Nathan Brooks
Why book?
Four Seasons Punta Mita boasts two swimmable, private beaches along with an adults-only pool separated from the family one. The resort offers 177 spacious guest rooms that have gone through multiple renovations, including an extensive upgrade during the pandemic from 2020 to 2021 and ongoing improvements to the Apuane Spa and luxury suites. It is the rare large resort that works for both couples and families equally.
Who it's for: couples, families, and golfers
There is something for everyone at Four Seasons Punta Mita. Couples get Tamai, a spa designed exclusively for adults with thirteen treatment rooms and packages built for two, and a private clifftop table. Families can enjoy Nuna, an infinity pool with a shallow end, a lazy river, and a children's programme that runs daily at no charge. The resort is also famous for its two Jack Nicklaus courses, specifically the "Tail of the Whale"—the world's only natural island golf green.
Set the scene: couples and families enjoy separate activities
Couples are out first, walking the sand between Cuevas and Manzanillas or taking a surf lesson off the softer end of the beach while the resort is still quiet. By mid-morning the property splits cleanly. Parents head for Nuna, the infinity pool that looks over a mile of coastline and shallows off at one end, while kids enjoy the lazy river and Kids for All Seasons program.
Anyone without children goes the other way, to Tamai, an adults-only pool that offers plant-based Asian bowls, fresh sushi & refreshing cocktails. Afternoons belong to the golf carts running out to the Tail of the Whale, or to Apuane Spa. Evenings bring everyone back together: mezcal at Mez, robata smoke off the grill at Aramara, and, for the couples who booked it, one table laid on the clifftop above the water.
The backstory: extensive renovations since opening
This was the first hotel built inside the gated community, and it has been reworked continuously since opening.
2019. All 177 guest rooms redesigned by Mexico City firm UribeKrayer, closing a multi-year programme that also delivered Dos Catrinas, an enlarged Apuane Spa and the adults-only pool area.
2020. Work finished on the casitas, the villas and beach homes, the Nuna infinity pool and the Tamai pool deck, closing out the programme.
2023. Bahia rebuilt as a beachfront seafood grill with Chef Richard Sandoval.
2025. Aramara reimagined by SASSON Estudio de Arquitectura.
2026. A Pilates and Posture Lab in January, a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating in February, and Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence for all three signature restaurants in July.
The rooms
Accommodation is divided into casitas and suites, 139 of the first and 38 of the second, with another 22 villas, seven residences and three beach homes for anyone who wants a kitchen and a pool of their own. Casitas include a furnished terrace or balcony. Suites are composed of one or two bedrooms around a sitting room, and their terraces come with a hammock and a plunge pool. Bathrooms are marble throughout, with a separate shower and a deep soaking tub. Casitas have one bathroom while suites have two.
UribeKrayer stripped all 177 rooms back in 2019 and rebuilt them from materials sourced in the region: parota wood and copper in the joinery, hand-blown glass light fittings, a neutral palette with blue worked through it. The craftwork comes with names attached, a beaded Huichol map on the wall and textiles hand-embroidered by the Sna Jolobil cooperative.
The pools
Four Seasons Punta Mita boasts three separate bools. Tamai is designed exclusively for adults, loungers under palms with its own bar and table service, counting two main pools, two plunge pools and a whirlpool. Nuna is the infinity-edge pool looking over more than a mile of beach, with a shallow end for small children. The Lazy River drifts through tropical surroundings to a swim-up bar. Expect high-quality poolside service that features an amphibious pool waiter, an amenity every hour, an afternoon treat, complimentary sunscreen and a sunglass doctor.
For couples: an adults-only pool, a clifftop table, and a spa organised around two
Despite being known as a family resort, Four Seasons Punta Mita has no shortage of attractions for couples. Tamai sits apart from the family water entirely. Apuane Spa runs thirteen treatment rooms working through hydrotherapy, wraps, reflexology and packages for two, and therapists will come to the room or the pool deck. At dinner the resort provides a private table on the clifftop, sold as Dinner at the Rock, a private bonfire on the sand, and Mez, the mezcal bar which offers innovative cocktails and Traditional-Mezcalerías-inspired food.
Food and drink: three signature restaurants, each renovated, all three award-winning
Dos Catrinas opened in 2019 in place of the old signature restaurant, Ketsi. Colombian architect Saul Sasson designed it over two storeys, dining room and bar below, a second bar and lounge above. Mexican cooking with a contemporary turn.
Aramara was reimagined in 2025 by SASSON Estudio de Arquitectura in a register of Japanese minimalism: parota wood, Caledonia granite, Hanami tiles, a Coordonne Edo Gold mural, Japanese artworks from the 1600s to the 1800s. Chef Martin Flores cooks over a Binchotan robata grill and on Ishiyaki hot stones.
Bahia was rebuilt in 2023 with Chef Richard Sandoval, up among the manzanilla trees behind Cuevas Beach. Blonde woods, limestone, a wood-fire grill. Order the catch of the day with the black adobo.
Tail of the Whale sits at the golf clubhouse, courses on one side, sea on the other.
All three signature rooms were awarded a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2026, Dos Catrinas for the third year running.
The beaches: Cuevas and Manzanillas, swimmable and private
A rock outcrop splits the shoreline. Cuevas sits between rock formations beside the outcrop known as the Rock, good for sunbathing, swimming and kayaking, and in season it hosts Cuevas Club de Playa, a beach club designed with the lifestyle label Business & Pleasure. Manzanillas has soft golden sand and gentler water, and it is where surf lessons and snorkeling happen.
For families: a daily children's programme and a teen centre with its own arcade
Kids For All Seasons runs every day at no charge. The teen centre, called the Container, holds an arcade and virtual reality alongside the games room. Younger guests get welcome gifts, their own toiletries and child-size bathrobes, and the team will childproof a room and supply cots, high chairs, strollers and changing tables. Children share a parent's room free: two up to age 18, or three where all are under 12.
Golf: two Jack Nicklaus courses and the world's only natural island green
Pacifico and Bahia both run 18 holes at par 72 inside the community. Pacifico holds the hole the resort is known for, the Tail of the Whale, which Four Seasons describes as the world's only natural island green, reached by amphibious cart. Bahia gives downhill fairways and wide views over Banderas Bay, so whales pass within sight during migration season.
The service: the rate covers a full range of amenities
Premium Wi-Fi, a welcome drink on arrival, bottled water, cultural classes, snorkel gear, kayaks and sunscreen at every pool and beach all come included. Past that the resort keeps a yacht for day trips, runs guided tours of the art collection, and handles airline bookings. Tennis and basketball courts sit on site with clinics and lessons, and the gym adds a steam room, sauna and whirlpool.
Anything left to mention?
There is not much to do within walking distance, so leaving the gates means a car or a taxi, and the Puerto Vallarta airport is 45 minutes out.
How it compares
Four Seasons Punta Mita | St. Regis Punta Mita | Conrad Punta de Mita | |
Scale | 177 rooms and suites on 52 acres, plus 32 villas, residences and beach homes | 120 rooms and suites on 22 acres, plus five new beachfront villas | 324 rooms and suites, the largest of the three |
Most recent work | Rooms 2019, Bahia 2023, Aramara 2025, Pilates lab 2026 | Property-wide transformation completed May 2024, designed with B-Huber | Newest of the three by build date |
Beaches | Two, Cuevas and Manzanillas, both called swimmable by the resort, guests only | One, on a 22-acre peninsula | One, wider, with stronger surf |
Adults-only water | Tamai, designed exclusively for adults: two pools, two plunge pools, a whirlpool | Adults-only pool, plus the new Marietas Pool looking to Islas Marietas | Adults-only pool, one of three alongside family and children's pools |
Couples | Tamai, a 13-room spa with packages for two, Dinner at the Rock | St. Regis butler service, redesigned spa, new bar concepts | Contemporary rooms |
Families | Nuna with a shallow end, lazy river, Kids For All Seasons daily, the Container teen centre | Less family infrastructure | A dedicated children's pool and a family pool |
Dining | Four restaurants, and all three signature rooms hold a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2026 | New restaurant and bar concepts delivered in the 2024 work | Four restaurants and three bars |
Golf | Two Jack Nicklaus courses inside the community, including the Tail of the Whale | Access to the same courses inside the community | Sits outside the gated community, so confirm access |
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