South of Amapas, the highway climbs and the city thins. Conchas Chinas is the quiet residential hill above the beach of the same name — bougainvillea, palms, and houses built into the cliffside, looking west. Most visitors miss it. The ones who don't come back.
The beach
Playa Conchas Chinas is a short, rocky, utterly quiet beach with tidal pools and the clearest water close to the city. Time it for low tide. Walk north along the rocks and you'll find private-feeling coves you can have to yourself.
The walk
There is a pedestrian path from the Romantic Zone to Conchas Chinas that follows the coast, underneath the highway. Locals call it the Boardwalk. Twenty minutes, shaded, almost unknown to tourists. It is the best walk in Puerto Vallarta and nobody writes about it.