You might not find the Riviera Nayarit on a map, because the name was coined just three years ago to describe the 190-mile coastline north of Puerto Vallarta. But development began a decade earlier, and this is now one of the hottest vacation home destinations in Mexico.
Puerto Vallarta sits on the Bay of Banderas, one of the largest bays in Mexico, at the northern tip of the state of Jalisco. A popular cruise port, the city is heavily developed for tourism and day visitors. But just north across the border in the state of Nayarit, more than 30 miles of less-developed beaches line the bay.
Essentially a suburb of Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta is the first community over the border in Nayarit, and as you head north things quickly become more rural. The bay ends with the Punta Mita peninsula, home to Mexico’s premier luxury residential community, but the Riviera Nayarit continues north for more than 100 miles.
via:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/secondhomes/2009-12-10-riviera-nayarit_N.htm