Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, October 30, 2026 — Whale-watching season in Puerto Vallarta will run from December 8, 2026, through March 23, 2027, under a federal notice published Friday.
SEMARNAT, Mexico’s environment ministry, established the same dates for Cabo Corrientes and the Nayarit municipality of Bahía de Banderas. Its 2026–27 season notice sets the authorized observation period across the bay.
For residents arranging winter outings or hosting holiday visitors, the remaining question is whether operators will have their permits ready for opening day.
The publication leaves 39 days before December 8. It also comes a month after the deadline in Mexico’s whale-watching standard, which requires SEMARNAT to publish the annual notice by the last working day of September.
That delay prompted concern from Astrid Frisch Jordán, director of Ecología y Conservación de Ballenas, or ECOBAC, before Friday’s announcement.
“Without that, the permit process cannot begin,” she said, referring to the missing notice. In remarks reported in Spanish, she warned that late permits could encourage disorder as the season begins.
Vallarta Daily has asked ECOBAC whether today’s publication leaves sufficient time to process operators’ permits. A response was pending when this article was prepared.
Friday’s federal publications also change how applications are handled. A separate SEMARNAT order, effective October 31, directs applicants to the ministry’s representation office in the state where the activity will take place.
Those offices will receive applications, check the documentation, and forward the files to the federal wildlife directorate, which retains responsibility for evaluation and approval. The order does not establish a special delivery deadline for this season’s permits.
Crews have already been preparing. CONANP’s 2026 conservation results record 332 training certificates issued in Jalisco and 356 in Nayarit for the coming whale-watching season. These annual operator courses, covered by Vallarta Daily in previous seasons, form part of the preparation, but completing training does not replace federal authorization.
The new season notice also identifies areas where whale-watching remains prohibited because of concentrations of mothers with calves: a 1.5-kilometer radius around Islas Marietas National Park and a coastal strip two kilometers wide from Punta Mita to the Ameca River mouth.
Elsewhere in the authorized observation area, the federal standard requires minimum distances of 60 meters from humpback whales for boats shorter than 10 meters and 80 meters for larger vessels. No more than four boats may observe the same whale or group, and observation is limited to 30 minutes.
For anyone booking an early-season trip, the practical check is the authorization covering the boat that will carry the passengers. Authorized vessels must also display an official identifying marker during the service. Ask the operator to confirm both before departure, along with its refund or rescheduling terms if the trip cannot proceed.
