Mexico`s Costa Alegre

El Careyes Beach
Resort
castaway’s
reward
On Mexico’s Costa Alegre, three romantic
hideaways nestle amid primeval jungle and beaches
where sea turtles leave the only prints.
Text By Jeff Book
Photography By Shelley Metcalf
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F
or years, seasoned
­travelers have touted
the 150 miles of verdant
Pacific coast from Puerto
­Vallarta south to Manzanillo
as Mexico’s undiscovered
treasure. Remarkably, Costa
Alegre, or Happy Coast, still
is, despite a roster of visitors
that includes A-list actors
and directors, European
­aristocrats, Sports Illustrated
swimsuit models, and
globe-trotting polo players.
The mystique persists
­because Costa Alegre has
preserved its natural beauty,
and because its remoteness
keeps the paparazzi and other a lot of European visitors,
T
he large, free-form
pool at El Careyes
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P
ortofino meets the
Pacific in the vivid
modern irritants at bay. “It’s
but now we’re getting more
just isolated enough to dis-
Americans who realize it’s
courage the package tourists
not difficult to travel here.”
flavored architecture of
and spring-break hordes,”
Frequent flights connect the
El Careyes Beach Resort.
says Giorgio Brignone, a
United States to Puerto
Lodgings overlook the
member of the Italian clan
Vallarta and Manza­nillo, and
rocky islets that shelter
that has smartly developed
on the well-paved highway
the cove and crescent-shape
the stretch known as Costa
between them, traffic flows
beach. The laid-back
Careyes. “We’ve always had
freely. Except, that is, for
­European atmosphere
the occasional cattle drive
means that during the
­(imagine the Pacific Coast
November-to-April polo
Highway doubling as the
season, resort guests can
Chisholm Trail) or party
watch mallet-whirling
of pint-size banditos (kids
­riders and their mounts
blocking the road to solicit
wheel and dash on a
donations for school).
­forest-hemmed field.
palette and Mediterranean-
A trio of alluring resorts—
­suggests a lagoon set in
El Careyes, Las Alamandas,
a palmy oasis. A plunge
and El Tamarindo—dots
pool on a guest-room
a south-central section of
patio (far left) allows for a
­Costa Alegre that takes little
secluded soak. Left: Fresh
more than an hour to drive,
Pacific lobster is a resort
making it feasible to stay at
specialty.
any or all on one trip. Each
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and open-sided living
areas crowned with soaring
thatched roofs. The style
is at once contemporary,
timeless, and comfortable.
Visitors can rent these fabulous villas or simply admire
them while staying at El
Careyes Beach Resort or in
the colorful casitas above
neighboring Playa Rosa.
El careyes
beach resort
Painted sunset hues, the
resort­ resembles a ­whimsical
Mediterranean village
wrapped around a palmstudded piazza. Beyond its
sprawling, amoeba-shape
pool lies a crescent of
sand and offshore islets so
A
t Las Alamandas,
sunbathing platforms
rise at both ends of the
main swimming pool.
A private table may mean
one set atop a sea cliff
or on a deserted beach.
Below: Flower petals
adorn the bed in a resort
guest room.
picturesque that “guests
follows the example set by
sometimes compliment us
Giorgio’s father, Gian Fran-
for their placement,” notes
co Brignone, who arrived in
a waiter in the open-air din-
Careyes in the late ’60s:
ing room. The cosmopolitan
Start with hundreds of acres
crowd that comes here in
of unspoiled coast; insist
the fall-to-spring high sea-
on careful, low-density
son circulates at multilingual
­development; and build in
­parties in the villas, at resort
a style that harmonizes with
restaurants, and at simple eat-
nature. All three resorts of-
eries along the highway.
fer ways to explore the lush
tropical environment, spa
Las alamandas
To the north, with 1,500
services, varied menus that
gloriously empty acres and
Isabel Goldsmith created this
draw on fresh fish and other
a maximum capacity of
­hedonistic hacienda to her
local ingredients, and mucho
30 guests, Las Alamandas
own exacting standards and
­Alamandas’ shady patios
­romantic atmosphere.
­encourages guests to
­welcomes visitors personally.
and courtyards, cool spots
indulge their whims. Care to
The comfortable, color-
to retreat when not
­inspiration from the cliff-
canter on a deserted beach?
splashed rooms feature pri-
­lounging in an inviting
topping Careyes villas,
Your horse awaits. Fancy a
vate patios, Mexican crafts,
hammock near long, empty
which blend vibrant walls,
candlelit dinner for two on a
and ample soaking tubs. The
stretches of sugary sand.
patterned concrete floors,
seaside promontory?
main dining area overlooks
And all draw design
M
ultihued walls
embrace Las
¡No problema! Owner
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T
hatched roofs shelter seaside
massages and villas at El
Tamarindo. The accommodations
(opposite, ­bottom) feature private
plunge pools, open living areas,
and air-conditioned bedrooms
and baths.
F
the ocean, beach, whiskery
ages, to lay their eggs. As at
palms, and, at dusk, forag-
the two other resorts,
ing tejones. Mexico’s answer
El Tamarindo protects the
to raccoons, these creatures
eggs from animal and hu-
sweat lodge, which puri-
provide a sort of floor show
man predators. Assisting the
fies bodies with steam and
ire-heated stones fuel
El Tamarindo’s
beachfront temazcal, or
as they roam to and fro, their hatchlings to the water’s
herbs. The resort’s curva-
long, curving tails gliding
edge, guests become part of
ceous pool (below) sparkles
through the air like question
an ancient cycle. Watching
just steps from the sand
marks. The bar’s signature
the tiny turtles wobble into
and sea.
rum punch shares its name
with one of the property’s
beaches: Soledad. The same
word—Spanish for solitude—sums up much of
the appeal of Las Alamandas,
a perfect place to be alone
together.
El Tamarindo
Marrying palapa roofs, outdoor lounge areas, plunge
pools, and obscuring foliage,
the 29 villas of 2,040-acre
El Tama­rindo epitomize
the discreet retreat. They
echo the resort’s dining pavilion and adjacent pool on
a ­personal scale. Guests can
bike trails that extend across
a golf course woven into the
the surf, knowing that only
jungle, explore the shore in
a few will make it back to
kayaks, or have a massage
reproduce, makes palpable
in a breezy beach hut. They
the pulse of nature.
­follow spa director Reto
Kade into the beachfront
“When you come to this
temazcal, a sweat lodge heat-
coast, you always come
ed with rocks pulled from a
back,” Giorgio declares.
bonfire.
“Like a ­turtle—only the
Pheasantlike birds known
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And the desire to return.
odds are much better!” For-
as chachalacas mark morning
tunately, much of Costa
and evening with a riotous
Alegre will remain undis-
racket. Big white butterflies
turbed for years to come, al-
float by like flying handker-
lowing repeat and first-time
chiefs. And sea turtles come
visitors to enjoy its not-so-
ashore, as they have for
secret splendors.
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