Monteón, Nayarit: The Village Behind the Riviera's Wildest Beaches

Most people drive straight through El Monteón without knowing it. It sits right on Highway 200 between Rincón de Guayabitos and Lo de Marcos, it has no beach of its own, and it does not try to sell you anything. That is exactly why it is worth knowing. It is also the way in to Punta Raza, one of the last undeveloped beaches on this coast.

What Monteón is not is a place you stay. It is a place you go through. Everything good about it is a day out from somewhere else, which means the real question is where you come back to at night. We run Cerrito Encantado on a hill in Altavista, 30 minutes north, so this is the local version rather than the brochure one.

Should you visit Monteón?

Where Monteón is and what it actually is

El Monteón is a village of roughly 1,800 people in the municipality of Compostela, Nayarit, on the federal highway between Tepic and Puerto Vallarta. It is inland, a few kilometers back from the coast, which is the whole reason it stayed itself while Guayabitos and La Peñita filled up with visitors.

The economy here is farming, brickmaking, and fishing. You will see stacks of hand made brick drying in yards and fields on the edges of town. There is a plaza, small shops, and people who will say good morning to you.

Do not come here looking for a boardwalk. Come here because the two wildest, emptiest beaches left on this stretch of coast are reached through it, and because the village itself is what this coast looked like before anyone called it the Riviera Nayarit. We live one village over in Altavista, so none of this is a criticism.

The strangest thing about this village

Both One&Only Mandarina and Rosewood Mandarina, two of the most expensive resorts in Mexico, carry an El Monteón, Compostela postal address. Rosewood's own opening announcement places the property in this municipality, and One&Only's registered address is Carretera Federal 200, Monteón, Nayarit.

So you have suites that cost more per night than many homes here cost in a year, sharing a name with a brickmaking village. Nobody in Monteón makes a fuss about it. It is just a fact of the map.

Two golf courses, one small town

This is the part nobody expects. A village of 1,800 people has two golf courses, and they could not be less alike.

Campo de Golf Ensueño sits right in Monteón on the Tepic to Puerto Vallarta highway at Km 102. It is the local one: unpretentious, green, shaded by big trees, and it closes at 4pm. Google reviewers give it 4.5 stars across a hundred plus ratings. This is a walk up round, not an event.

Mandarina Golf Club is the other extreme, out on the coastal side near Punta Raza as part of the Mandarina resort development. Ocean and jungle, and priced accordingly. Check discovermandarina.com before you go, because access and rates depend on whether you are staying there.

If you only have time for one and you want to remember where you actually are, play Ensueño. Guests who stay with us tend to play a morning round and be back at the pool by lunch.

Getting there

Monteón is about 30 minutes from Cerrito Encantado, straight down Highway 200 past La Peñita and Guayabitos. It sits roughly midway between La Peñita de Jaltemba and Lo de Marcos, so if you are driving this coast at all, you will pass it.

It is also a junction now. The Las Varas to Puerto Vallarta toll highway has an access point at Monteón, which makes the village a decision point for anyone heading south: fast toll road, or the old coastal libre through the pueblos. It also means steady traffic through town that the hill villages never get.

You do not need a car to stay with us, but for Monteón you want one. The good parts are down dirt roads. Without a car it turns into a relay: the Altavista colectivo runs to La Peñita and Las Varas only, and from La Peñita you can pick up another colectivo or a taxi. The simpler version is to take a taxi from Altavista, and we will set that up for you if you do not speak Spanish.

The beaches: Punta Raza, Frideras, Los Ayala

Monteón has no beach in town. What it has is access.

Punta Raza

Punta Raza is the one people talk about. The Riviera Nayarit tourism board itself calls it one of the last untouched beaches on this coast, reached by a narrow path that winds through the hills starting in Monteón. It runs about three kilometers of fine sand, backed by jungle and hills, with heavy Pacific surf.

Be clear eyed about it. There are no services. A beach club operated out there on weekends and is now permanently closed, and recent visitors describe it as abandoned. The access is a rough track with narrow sections and, depending on the season, water crossings. Reviewers call it a place for adventurers, and that is accurate.

The surf is strong, so this is a beach for walking and looking, not for casual swimming.

Playa Frideras

Frideras sits between Monteón and Los Ayala and is the payoff at the end of one of the best hikes in the region. The Monteón to Los Ayala route runs about 16 km with roughly 630 m of climbing and takes most people five to six hours, mostly through shaded jungle before it drops onto the sand. Hikers rate it highly and specifically mention how much shade there is, which matters here.

If that is too much, the shorter Los Ayala to Punta Raza route is around 8 km and two and a half to three hours.

Los Ayala

Los Ayala is about 6 km from Monteón and is the easy answer. Calm cove, sand you can actually swim off, restaurants with chairs and umbrellas, families in the water. When you want a beach day instead of an expedition, this is where you go, and Rincón de Guayabitos is right next door if you want more going on. Both are about half an hour from us, which is why guests here tend to do a different beach every day instead of the same one all week.

Las Tinajas and the jungle behind town

Behind Monteón the land climbs into the Sierra de Vallejo, a protected biosphere reserve of tropical forest that forms part of the jaguar corridor running through western Mexico. Jaguars, parrots, armadillos, and a long list of birds live in there.

The hike rated highest in the reserve is Las Tinajas de Monteón, about 7 km round trip with roughly 200 m of climbing, two to two and a half hours. Tinajas are the natural rock pools you find along the water. Go after the rains, when there is actually water in them. In the dry months you get a good walk and not much of a swim.

Take more water than you think you need. This is jungle heat, not mountain air.

Sea turtles

Punta Raza is a significant sea turtle nesting beach, and an independent turtle camp works there specifically to collect and protect nests. Nesting runs mainly through summer and fall.

If you are here in that window, keep your distance from nesting females, keep lights and flash off the beach at night, and do not drive on the sand. The camp is a handful of people doing this work with very little.

Where to stay

Honest answer: you do not stay in Monteón, you pass through it. No hotels, a handful of private rentals, and the two Mandarina resorts at the far luxury end. The village sits on the federal highway with the toll road junction right there, so it gets traffic all day, and there is no beach and no dinner within walking distance. That is not a knock on the place. It is a village people live and work in, not one built to host you.

So pick a base and treat Monteón as a day out. La Peñita de Jaltemba and Rincón de Guayabitos give you the most services and the big Thursday tianguis, with the tradeoff of being in the busy part of the bay. Lo de Marcos is quieter and walkable. Los Ayala is the smallest and the most beach focused.

Or go up instead of along. Cerrito Encantado is our place on a hill in Altavista, off the highway entirely: two casitas and private rooms, a salt water pool looking down the valley to the ocean, an outdoor kitchen with a brick oven, Starlink wifi, fruit trees we share with guests, and dogs who will decide you are family. Monteón is 30 minutes, La Peñita 20, Chacala 27, Guayabitos 24. You get the wild beaches by day and a view, a pool, and a kitchen to come back to, which is exactly what Monteón cannot give you.

Where to eat

Monteón eating is village eating. A few simple family run places along and just off the highway, and shops for basics. Bring cash and do not count on cards.

That is a strength, not a warning. You will eat well and cheaply and nobody will hand you a laminated menu in English. What it is not is dinner, so plan Monteón as a lunch stop.

For a sit down meal with a view, drive to Los Ayala or Guayabitos, where the beachfront palapas do pescado zarandeado, ceviche, and grilled shrimp with your feet more or less in the sand. Our guests eat out all along this coast, in Chacala, La Peñita, Guayabitos, Lo de Marcos and San Pancho, and cook at Cerrito Encantado the rest of the time, which is why the outdoor kitchen and the brick oven get used most nights.

If you go to Punta Raza, pack your own food. There is nothing out there.

What the nightlife is like

There is no nightlife in Monteón, and that is not a criticism.

Evenings in the villages around here look much the same: neighbors outside, music from somebody's yard, kids in the plaza, a small store still open. When there is a fiesta it gets loud and stays loud, and that is a good night out if you let it be one. Ours does exactly the same and we would not change it.

For bars, live music, and a malecón to walk, go to Rincón de Guayabitos or La Peñita, a short drive north. That is where the evening crowd is.

Worth knowing: Monteón is a road town. The 200 runs straight through it and the toll road junction is right there, so it carries traffic all day in a way the hill villages never do. Up in Altavista nothing passes through at all, and the evening is the valley dropping away to the ocean in front of you. That is the difference between the two, and it is why people base at Cerrito Encantado and drive down to the beaches rather than the other way round.

When to come

November through April is dry and warm, and it is when the trails are easiest and the roads to the beaches are at their most passable. It is also our busiest stretch, so winter dates go early.

Summer and early fall bring the rain, the heat, the humidity, and the green. The jungle is spectacular, the tinajas actually have water, and the turtles are nesting. The tradeoff is that dirt roads get harder and afternoon storms are real.

Practical notes

• Bring cash and do not count on cards, in the village or anywhere near the beaches.
• Fill up on gas before you go poking down dirt roads.
• Assume you will lose cell signal once you are in the hills or down at Punta Raza. Tell someone your plan.
• The Punta Raza track is not a rental sedan road. If your car is low, hike it or skip it.
• Do not leave anything visible in a parked car at an empty beach.
• A little Spanish goes a long way here. This is not a town that runs on English.

Frequently asked questions

Does Monteón have a beach?

No. Monteón sits inland off Highway 200. The beaches it gives you access to are Punta Raza and Playa Frideras, both undeveloped, and Los Ayala about 6 km away, which is the easy swimmable one.

Where should I stay if I want to visit Monteón?

Not in Monteón itself. It is a highway village with no hotels and nothing open after dark. Base yourself in the bay towns, or up in the hills at Cerrito Encantado in Altavista, which is about 30 minutes from Monteón and within half an hour of six different beaches.

Can you drive to Punta Raza?

Only with a high clearance vehicle, and even then the track is rough with narrow sections and seasonal water crossings. Many people hike in from Monteón or from Los Ayala instead. It is not a rental sedan road.

Is there anywhere to eat or buy water at Punta Raza?

No. The beach club that used to open on weekends is permanently closed. Bring your own food, water, and shade.

Is Monteón worth visiting?

Yes, if you want the wild side of this coast. It is the access point for the last undeveloped beaches in the area, the Sierra de Vallejo hikes, and a village that still runs on farming and brickmaking rather than tourism. Go for the day, not for the week.

How far is Monteón from Cerrito Encantado?

About 30 minutes by car, straight down Highway 200 past La Peñita and Rincón de Guayabitos.

Monteón is a day trip, not a place to stay. Cerrito Encantado is 30 minutes up the hill in Altavista, off the highway: salt water pool, valley and ocean views, and six beaches within half an hour.

See rentals

Keep reading

• Riviera Nayarit Beach Towns: A Local Guide to the Coast
• Explore La Penita de Jaltemba, Nayarit
• Renting a Car for Your Stay in Nayarit