Puerto Vallarta weather by month & the best time to visit

🇲🇽 Mexico · beach resort · tropical — wet & dry seasons climate

The best time to visit Puerto Vallarta is January — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 94/100), with December and February close behind. Puerto Vallarta averages about 3,082 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 31°C / 88°F and roughly 16 mm of rain in January.

Jump to: month-by-month table · sea temperature · nearby alternatives · embed this data

Sun hours / year

3,082

Sunniest month

January

Peak score

94/100

Rain / year

1,388 mm

Midday UV at peak

12 (extreme)

Sea at warmest

32°C / 90°F

Population

224k

Elevation

Sea level

When is the best time to visit Puerto Vallarta?

For sunshine, the best time to visit Puerto Vallarta is January, then December and February. The dullest month is May (38/100, 10 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.

How sunny is Puerto Vallarta?

Puerto Vallarta is one of the sunniest places on Earth: about 3,082 hours of sunshine a year. 56 Sunshine Score points separate January (94) from May (38), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #35 of 62 destinations in Mexico for annual sunshine, below the national median of 3,138 hours. Rain is strongly seasonal here: roughly 72% of the year's 1,388 mm falls in the three months around August.

Sunshine Score by month

Sea temperature in Puerto Vallarta by month

The sea off Puerto Vallarta is warmest in September at around 32°C / 90°F, and coolest in April at 24°C / 75°F. The water sits at a comfortable 21°C or warmer roughly all year round. Month-by-month sea-surface temperatures are in the Sea column of the table above.

See Puerto Vallarta on the interactive sunshine globe →

Nearby places for sunshine

• Guadalajara Mexico · 203 km · best in Apr · 3,329 h sun/yr
• Mazatlàn Mexico · 295 km · best in Mar · 3,372 h sun/yr
• Aguascalientes Mexico · 325 km · best in Apr · 3,499 h sun/yr
• Zacatecas Mexico · 362 km · best in Apr · 3,512 h sun/yr
• Durango Mexico · 390 km · best in Apr · 3,561 h sun/yr
• Guanajuato Mexico · 394 km · best in Apr · 3,389 h sun/yr

Nearest destinations

• Tepic Mexico · 93 km · 3,420 h sun/yr · best in Apr
• Manzanillo Mexico · 186 km · 3,160 h sun/yr · best in Apr
• Colima Mexico · 235 km · 3,149 h sun/yr · best in Jan

Head-to-head

How Puerto Vallarta compares month by month: Puerto Vallarta vs Guadalajara · Puerto Vallarta vs Aguascalientes · Puerto Vallarta vs Mazatlàn · all comparisons