the sand for 40 years. She began at eight, following her mother, who had learned from her own mother. By the time of the magazine visit, her nieces were learning the family recipes, too.
“I had a fire for baking, and I love to walk on the sand,” Rodríguez said.
Inside the bowl were slices of guava, coconut, corn, and apple pie. Honaker bought one of each to share with her family. Some decisions don’t need much deliberation.
On the way back through the shallows to the waiting skiff, she was already thinking about returning.
A little planning. Then slow down.
Yelapa is a village on Mexico’s mainland, reached by boat from the Puerto Vallarta area. Water taxis and private boat trips are part of the experience, but departure times and conditions can change. Confirm your outward and return arrangements with your operator.
Bring cash for small purchases and shoes you can comfortably walk in. If a waterfall hike is on your list, ask a local guide about the route and current conditions rather than treating an old travel schedule as a promise.
The Puerto Vallarta tourism board’s Yelapa page is a useful place to start. Leave some of the day unassigned. You might run into someone carrying pie.
Adapted from “Yelapa Unplugged” by Carrie Honaker in Beach Happy Magazine, Fall 2025, Issue 22. Photography courtesy of the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board. The visit and interview described here took place for the original magazine feature. Read the original issue.
