Private Glamping Tents, White Sand Beaches, a Botanist on Site. And It’s a Four Seasons.

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The Afar take: an adults-only tented camp that immerses you in nature

This adults-only tented camp with an all-inclusive pricing structure is only a three-minute drive from the original Four Seasons Punta Mita—yet it feels worlds away. Set within 48 acres of jungle on a hill above a white-sand beach, Naviva consists of 15 tented rooms that accommodate up to two people each. That means there will never be more than 30 guests on site at a time, making for a more secluded setting. This is not exactly glamping—the rooms are all fully contained structures, but a gigantic canopy inspired by bird wings has been built over each of them to give it the look of a tent.

Who it’s for: couples, solo travelers

This is an adults-only property, so leave the kids behind for a true relaxation retreat where the main goal for each day is as simple as reading a book by the beach, taking a yoga class, or going for a short hike. The tents are outfitted with king-size beds, making Naviva best suited for solo trips or couples traveling together. However, for friends willing to share the space, the couches in the tents do fold out into double beds. It’s also possible to buy out the entire property for a minimum of three nights for intimate weddings or parties.

While a solo traveler at the neighboring Four Seasons Punta Mita might feel like the odd one out, surrounded by families and larger groups traveling together, the opposite is true at Naviva. As with any small property, it is easy for guests to befriend each other at meals, activities, or near the pool. And the dining room is relaxed enough that it’s not an awkward place to eat solo.

Courtesy of Naviva, a Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita

The location: Punta Mita

Naviva is located within the coastal Punta Mita resort area in Nayarit, about an hour’s drive north of the Puerto Vallarta airport on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. For those who have been to the Four Season Punta Mita before, this newer Four Seasons property is its next-door neighbor.

Built directly into 48 acres of forest, the hotel tried to leave as much of the surrounding flora as untouched as possible. That means there are no manicured lawns and the palm trees grow here naturally, unlike the hyper-landscaped Four Seasons next door. However, you won’t be roughing it. In addition to the white-sand beach, there is also a tiered pool at the center of the property, as well as several open-air bamboo spa pods for a variety of relaxing rituals and treatments, which are available for an extra fee. (Sauna lovers will enjoy sweating it out during a guided ceremony in the on-site temazcal.)

The rooms at Naviva, a Four Seasons Resort

The 15 accommodations at Naviva are called tents, but in reality are all fully contained structures. Their safari-tent look comes from the massive canopies built over each one and the draped-fabric ceilings in the bedrooms. Inside each tent, you’ll find such creature comforts as air conditioning and refrigerated mini bars with sodas, fresh juice, and milk for coffee. Sliding glass doors on two of the four walls allow the outdoors in.

Courtesy of Naviva, a Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita

There are two styles of tent available: Ocean-View Grand Tents and regular Ocean-View Tents. The Grand Tents are 1,604 to 1,722 square feet and come with a king-size bed and a fold-out sofa, a screened-in porch with an L-shaped couch, and a deck with a plunge pool, two lounge chairs, and a sunken seating area with a gas firepit. The bathroom has a shower, a bathtub, and an outdoor shower. The toilet is in its own closed room and the bathroom has a door, so there’s plenty of privacy.

The regular Ocean-View Tents have the same accommodations on a slightly smaller scale, both indoors and outdoors. Although at 1,259 square feet, they are hardly small. The main difference is that instead of the two-tier deck with a firepit, these tents have a hammock outside.

The restaurant: Copal Cocina

Due to its intimate size, Naviva has only one restaurant: Copal Cocina. At this open-air spot, there’s no menu for breakfast, lunch, or dinner; instead, servers walk guests through a four-course set dinner with such dishes as avocado and citrus salad with feta, queso fundido topped with vegetables and served with flour tortillas, and sea bass with pink mole made with beets and carrots from the resort’s garden. (Chefs are also prepared to cook anything to order that a guest may want off-menu.)

Bartenders are similarly happy to shake or stir up anything, but it’d be a mistake not to choose the specials they come up with, like a mezcal margarita with a blend of hibiscus and red wine floating on top to balance the smokiness of the mezcal. Wine is also offered: There is no menu, but suggested pairings include sauvignon blancs from Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe in Baja.

Courtesy of Naviva, a Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita

To switch things up, you can also take lunch by the pool, request a picnic on the beach, or have the staff set up a private dining table almost anywhere on site. There is also 24-hour dining available in tent.

In addition, guests can be driven to the neighboring Four Seasons Punta Mita to dine at any of its nearly dozen restaurants, including Bahía by Richard Sandoval, a classic beachside grill, or Aramarita, a temporary pop-up offering a tribute to Asian cuisine. (Though it’s likely you won’t want to leave.)

Staff and service

As soon as you arrive, you’ll notice this isn’t like other Four Seasons. Staff members—called guides here—are on a first-name basis: Gone is the formal Mr. and Mrs. found at other Four Seasons hotels. There’s no front desk here, you sit down at a couch in the entry canopy area with your assigned guide, who will then whisk you off on a golf cart tour to help you get the lay of the land while other guides bring luggage to the room. Expect to be introduced to each guide during your stay, including the botanist who is in charge of the vegetable garden on site.

Accessibility

Tents are zero entry so navigating them in a wheelchair is possible. The property is built into a hill so getting around might be an issue, but the staff is available to drive anyone around on a golf cart. However, the beach is down a flight of stairs and the pool is terraced with steps all around, so that could be harder to navigate.

Courtesy of Naviva, a Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita

A hands-off approach to nature

Naviva was built with sustainability in mind: Tents were placed within the forest to preserve the existing trees as much as possible. (Any removed trees were repurposed into hand-carved timber hooks in each tent, while some larger stones on the grounds became benches.)

To protect the fauna that live on the Punta Mita peninsula home, specific lighting is used on site to limit light pollution. Naviva also only fumigates mosquitoes once a week, since more frequent fumigation would leave nothing for the birds to eat and drive them away. And bird-watching is one of the best activities to partake in here: Each tent is stocked with a pair of binoculars for spotting local birds like black-throated magpie-jays and great kiskadees while sipping coffee in the morning on the deck. In the restaurant, guides can also point out rufous-bellied chachalacas wandering in the brush at breakfast. Prefer mammals? At night, keep an eye out for native coatis, a relative of raccoons, roaming the forest.