Gastric Sleeve in Puerto Vallarta: 2026 Prices, Clinics and Trip Plan

Gastric sleeve in Puerto Vallarta: what it is and who comes here

A sleeve gastrectomy removes about 80% of the stomach with surgical staplers. What is left is the size and shape of a banana, holds less food and makes less of the main hunger hormone. It cannot be reversed, and it may cause or worsen reflux and heartburn (ASMBS). If you already live with bad heartburn, ask the surgeon about a gastric bypass instead.

Tijuana is the drive-to option; Puerto Vallarta suits people who would rather fly a few hours to a beach town. The one clinic on xcuro's list here, Bariatrics Health Mexico, is run by Dr. Sergio Del Hoyo and Dr. Christian Ramírez. It is not an xcuro partner.

Getting to Puerto Vallarta from the U.S.

You fly into Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR), which sits inside the city about 1 km (0.6 miles) north of Marina Vallarta (Wikipedia). Kayak lists daily nonstop flights from many U.S. hubs. Average nonstop times are 2h 32m from Houston Hobby, 2h 54m from Dallas/Fort Worth, 3h 06m from Los Angeles, 3h 27m from Denver and 4h 47m from Chicago. From the New York area, the only nonstop runs one day a week, from Newark, and takes about 6 hours (Kayak).

Where the clinic and hospital are

Bariatrics Health Mexico lists two locations: an office at Av. Los Tules 160 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and a consulting room in the CMQ medical tower in Bucerías, in the neighboring state of Nayarit (Bariatrics Health Mexico). It says it operates at Hospital CMQ Premiere in Puerto Vallarta, which it describes as having four operating rooms, a 24-hour emergency room, lab and CT scanner, and intensive care (Bariatrics Health Mexico). Ask in writing which hospital you will be admitted to.

Your trip for a gastric sleeve

A sleeve is one trip. The clinic's own pages do not fully agree on the nights: its price table lists one night in the hospital and three in a hotel (Bariatrics Health Mexico), its medical tourism page describes a five-day package with a four-night hotel stay (Bariatrics Health Mexico), and its sleeve page says you stay in the hospital for two days and then two more in a hotel (Bariatrics Health Mexico). Get your own night count in writing. Here is a plan built around those numbers:

That is shorter than the CDC's general advice to delay air travel for 10 to 14 days after major surgery, because flying after surgery raises the risk of blood clots (CDC). The ASMBS also warns that prolonged travel after bariatric surgery can raise the risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (ASMBS). Ask the surgeon how they prevent clots, and whether you should add nights. On the flight, walk the aisle and keep sipping fluids.

What the package covers, and what costs extra

Bariatrics Health Mexico says its sleeve package includes private ground transport, lab work and EKGs, your medications during the hospital stay and recovery, the surgeon and anesthesia fees, a hotel close to its practice, and nutrition counseling with follow-up video calls once you are home (Bariatrics Health Mexico). Its general package list adds the leak test (Bariatrics Health Mexico).

• Extras the clinic lists: a surcharge if your BMI is over 50 (a larger one over 60) and a fee to repair a hiatal hernia during the operation. It asks for a 10% deposit, with the rest due on the day of surgery (Bariatrics Health Mexico).
• Never included: your flights, extra hotel nights you choose, and any care you need after you are back in the U.S.
• Technique: the clinic says it does sleeves with the da Vinci Xi robot and through a single incision in the belly button (SILS) (Bariatrics Health Mexico). Ask whether that is your plan.

Is Puerto Vallarta safe?

The State Department rates Mexico as a whole Level 2, “Exercise increased caution”, in its advisory dated May 29, 2026, and rates each state separately. Jalisco, the state Puerto Vallarta is in, is Level 3, “Reconsider travel”, due to terrorism, crime and kidnapping. The same entry says: “There are no restrictions on travel in the Guadalajara Metropolitan area, Puerto Vallarta (including neighboring Riviera Nayarit), Chapala, and Ajijic.” Nayarit, where Bucerías is, is rated “Exercise increased caution” (State Department, archived June 30, 2026). The advisory lists a U.S. Consular Agency in Nuevo Nayarit, next to Puerto Vallarta. For the medical side, read Is It Safe to Get a Gastric Sleeve in Mexico?.

How to check the surgeon and hospital

• Licence: look the surgeon up by name in Mexico's national register of professional licenses (cédula profesional) (SEP). Mexican law requires a specialist cédula and a current certificate from the specialty board for any specialist surgery (Ley General de Salud, art. 272 Bis).
• Board: the clinic says Dr. Del Hoyo is certified by the Mexican Board of General Surgery (Bariatrics Health Mexico). Ask for the certificate and its expiry date.
• Volume and outcomes: the ASMBS asks patients to check that the surgeon is board certified and to ask for that surgeon's own results for the operation (ASMBS).

Our list of questions to ask a clinic abroad covers the rest.

Follow-up after you fly home

The ASMBS says patients should set up follow-up with a qualified local bariatric program before surgery, and that the surgeon should send all records home with you (ASMBS). Possible problems include bleeding, infection, a leak from the staple line and blood clots, and later gallstones and nutrient deficiencies (NIDDK). Medicare usually doesn't pay for care outside the U.S. (Medicare). Prices and other Mexican clinics are on our gastric sleeve in Mexico guide, and the drive-to option is on gastric sleeve in Tijuana.