Best Beach Destination Wedding Venues in Riviera Nayarit

Golden sand rather than white, Pacific swell rather than flat Caribbean water, and mountains rising behind the shoreline instead of flat jungle. The beaches along this coast look and feel different from the ones most couples picture when they think about marrying in Mexico, and for a lot of people that’s the reason they end up here.

The practical difference is the direction. Riviera Nayarit faces west, so the sun goes down into the ocean in front of your ceremony rather than behind you. A five o’clock start in winter puts that light directly across the aisle, which is why photographers on this coast plan the entire day backward from sunset.

Capacities here run from 100 guests up to 650, which is a wider range than almost any wedding destination in the country. Below are seven resorts and what their beaches actually hold, and our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists can tell you which are held privately for your destination wedding.

Best Beach Destination Wedding Venues at Top Riviera Nayarit Resorts

Seven resorts along the Riviera Nayarit shoreline, from straightforward 100-guest beaches to the two largest on the coast.

1. Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta

Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta has two beach venues, and each one holds 650 guests, which makes it the only resort on this coast that can seat a very large wedding on sand twice over.

Sunset Beach is the one the name promises, with the light coming straight down the aisle late in the day. Ciao Beach runs alongside it with the same ocean views and the same sunsets. Having both means a ceremony on one and a reception on the other without anyone leaving the resort. It’s 4.5-star and family-friendly in Nuevo Vallarta.

Learn more about Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta and get a free quote today >>

2. Marival Distinct All-Suites & World Spa – Handwritten Collection

Marival Distinct All-Suites & World Spa – Handwritten Collection runs Mozzamere Beach for 500 guests, on the pristine sand that gives this stretch of Nayarit its reputation.

It’s the largest beach venue at any five-star property on the coast, which matters if you want a big ceremony without compromising on the standard of the week around it. The resort is family-friendly and in Nuevo Vallarta, with a terrace and a sky bar upstairs for the parts of the celebration that work better off the sand.

Learn more about Marival Distinct All-Suites & World Spa – Handwritten Collection and get a free quote today >>

3. Marival Emotions Resort & Suites Riviera Nayarit by Mercure

Marival Emotions Resort & Suites Riviera Nayarit by Mercure pairs Capriccio Beach, seating 200 for a ceremony or a seaside reception, with the Mai Tai beach club for 300.

A beach club is a different proposition from open sand. You get a built structure, a bar, shade, and somewhere for people to sit that isn’t a folding chair, which changes how a reception runs once the ceremony is over. Combining the two gives you vows at the water and dinner somewhere with a roof, and the resort is four-star and family-friendly.

Learn more about Marival Emotions Resort & Suites Riviera Nayarit by Mercure and get a free quote today >>

4. Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort

Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort is the adults-only option on this list, 4.5-star, up the coast toward Sayulita where the surf is part of the appeal.

The Beach Garden & Wooden Deck holds 240 on polished planks set just off the sand with garden planting behind, which solves the problem of chairs sinking and heels disappearing. The Sand Terrace takes 80 for something secluded, and The Nest seats 50. For a wedding where every guest is an adult and the week is about the water, this is the strongest match on the coast.

Learn more about Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort and get a free quote today >>

5. Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa

Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa offers two separate beach settings, each for 150. The Beach Pergola puts a structure over the ceremony, which gives you shade and a frame for the photographs, and the Beach Area runs right to the edge of the waves for something more rustic.

Having both is genuinely useful. A pergola ceremony at four in the afternoon when the sun is still high, then a reception down on the open sand as it drops, uses the same beach two ways. The resort is 4.5-star, family-friendly, and the largest property on this list.

Learn more about Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa and get a free quote today >>

6. Riu Palace Pacifico

Riu Palace Pacifico is the adults-only value pick in Nuevo Vallarta, with a single beach venue for 100 handling the ceremony, the reception, and the cocktail hour.

One venue rather than eight suits a particular kind of couple: the beach is the point, the day is straightforward, and the budget is doing its work on the room block instead. The golden sand here runs a long way in both directions, and at four stars the nightly rate makes a full guest list more achievable.

Learn more about Riu Palace Pacifico and get a free quote today >>

7. Riu Vallarta

Riu Vallarta is the most affordable beachfront wedding property on the coast at 3.5 stars, family-friendly, and large enough to absorb a sizable room block.

Its beach venue takes 100, where the golden sand meets the Pacific, and the Val Terrace Solarium adds an open-air terrace for 100 if you want the reception off the sand. For couples whose main constraint is what guests will pay for a week in Mexico, this is where that math works best.

Learn more about Riu Vallarta and get a free quote today >>

 

 

Also on the sand: Riu Flamingos with a 100-guest beach, Armony Marival Punta de Mita at Capriccio Beach for 100, and Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort, the family-friendly property sharing the Bahia Mita grounds.

More Information for Planning Your Beach Destination Wedding in Riviera Nayarit

Pacific beaches behave differently from Caribbean ones. Here’s what our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists make sure couples know.

Beach Destination Wedding Venues Appeal

West-facing coastline is the single biggest draw and the thing couples underestimate until they see the photographs. The sun sets into the water in front of the ceremony, so the golden hour runs straight down the aisle. Most of Mexico’s wedding destinations face east or north, where that simply doesn’t happen.

Scale is the second. Two beaches here hold 650 guests, one holds 500, and several more take 150 to 240. Very few destinations can put a few hundred people on sand at all, and this coast can do it at multiple resorts across several price points.

Worth knowing about the water. The Pacific has real surf, which is beautiful behind a ceremony and loud during one, so ask about amplification for the vows. Beaches in Mexico are public to the waterline, so confirm how the resort screens the ceremony area. And sand gets hot by mid-afternoon, which is an argument for a later start or a pergola.

Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Cost

The average cost of a Riviera Nayarit destination wedding is $10,215 all-in for the couple, covering the wedding package, accommodations, airfare, and add-ons. Hotel costs average roughly $299 per person per night over a typical five-night stay, with airfare from $200 to $800 per couple. Couples marrying here average 45 guests.

These averages reflect real spend data from couples who booked their destination wedding with our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists.

Beach ceremonies tend to sit at the lower end because the setting is already there, and most base packages assume one. The costs that do appear are setup on sand, amplification for the vows against the surf, and lighting if the reception continues after dark.

Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Packages

Complimentary and deposit-only wedding packages are widely available with a qualifying room block, running roughly $1,350 to $5,000 at entry tier, $5,500 to $7,000 mid-tier, and $7,500 to $14,000 and beyond for full productions.

Entry tiers are built around exactly this: a beach ceremony with an officiant, basic decor, a cake, and a toast. Where couples add cost is private receptions and upgraded florals, so ask what the base package includes on the sand before deciding you need to move up a tier.

Riviera Nayarit Destination Wedding Travel Information

Licenciado Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport has direct flights from most major US and Canadian cities, 25 to 40 minutes from the Nuevo Vallarta beachfront resorts and about an hour from the Punta de Mita peninsula.

The Nuevo Vallarta beaches are the widest and flattest on the coast, which makes them the easiest to stage a large ceremony on. Further north toward Sayulita, the shoreline gets more dramatic, and the surf picks up. The November to April dry season gives the calmest water and the most reliable weather, and it fills first.

 

Riviera Nayarit Beach Destination Wedding Venue FAQs

What is the largest beach wedding venue in Riviera Nayarit?

Sunset Beach and Ciao Beach at Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta, each licensed for 650 guests. Mozzamere Beach at Marival Distinct holds 500, and the Beach Garden & Wooden Deck at Dreams and Secrets Bahia Mita takes 240.

Are the beaches in Riviera Nayarit private?

Beaches in Mexico are public to the waterline, so no resort beach is fully private. What resorts do is screen and stage the ceremony area so it reads as yours. Ask specifically how they manage it and whether more than one wedding runs that day.

Which way do the beaches face in Riviera Nayarit?

West, onto the Pacific. That means the sun sets directly in front of a beach ceremony rather than behind it, which is why couples here schedule the ceremony for late afternoon and why the photographs look the way they do.

Get Ready to Plan a Beach Destination Wedding in Riviera Nayarit

Golden sand, mountains at your back, and a sunset that arrives exactly where you need it. Whether the guest list runs to 40 or 400, there’s a stretch of this coastline sized for it.

Fill out our online wedding planning form, and one of our Certified Destination Wedding Specialists will help you compare beaches, capacities, and package pricing.