Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Sept. 11, 2026 — The city announced Thursday that municipal aquatic-rescue crews received new flotation devices and completed familiarization drills.
The equipment consists of marpas, flexible rescue tubes used by lifeguards. A brief account of the delivery said personnel practiced handling the devices after receiving them.
The delivery follows a 200,000-peso donation made in June for lifeguard equipment. Civil Protection Director Misael López Muro named marpas among the items the money was expected to purchase. The city has not confirmed that the new devices were paid for with that donation.
How the equipment affects beach response
Water-rescue training materials describe a marpa as a rescue tube used to assist a person in the water. Its flexible body provides flotation while a lifeguard supports or returns the swimmer to shore.
The devices add portable rescue equipment to the city’s existing beach-safety system. Their usefulness depends on how many were purchased and where they are assigned.
The city did not report the number of units, manufacturer, technical specifications, or deployment locations. It also did not say whether each lifeguard would carry a device or whether marpas would be stored at selected surveillance towers.
Those details affect residents and visitors because Puerto Vallarta’s guarded coastline extends from Boca de Tomates to Mismaloya. The municipality previously developed a 12-tower lifeguard network along that stretch.
Without an assignment list, beach users should not assume every guarded location, including Playa Camarones, Los Muertos, Playa de Oro and Palmares, received new equipment.
A 200,000-peso funding trail
The company Juan de la Cosa, which operated the Marigalante tourist ship, donated 200,000 pesos to municipal Civil Protection on June 23. The contribution recognized the agency’s response when the vessel sank in October 2025.
López Muro said in a recorded June interview that the money was “already allocated and earmarked” exclusively for the lifeguard division. He identified personal first-aid kits and marpas among the intended purchases.
The timing and equipment type match that June purchasing plan. However, no public document reviewed by PVDN confirms the funding connection.
Thursday’s announcement did not identify a vendor, invoice, unit price, or total expenditure. It also did not explain whether the delivery included other equipment mentioned by López Muro.
Existing lifeguard capacity
A municipal Civil Protection report recorded 70 aquatic-rescue services during the first three months of 2025. The report said lifeguards also conducted daily beach patrols and preventive contacts with swimmers.
That report placed the purchase and installation cost of 12 surveillance towers at 5.57 million pesos. The locations were selected according to beach attendance and operational needs.
By June 2026, López Muro said the division had three personal watercraft and 12 towers in operating condition. He said those resources covered beaches with the greatest concentrations of visitors.
The new marpas supplement that fixed infrastructure with equipment lifeguards can carry into the water during a rescue.
