The Boy on the Seahorse - Vallarta's Emblem
Photo: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
A stop on Puerto Vallarta: Malecon and Old Town, a free self-guided tour.
If Puerto Vallarta has a mascot, this is it. The bronze boy in a wide charro hat, one arm raised in greeting as he rides a seahorse, appears on postcards, T-shirts and city signs. It is the work of Rafael Zamarripa, a Jalisco sculptor.
The first version was smaller and stood at the far end of Los Muertos Beach in the late 1960s. A storm swept it away, and in 1976 this larger replica was made for the Malecon. It has moved a few times since, most recently during the 2011 redesign of the promenade. The original was later recovered from the sea and returned to its rocky spot to the south, so the boy now greets the bay from two places.
Up the hill above Calle Galeana stands the old Matamoros lighthouse, another landmark of the old town. Look out at the waves the boy is riding into, and give him a wave back.
Getting here: Walk about 250 meters south along the Malecon to the stretch between Calle Galeana and Calle Mina.
Did you know?: Nearby, a bronze of a young swimmer with arms raised, called Lluvia, was installed in December 2020, the newest sculpture on the Malecon.
Photo op: Stand slightly to the side so the boy's raised arm is clear against the sky, with the bay behind him.
More on Wikipedia: The Boy on the Seahorse
Stops on this tour
- North End of the Malecon - Where Time Begins
- Nostalgia - The Sculpture the Town Paid For
- Rotunda of the Sea - Thrones You Can Sit On
- The Boy on the Seahorse - Vallarta's Emblem
- Los Arcos - Arches From a Hacienda
- Main Plaza and City Hall - The Heart of Old Vallarta
- Our Lady of Guadalupe - The Church With a Crown
- Gringo Gulch - Where Hollywood Came to Stay
- Isla Cuale - An Island in the River
- Zona Romantica - Old Town South of the River
- Los Muertos Beach and Pier - The Sail at Sunset