The warning landed as the bay entered another stretch of rough marine conditions, with long-period swell pushing into Nayarit and Jalisco beaches. Officials are asking people to avoid the water, but the risk is not only wave height. Rip currents, loose beach furniture, small boats, and shifting surf are all part of the alert, and federal forecasters say the same Pacific pattern still includes the coast around Bahía de Banderas during the next several days.
Bahía de Banderas tells beachgoers to stay out
Bahía de Banderas officials warned beachgoers to stay out of the sea after long-period swell continued along the Nayarit coast, with federal forecasters also placing Nayarit and Jalisco under elevated surf conditions Thursday in a June 3 forecast.
The municipal bulletin said the mar de fondo event could continue for 72 hours. Its clearest instruction was blunt. “Avoid entering the sea and stay safe.”
The warning covers a familiar risk along the bay during swell events. The surface can appear manageable between sets, then change quickly as larger waves arrive. A Thursday warning indicated higher-than-normal waves, dangerous rip currents, and potential impacts on swimmers, small boats, beach furniture, and coastal infrastructure.
Federal forecast includes the same coast
The Servicio Meteorológico Nacional forecast issued Wednesday evening called for mar de fondo with waves of 1.5 to 2.5 meters along the coasts of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas on Thursday. That is about 5 to 8 feet.
The same forecast also listed wind gusts of 30 to 50 kilometers per hour in Nayarit and Jalisco, about 19 to 31 miles per hour, while forecasting heavy rain in southern Nayarit and heavy rain in parts of Jalisco.
Mar de fondo is a long, continuous swell generated by storms over open water, according to federal risk guidance from CENAPRED. It can travel long distances before reaching shore. That makes it different from surf driven only by local wind or rain.
What authorities are asking people to do
The advice is simple but disruptive. Do not swim. Avoid water sports. Follow the lifeguard and Civil Protection instructions at the beach. Operators should remove loose furniture from the sand and secure small vessels while the swell remains active.
The risk is not limited to wave size. NOAA describes rip currents as strong, narrow channels of water moving away from shore, starting near the shoreline and extending through the surf zone.
If someone is pulled by a rip current, the guidance is not to fight straight back toward the beach. NOAA says swimmers should float if needed, signal for help, and move parallel to shore until out of the current before angling back in.
The latest warning follows a similar Puerto Vallarta rough-seas advisory earlier this week, when officials also cited mar de fondo, rip currents, and changing water levels. The bay often shares these marine conditions, even when each municipality issues its own notices.
The Bahía de Banderas alert did not announce a broader beach closure in the text reviewed. It was a stay-out-of-the-water warning tied to dangerous sea conditions. Conditions can ease before the 72-hour window ends, but municipal and federal forecasts both pointed to continued caution through Thursday.
