Playa Mismaloya is the place that changed forever the future of the small fishing village of Puerto Vallarta, transforming it from one day to the next into an attractive tourist destination.
Who would have imagined that the arrival of John Huston, who was reviewing locations in Mexico for the filming of his next film, La Noche de la Iguana, would have such a big effect on everyone in this town, something that has reverberated for decades.
Some wish it had not changed, John Huston included, because he did not imagine the effect that his movie would have and the media that harassed them, although he liked Vallarta a lot, where he later bought a villa, moved a bit further along the coast towards the south to Las Caletas, inaccessible place by land (even today), to avoid the bustle of the incipient city.
When the director and the Hollywood stars he chose for the filming arrived, everything changed, the press arrived hoping to obtain juicy news and many scandals to sell their magazines and newspapers. It was not a temporary change because the director and the biggest Hollywood stars of the moment bought houses and lived for years in the city.
Mismaloya is currently a small fishing village on the southern shore of the small bay. The name Mismaloya comes from the Nahuatl Michmaloyan, which means “place where fish is taken out” and is best known for the beautiful white sand beach and the bay with crystal clear emerald waters. The jungle reaches to the edge of the sea and the Mismaloya River flows into the south side.
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