As we sit in our small boat, headed to a snorkel at the magnificent Marietas Islands, Miguel explains the difference between Punta Mita and Punta de Mita. Miguel and his parents—and all of his ancestors before him as far back as he knows—grew up in a small fishing village on an island known as Punta Mita. They were mostly Mexican fishermen, though the Aztlan culture was there as early as 200 B.C..

Then in the 1990s, real estate developers worked with the Mexican government to buy Punta Mita, which is now the luxury Four Seasons resort