Visiting Rancho Primavera

Four ways to visit Rancho Primavera:

Day trips for hiking and birding

If you are staying in the Puerto Vallarta area or the Costalegre, you may come to the ranch on your own for a great day of birding. We request a donation to help cover the costs of feeding the birds and maintaining the property; $100 MX pesos is a nice round number. The bird feeders at the main house get filled between 7 and 8 a.m. every morning, depending on the season, and you won’t want to miss the feeding frenzy! You can expect at least four hummingbird species, plus Yellow Grosbeak, Blue Mockingbird, Streak-backed Oriole, and Black-throated Magpie-Jay. A simple bird list at and around the feeders can tally 30 species in less than an hour. After the morning feeding, you may hike the trails around the ranch for a chance to see dozens more species, especially if you visit the big pond. If you want to spend the whole day in the area, El Tuito is just 10 minutes away and offers many options for an authentic Mexican lunch.

Getting to the ranch is easy via taxi, bus, or Uber, and for a fee, we can come to Vallarta to pick you up (see rates below). Contact us for details on transportation options.

All-inclusive set tours with Naturalist Journeys

For the ultimate experience visiting the ranch and the entire Cabo Corrientes region, join our partner, Naturalist Journeys, for an all-inclusive, week-long stay at Rancho Primavera. Tours include: round-trip transfers to the Puerto Vallarta airport; transportation throughout the trip; six nights lodging in en suite guest rooms; all meals, snacks, and non-alcohol beverages; and the service of our two resident guides, Lizzy & Steve. We will take you from the pine-oak forest above the ranch to the thorn forest below, including a visit to the Vallarta Botanical Garden and a boat trip to the secluded coastal pueblito of Yelapa. Of course, we spend plenty of time on the ranch itself with organized birding outings, plus leisure time for exploring on your own. For those who wish to stay a few days before or after the tour, we will gladly help you plan an independent extension. For details on set tours, visit the Naturalist Journeys website.

Independent overnight travel

If the dates of scheduled tours don’t work for you or if you prefer to travel on your own, Rancho Primavera offers three different cabins. Villa Carpintero and Casa Adobe have full kitchens, plus plenty of living space; both of them have spacious porches and overlook the large pond. Casa Colibri is a bit more intimate but still has cooking facilities and a large outdoor sitting area. All three of these have their own hummingbird and platform feeders. El Tuito has several options for food shopping if you wish to prepare your own meals. If you travel without a vehicle, for a small fee we can arrange to take you into town for groceries or the occasional meal at a local restaurant (see prices below). Cabin amenities are as follows: Carpintero—two full-size beds in the bedroom, a pull-out sofa in the living room, two extra-wide benches off the kitchen, and one full bathroom and a half-bath; Adobe—king-size bed in the bedroom and two extra-long couches in the living room, with one full bathroom; Colibri—queen-size bed, full bathroom, and small living area next to the kitchen. Contact us for rates and availability for all three cabins.

Small-group overnight stays

If you wish to travel with family or friends or if you want to bring a birding group to the ranch, we can help you plan a stay of any length. You may either stay in the cabins or in the guest rooms, depending on your group size, and we can help you with a meal plan. We typically offer a breakfast option for larger groups (up to 12 people), but this may also be available for others with some advance planning. Make sure to plan with plenty of lead time, as we get busy during the winter and spring. Groups larger than 4 people should plan well in advance. Contact us about rates and availability for private groups.

Hiring our resident naturalists and shuttle drivers

Steve and Lizzy offer private guided walks for hire for all the above options. They have their fingers on the pulse of bird activity all over the ranch. You may also wish to have them take you farther afield, maybe up into the pine-oak forest or down to the coast. They are very familiar with all the local travel routes as well as the birds, the geography, and the local culture of the region. Steve and Lizzy are also available for shuttles from the Puerto Vallarta or Costalegre airports; the latter is just 90 minutes south and is scheduled to open at the end of 2024. Their rates for guiding and shuttles are as follows and are subject to change; all prices are in Mexican Pesos, and the exchange rate ranges from 16:1 to 20:1.

• Airport pickup and dropoff:         $1,200 each way

• Half-day birding on the ranch:    $2,000 for 1-4 people

• Full-day birding on the ranch:     $3,500 for 1-4 people

• Any birding off the ranch:            Above rates plus $500, 1-3 people only

• Full-day birding off the ranch:     Above rates plus any meals for your guide, 1-3 people only

• Tuito meal or shopping runs:        Depends on time required, but generally $200 round-trip

• Mullti-day guiding:                        Contact us to discuss your options.