Yes, you can smoke at Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR) — outdoors at the terminal curb, landside. The halls and VIP lounges are smoke-free under Mexico’s national tobacco law, so plan your last cigarette outside before you clear security.
Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport is the gateway to Puerto Vallarta and Banderas Bay, operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) and handling about 6.9 million passengers in 2025, most of them US and Canadian holiday travellers. Every flight still leaves from the existing terminal — the new building GAP is putting up alongside it has not opened. Because the passenger halls are enclosed public spaces, smoking indoors and airside is not permitted anywhere on site; the practical option for smokers is the open air outside the terminal doors.
Where to Smoke
Smoking at PVR is outdoors only, landside, on the forecourt by the terminal entrances. Step outside the departures or arrivals doors and move well clear of the doorways before you light up. Travellers describe standing against the wall out there: it is open ground with no shelter and little seating, so it is a stop rather than a place to wait. There is no indoor or airside smoking facility anywhere at the airport.
Because the walk from security out to the gates is long — especially on the international side — the sensible plan is to have your last cigarette outside before you go through screening.
Domestic Departures
Domestic flights use the hall on the older side of the building, with carriers such as Volaris, VivaAerobús and Aeroméxico Connect, and GAP’s domestic VIP lounge sits past the security filter. Smoke outdoors at the departures and arrivals curbs before you enter the building. Once you are past the domestic security filter there is no smoking area, so finish outside first.
International Departures and the New Terminal
International flights — the bulk of PVR’s traffic, flown by American, United, Delta, Southwest, WestJet, Air Canada and others — leave from the international concourse, reached by a long connecting walkway from the main hall. Smoke on the forecourt landside before you check in and clear security; nothing on that walkway or at the gates is open to smokers.
GAP’s new terminal, the one local coverage calls Terminal 2, is still under construction and handles no flights: GAP’s own airport description still lists one commercial passenger terminal plus a general-aviation building, and every departure runs from the existing halls — which its own listings already label Terminal 1 (domestic) and Terminal 2 (international). The 9.2-billion-peso building is designed to a NET Zero standard; the airport’s administrator says GAP hands over the first six contact gates in December 2026 so they can be brought into service for the 2027 winter season, and GAP’s own guidance puts the terminal into operation in the second half of 2027. Mexico’s tobacco law applies to it as it does to the current halls, so it opens smoke-free indoors and the outdoor curb stays the place to smoke.
After Security
Neither the domestic nor the international side has a smoking area past security. PVR is well known for its long corridor out to the international gates, and there is nowhere to smoke along it or at the gates. If you are connecting or have already cleared screening and need to smoke, you will have to exit the building to the landside curb and then re-clear security to reach your flight — budget time for the walk and the queue.
GAP runs three VIP lounges here — one on the domestic side, one in international departures between gates 8 and 10, and one past immigration and customs in arrivals. All three ban smoking and vaping indoors, so lounge access does not change the outdoor-only rule.
Vaping
Vape outdoors at the curb, landside, and treat the device exactly as you would a cigarette: not inside the terminal, not inside the lounges. Vapes are banned from import, sale and distribution in Mexico, and personal use and possession are not, so the practical risk for a traveller is customs seizing a device carried into the country.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor terminal halls | No | Smoke-free under Mexican law |
| After security / airside | No | No airside area; long walk to the gates |
| VIP lounges | No | All three ban smoking and vaping |
| New terminal (under construction) | No | Not open yet; smoke-free indoors when it is |
| Outdoor (landside) | Yes | The forecourt by the terminal entrances |
For Mexico’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Mexico airport guide.