Sayulita

From LAX, it is a direct 2.5 hour flight into Puerto Vallarta. It is very easy to get a cab (recommended versus a bus) to drive 40 minutes to Sayulita. If you walk over the bridge outside of the airport taxi fares are half the price, but even right out of the airport it’s cheap – around 900 pesos or $48 USD. Since it was 2 of us we agreed that splitting the fare seemed reasonable for the convenience and distance.

The temperature was around 80F, sunny and humid. Don’t bother packing long pants or a jacket. Sayulita is a very small city – more like a village or, in Spanish, a “pueblo”. You can walk anywhere in 10 minutes. Some people rent golf carts to get around but we didn’t see the point. The streets are all cobblestone so definitely wear comfortable shoes – don’t bring heels or wedges because you’ll be in pain and are likely to fall or twist an ankle. We stayed at an Airbnb on “Gringo Hill” called Casa Bohemia. We stayed in the 3rd floor apartment and had private access to the rooftop where you can do yoga, watch the sunset, lay out on sun chairs, etc. The 3-story apartment building has its own pool and is inside a locked gate, so it felt very safe, private and quiet. The apartment does have A/C, bottled water and beach towels. Since there are no street lights, consider bringing a flash light if you go out at night. The walk to the main square of town is literally right down the street and about a 5 minute walk, but far enough away so you couldn’t hear the noise. Location-wise: this spot was PERFECT. Tom & Lindsey are the owners & they live in a house across the street. They are American and are very nice, responsive and gave great recommendations. We would both stay here again for sure.

There are a lot of great places to eat, drink and shop… and the exchange rate makes everything insanely cheap for us. We each took 5,000 pesos (around $270 USD) and had to make an effort to spend all of that in 4 days. Seriously. A nice meal out that includes 2 bottles of water, 2 cocktails, an appetizer and 2 entrees came out to around $20 USD –the drinks are strong and the food is fresh and delicious! Coming from Southern California – 1 decent cocktail alone could be at least that same price. Since the town is a fishing village there is no shortage of seafood, but there is definitely something for everyone if you don’t like seafood. There are other types of meat available, vegetarian options, ‘green’ smoothies, kombucha, herbal teas, ice cream, fruit stands, etc. etc. Regardless of what you order, everything tastes very fresh and our stomachs were 100% okay the whole time. Note: we were mildly cautious – meaning we drank water only out of bottles, but took normal showers, brushed our teeth and washed hands & dishes with tap water, incidentally ingested ocean water and did not get sick.

Some places & items I would recommend in no particular order:

1. El Itacate – ‘Jamaican’ quesadilla, arrachera tacos & agua fresca

2. Don Juan’s – shrimp salad & arrachera tacos (obvi the skirt steak is goooood here)

3. El Rustico – bruschetta (TRUST ME) & any of the wood-fired pizzas

4. Escondido bar – best cocktails in town. My mixologist bf was even impressed

5. Choco Banana – self-explanatory

6. Burrito Revolution – also self-explanatory. But the breakfast burrito is the best one

Fair warning: as a white person, I felt like there were too many white people. Internalized racism?… Maybe. But maybe not if you leave a country, try to get away from said people, and end up meeting people from the same town from which you just left. Also, everyone speaks English to you which can be perceived as welcoming or disheartening. All online travel sites will pretty much lead you in the right direction as far as recommendations and reviews – I only disagree with 2. 1. El Rustico didn’t seem to get great reviews, but it was one of our favorite places. The service was decent but more importantly the food was amazing. 2. Don Patos got great reviews & is very popular but I hated it… I’m 31 and was in college about 10 years ago… and this place felt like I was back at a fraternity party – the smell of stale drinks and drunk fratty guys included. If you want live music, Su Casa is the better place to go in my opinion. That is all of the not-100% positive things I have to say, so overall Sayulita gets 4.5/5 stars. 🙂

The main beaches are crowded but are super safe & lively. You will get a lot of vendors coming by, trying to get you to buy everything, but also there is great live music and great service (if you want it). We rented 2 beach chairs and an umbrella for a whole day for only 200 pesos. Servers will come by as well & you can order food and drinks… and really whatever your heart desires. The water is very safe and warm (about 75F when we were there), and you could also take a short walk to Playa de los Muertos if you want a more secluded quiet beach. We took surf lessons from Lunazul one morning because I had never tried surfing before (shameful, I know) & our instructor was so great. I highly recommend taking lessons or renting boards, if you already know how to surf, from this place – ask for Nano. They will provide rash guards & lockers for free. Be sure to pack sunscreen – the sun is strong and we saw a LOT of sunburned tourists.

Sayulita had a bit more wildlife than we’re used to in the city haha. There are a lot of stray dogs running around (don’t worry… they’re friendly and only care about people if they have food), chickens, geckos, and various birds including plain chachalacas that are on a predictable 9am social schedule. Another thing to note is that Sayulita is on CST, so sunrise is about 8am and sunset is close to 9pm at this time of year. If you are only going to Sayulita, I think 4-5 days is adequate. Everyone is super nice and helpful, multiple people vocalized the “less is more” mentality, and it is very apparent that they have a great quality of life. I found it to be very inspiring and humbling – and grateful that not all places are so concerned with politics and material ‘things’. It was a great experience & a good place to vacation, surf and unplug. For sure I will go back one day…