History of Puerto Vallarta, Pre-Hispanic until 1800 (part 2)

The of Puerto Vallarta area appears on mapas and in sailing logs as a bay of refuge for the Philippine trade as well as for other coastal seafarers. Smuggling and pirate operations and pirate contravention efforts by the government involved the area. Banderas Valley and beaches along the Bay of Banderas served as supply points for ships seeking refuge in the bay during the 1600 and 1700s.. The area also served as a point where smuggled goods could be sent on to the Sierra towns near Mascota, evading the customs operations at San Blas, Nayarit. It is known that a shipyard was built on the bay in 1644 (probably where Mismaloya is located today) and two ships were built for Bernardo Bernal de Pinadero that would be used in the colonization of Lower California.

In ship's logs and documents from the 1700s constant references are made to whaling ships and fishing boast that harbored in the bay. At the time, Banderas Bay was also known as Humpback Bay (Bahia de los Jorobados) because of the number of humpback whales that were seen in the bay.
For more on Puerto Vallarta please visit Puerto Vallarta Guide