During the first part of the 19th century in Mexico, at the mouth of the Cuale River, inhabited mostly by crocodiles and practically no human dwellers, lay a hidden gem.

Puerto Vallarta. Isolated from the rest of the world by the ocean, rugged sierra and American river. With silver mines and salt in the towns of Cuale, San Sebastian and Mascota, Puerto Vallarta was a secret hideaway waiting to be discovered.

From a quaint little fishing village in the 1920s with barely 2,000 inhabitants, Puerto Vallarta real estate was not the booming market we know today.

There was one road that connected Vallarta to the outside world and this dirt track was abandoned during the rainy season.