San Blas, Nayarit in the context of Islas Marías

Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.

It is bordered by the states of Sinaloa to the northwest, Durango to the north, Zacatecas to the northeast and Jalisco to the south. To the west, Nayarit has a significant share of coastline on the Pacific Ocean, including the islands of Marías and Marietas. The beaches of San Blas and the so-called "Riviera Nayarit" are popular with tourists and snowbirds. Besides tourism, the economy of the state is based mainly on agriculture and fishing. It is also one of two states where the tarantula species Brachypelma klaasi is found, the other being Jalisco.

Frigate Captain Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra (22 May 1743 – 26 March 1794) was a Spanish Navy officer. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in Viceroyalty of New Spain (present-day Mexico), he explored the Northwest Coast of North America as far north as present day Alaska. Bodega Bay in California is named for him. Bodega joined the Spanish Naval Academy in Cádiz at 19, and four years later, in 1767 was commissioned as an officer of the rank of frigate ensign (alférez de fragata). In 1773 he was promoted to ship-of-the-line ensign (alférez de navío), and in 1774 to ship-of-the-line lieutenant (teniente de navío).

The Riviera Nayarit (Spanish pronunciation: [ri'βjeɾa naʝa'ɾit]) is a nearly 200-mile (320 km) stretch of coastline in Mexico between the historic port of San Blas, Nayarit, to where the Ameca River empties into Banderas Bay, Nuevo Vallarta.

Riviera Nayarit was named to promote the coastline of Nayarit, and it includes such notable sites as Chacala Bay and Chacalilla.