Puerto Vallarta Wedding Transportation
Guest shuttles, Sprinters and coaches for weddings around Banderas Bay, booked by the hour.
Venue areas
Three wedding areas, and the miles between them
Weddings around the bay tend to happen in one of three places. Punta Mita, on the headland at the northern tip, for resort and beach weddings. Nuevo Vallarta, just across the state line, for the large beachfront resorts. And the old town of Puerto Vallarta, for the church, the restaurants and the rooftops above the Zona Romántica.
The guests are rarely all in the same place as the wedding. A couple marries in Punta Mita while half the guests have booked the old town; a Nuevo Vallarta resort hosts the ceremony and the rest of the group is in Bucerías. The distances between the areas are what the transport plan is built around.
| Between | Miles | Without traffic |
|---|---|---|
| Old Town and Nuevo Vallarta | 12.8 | about 25 min |
| Nuevo Vallarta and Punta Mita | 19.8 | about 35 min |
| Old Town and Punta Mita | 30.7 | about 55 min |
Guest shuttles
How a guest shuttle works
A wedding shuttle is not a string of transfers. The vehicles are held for the evening, by the hour, and run a schedule the couple or the planner sets: from the guest hotels to the ceremony, from the ceremony to the reception if they are in different places, and back to the hotels at the end.
The end of the night is the part to plan. Some guests leave after dinner, others stay to the last song. A common answer is two return runs — an early one and a late one — which means the vehicles stay for the whole evening rather than dropping guests and disappearing.
Everything is booked by the hour with a four-hour minimum, and the clock runs from the first pickup to the last drop.
A typical schedule
- Pickup at the guest hotels, timed back from the ceremony.
- Ceremony to reception, if the venues differ.
- An early return run after dinner.
- A late return run at the end of the night.
Sizing
Sprinters or coaches
A coach moves the most people per vehicle; a Sprinter goes where a coach cannot. Around the bay that choice is usually made by the roads rather than the head count.
Resort driveways in Nuevo Vallarta and Punta Mita generally take a coach. The old town's cobbled, one-way and hillside streets often do not, and there several Sprinters — each able to stop closer to the door — beat one large vehicle parked three blocks away. Guests spread across several hotels are also easier with Sprinters, one to each hotel.
The table moves every guest in one trip two ways: the lowest-cost mix of coaches and Sprinters, and Sprinters only, for an old-town wedding where a coach cannot reach the door. If the schedule allows, fewer vehicles running twice cost less again.
| Guests | Lowest-cost fleet | 5-hour hold | Sprinters only | 5-hour hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 × Sprinter | $1,075 | 1 × Sprinter | $1,075 |
| 25 | 1 × coach | $1,375 | 2 × Sprinter | $2,150 |
| 40 | 1 × coach | $1,375 | 3 × Sprinter | $3,225 |
| 60 | 2 × coach | $2,750 | 5 × Sprinter | $5,375 |
| 100 | 3 × coach | $4,125 | 8 × Sprinter | $8,600 |
| 150 | 4 × coach | $5,500 | 11 × Sprinter | $11,825 |
Prices
Hourly prices
Every vehicle is priced by the hour, for the whole vehicle, with a four-hour minimum.
| Vehicle | Seats | Per hour | 4-hour minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium SUV | Up to 5 | $145 | $580 |
| Executive SUV | Up to 5 | $155 | $620 |
| Sprinter Executive | Up to 12 | $215 | $860 |
| Sprinter Coach | Up to 14 | $215 | $860 |
| SUV Stretch | Up to 14 | $225 | $900 |
| Party Bus | Up to 20 | $245 | $980 |
| Party Bus (larger) | Up to 25 | $285 | $1,140 |
| Executive Coach Bus | Up to 40 | $275 | $1,100 |
Old Town
Old Town weddings: plan the meeting points
The church in the Centro and the old-town venues are the hardest places on the bay for vehicles. The streets are narrow and many run one way, so the vehicle often cannot wait at the door, and a coach may not be able to reach it at all.
Agree the pickup and drop points in advance, on streets a vehicle can use, and tell the guests where they are. It is a small thing on paper and the difference between an orderly exit and fifty people looking for a bus.
Venues
Venue access is the venue's rule
Resorts and private developments set their own rules for large vehicles: where they may stop, whether they may wait, and whether the gate needs a list of plates or names in advance. Those rules are theirs, they change, and we do not publish them.
Ask your venue or planner for the vehicle access instructions and send them to us with the booking, along with the planner's contact for the day.
Two states
One time on the invitation
Punta Mita and Nuevo Vallarta are in Nayarit; the old town is in Jalisco. Most of Nayarit keeps a different time from Jalisco, which worries couples printing invitations. It need not: both wedding areas on the Nayarit side are in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, which Mexico's federal time-zone law keeps on Central time, the same as Puerto Vallarta.
A 6 pm ceremony in Punta Mita is 6 pm for a guest staying in the old town.
Guests arriving
Getting the guests in from the airport
Wedding guests arrive on different flights over several days, and each arrival is simply a transfer from PVR, priced on its own. The zone grid on the Puerto Vallarta page covers every area; the long runs to Punta Mita and Sayulita have their own pages.
For a group arriving together — the wedding party on one flight — a Sprinter from the airport keeps everyone and the luggage in one vehicle.
Nearby
Transfers for the guests
The airport transfers to each wedding area, and the city hub.
Booking
What to send us
The date, the ceremony and reception venues and times, the guest hotels, the number of guests, and the planner's contact. Send the venue's vehicle access instructions when you have them.
The vehicle, the driver and the fuel for the hours booked are included. Tips are not included and are at your discretion. Cancelling is free up to 24 hours before pickup.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the guest count and the roads. The sizing table on this page gives the lowest-cost fleet and a Sprinters-only fleet for every guest in one trip; fewer vehicles running twice cost less if the schedule allows.
Often not to the door. Many old-town streets are narrow, cobbled or one-way, so plan pickup points on streets a vehicle can use, or use Sprinters.
Yes, four hours per vehicle. The clock runs from the first pickup to the last drop.
30.7 miles, about 55 min without traffic.
Yes. Punta Mita is in Nayarit, but in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, which keeps Central time like Puerto Vallarta.
Venues set their own and change them, so we do not publish them. Ask your venue or planner and send us the instructions.
No, per vehicle, for the hours booked.