TRIPS FOR TWO · PUERTO VALLARTA
Private yacht trips for two in Puerto Vallarta
You were going to dinner anyway. I move the evening onto the water — a private vessel carrying two people and no one else.
From 1,700 USDIVA included. Itemised before you confirm — never after.
Four to eight hours · up to eight guests · one contact.
READ THIS FIRST
One couple. Nothing else on the schedule.
A trip for two with Boat and Bay is a private charter in Bahía de Banderas composed around one couple: a morning on flat water, a sunset evening with candles, or dinner at anchor prepared on board. I select the vessel, prepare every detail within my control, and stay your single point of contact from first message to the dock.
I am Oksana, founder of Boat and Bay, a boutique private yacht experience agency in Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit, Mexico. Many of the charters I compose are for two. It is my favourite size of day to build — there is nowhere for a loose detail to hide.
THE REFRAME
Why move dinner onto the water?
Because a restaurant table is shared with everyone else in the room. At anchor, the table is yours for the whole evening — the menu agreed in advance, the sunset happening around you instead of through a window, and no bill arriving in the middle of a sentence. The evening ends when you decide, not when the table turns.
Every couple I work with was already planning a dinner, an anniversary evening, a surprise. The occasion existed before I did. My part is giving it water, light, and a deck with no one else on it.
THE DAYLIGHT DAY
What does a morning for two look like?
The daylight day departs at 9:30 and returns by early afternoon: Los Arcos while the water is at its clearest, a quiet cove to swim, and a slow return along the coast with platters out. It is built around the flattest hours of the bay, which belong to the morning.
9:30 — Marina
You board before the day warms up. The bay stays close to flat until about ten, which is why the departure time is not negotiable — the smoothest water of the day belongs to the earliest boats.
10:15 — Los Arcos
The engines cut. The granite arches stand off the bow, and on a clear morning you can follow the anchor line most of the way down. Photographs first, while the light is still low enough to be kind.
11:30 — a quiet cove
Swim off the stern, or take the paddleboard. On 2IN, the sea scooter goes in the water with you. There is no activity schedule. The stop lasts as long as you want it to.
1:00 — the slow return
Platters come out — guacamole, fruit, a charcuterie board. The coast goes by at a speed that finally lets you look at it.
1:30 — Marina
The afternoon wind is usually arriving as you step off. That is the honest reason the morning day ends when it does.
December through March, the morning departures share the bay with humpback whales. I do not promise sightings — nobody honest does — but in those months, this is the day I would choose.
THE SUNSET EVENING
The evening, from full light to the Malecón lights.
The sunset evening departs at 3:30 and is composed backwards from the light: photographs while the sun is still high, anchor as it drops, and the return past the Malecón after dark. Candles, a picnic laid on board, and sparkling wine are part of how the evening is set.
3:30 — Marina
You board in full daylight, on purpose. The first hour is for the coast and the photographs; the last two belong to the falling light.
4:15 — Los Arcos
The sun is still generous here. If a photographer joins your charter, this is where the first frames happen.
5:15 — at anchor
The picnic is laid and the candles are lit before the light needs them. Dietary preferences were settled days ago; nothing is decided on board.
Sunset
The water holds the colour longer than the sky does. Then the Malecón comes on in rows behind you.
6:45 — the return
The ride home is cooler than people expect. Bring a layer — there are blankets aboard, but your own sweater is better.
FIELD NOTE
2RO is the smallest vessel I work with, and the one I recommend most often for two. Two spots on the sundeck — the right two spots — and a proper bathroom below, which is not a given at this size.
DINNER AT ANCHOR
A five-course dinner, prepared on board.
Dinner at anchor is a private chef evening for two: five courses served on deck in calm water, the menu agreed in advance. On 1LOS and 1P, the chef is already part of the vessel. On 1L7, 139, 1A1 and 1S a partner chef I subcontract and brief personally joins for the evening.
4:00 — boarding
The chef has been at work since the morning shop. The table is set before you arrive. Your part of the planning ended days ago.
5:00 — first course
The anchorage is chosen for calm water first; the view comes with it. The plates arrive at the pace of a long dinner, not a service window.
Sunset — between courses
Dinner pauses on its own. Nobody plans this part and nobody needs to.
7:00 — dessert
Deck lights on, coffee if you want it, the bay dark and quiet around the hull.
7:30 — the return
The menu closes three days before departure, because the chef shops for it that morning. Larger requests need longer. That is the one deadline this evening has.
WAYS TO SHAPE THE DAY
The day is composed, not chosen from a list.
Any of the three days above can carry more, if more is what the two of you want. Each of these is arranged by me, with vendors I subcontract and brief directly:
Lunch ashore at Las Ánimas or Yelapa, with the water taxi and the reservation handled. The Marietas Islands crossing, a full day with its own access rules, which I explain plainly before you commit. A jetski hour, or the sea scooter on 2IN. Light fishing inside the bay for the couple who would rather do than dine. A musician duet for the last hour of a sunset evening. A photographer who boards for the full charter and delivers a couple's session — full charter only, never partial.
WHAT WILL NOT HAPPEN
No second party boarding at the cove. No inflexiblemenu. No table that has to turn. No waiter reading the room. No bill arriving in the middle of a sentence. No audience.
SURPRISES AND ANNIVERSARIES
Can the day be a surprise?
Yes. Most surprises for two work exactly one way: your partner believes you are going to dinner. You are — the dinner is simply at anchor. I hold the details, the crew holds any gift until the moment you choose, and the decoration is set before either of you boards.
For anniversaries, I add a small detail carrying your names, and a cake from an established bakery if you want one — tres leches in vanilla or chocolate, butter cakes in orange, coconut, pineapple, or pecan. The cake needs three days' notice.
Nothing from your charter is posted, tagged, or shared unless you ask me to.
Planning a proposal? That is its own page, and it deserves one — the timing, the ring in crew custody, the question asked with no audience. Read how a proposal on a private yacht is composed.
QUESTIONS I AM ASKED MOST
Answered, plainly
Will we be bored for four hours?
The day has no programme, and that is the point of it. You can swim, take the paddleboard, read, eat, or do nothing at all while the coast goes by. Four hours is the shortest charter I compose for two, and it is the length couples most often ask to extend, not shorten.
Why a private vessel instead of a public tour?
A public tour is a schedule with seats on it. A private charter is your day with a hull under it — no strangers, no microphone, no fixed return time set by someone you never met. If a tour is what you want, there are good ones in the bay. This is the other thing.
What if one of us gets seasick?
Mornings are the calmest water; the daylight day is the right one for a sensitive stomach, and a tablet or patch works only if it goes on before boarding, not after. If it finds you anyway, the captain can hold closer to shore. I will not pretend the sea takes requests — but the bay in the morning is about as gentle as the ocean gets.
Can you keep a surprise from my partner?
Yes. All planning happens with you alone, on whichever channel your partner does not read. The crew is briefed before you arrive, any gift stays in their custody until your moment, and your partner sees a dinner reservation until the dock says otherwise.
What do we wear?
Soft soles or bare feet on deck. Daylight days are swimwear and a cover; sunset evenings are whatever you would wear to a good dinner, plus a layer for the ride home. On 1L7 there is a bedroom to change in, which matters if a photographer is joining.
Is there a bathroom on the smallest vessel?
Yes. 2RO carries a proper bathroom below deck. I would not put a four-hour charter on a vessel without one, at any size.
Is dinner on board really better than a restaurant?
It is a different thing, and for two people marking something, I think it is the better thing. The menu is yours, the pace is yours, and the room is the bay. The trade is planning ahead: the chef's menu closes three days before departure, where a restaurant takes you at eight.