The northerly and southerly sides of Banderas Bay are shaped by a small mountain range providing hillside elevation for the towns and real estate developments built here.
In the center of this coastline starts a large agricultural valley that provides a long beach at bay shore, fed by the Ameca River that stretches back for many miles. On the Jalisco side of the valley, extending from the Ameca River (the northwest border) eastward around Vallarta and Pitillal, is the region known Valle Jalisco (as this side of the valley is in the state of Jalisco). It includes everything along the highway from Marina Vallarta, around the airport, and back into the valley. This area encompasses mostly low-end residential homes, businesses and farms, with little tourism real estate development. The main small towns on this side of the river are Las Juntas, Ixtapa and Las Palmas.
The road through these towns eventually heads into the hills to the towns of the Sierra Madre. These have not been traditionally popular with foreigners, except for Talpa, which has seen some tourist development in recent years.
