Sayulita
This city is one of my favorites in Mexico! Sayulita is a small vibrant beach town along the Pacific Ocean at the south end of the state of Nayarit and north of Banderas Bay. Sayulita is named after the word Sayula, which means “Place of Mosquitos”, so make sure you bring lots of bug spray if you have sweet blood. I sure got a lot of bites! This town is known for great surfing, food, and its colorful “Ojos de Dos” and “Papel Picado” (colorful flags) that grace it's central streets. Fun fact: if you’re a Bachelor fan, Bachelor in Paradise is filmed here at the Playa Escondida hotel.
I planned this trip for my sister’s bachelorette party and it was one of the best relaxing places to go to in Mexico. My sister is not a big partier or drinker so this was the perfect destination for her. Sayulita is super safe to get around, everyone is friendly, and there’s endless things to do in this small town. Be sure to bring cash (Pesos or USD) since some places only accept cash.
How to Get There
The closest airport to Sayulita is in Puerta Vallarta (PVR Airport), and from the airport its about a 45-50 min drive (25 miles/40 Km). There are options to rent a car, however we just had a shuttle for all of us that took us to our Airbnb in Sayulita. The shuttle from the airport to the Airbnb was about $20 per person (roundtrip) through Ramos Service. We also rented golf carts to drive around since its a pretty small town (rented through Riviera Golf Carts). Everything in Sayulita is walkable, but it is really nice to rent golf carts because it can be very hilly. Our Airbnb was WAY up in the hills, so it was worth it for us to rent.
Where to Stay
Airbnb - Here’s the link to our stay, it sleeps 6 guests, and has 3 bedrooms, in a perfect location close to downtown Sayulita. Our Airbnb was a superhost, and she helped us with everything we needed from reservations to any local suggestions. We had a chef to come cook for us the first day we arrived, that our host also arranged, and she also helped us with airport transportation and golf cart rentals.
Shopping in Sayuilta
Evoke the Spirit - This small boutique is a staple of Sayulita focusing on traditional Mexican handcrafts. From the ceramic cow skulls (which is very expensive), woven pillows, wall hangings, rugs, and vases, everything is stunning and done by local artists.
Revolucion Del Sueno - This boutique is beautifully curated with locally made clothing, accessories and home décor. I wanted to bring everything in this store home!
Artefakto - You can find beautiful handmade products by local communities here
Pacha Mama - A great boho-chic vibe spot, with all the best woven pieces and dreamcatchers
Places to Eat
Chacobanana - One of the most iconic spots you can’t miss in Sayulita. You will find many people walking the streets with their famous chocolate covered banana on a stick and this is the place to get it. If you’re not into chocolate covered bananas, its also a great breakfast spot and you can get fresh juices here
La Rustica - Known for their wood fired pizzas and amazing cocktails
Restaurant Yeikame - A great selection of traditional Mexican food
Burrito Revolution - The best burritos in town! The shrimp burritos here was delicious
Miscelanea Sayulita - One of the cutest coffee shops in the town, you can also come here for breakfast/brunch. They also sell beautiful handmade woven rugs that all of us wanted to take home with us.
Our 3-day Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Sayulita (Friday)
Arrived at our Airbnb, our host arranged the private shuttle ride through Ramos Services. We were instantly greeted by our driver offering us cold coronas for the road! A great start to a bachelorette weekend! We had our driver stop at WalMart on the way to our stay to pick up some groceries and alcohol. The drive was a quick 40ish minutes from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita. Once we arrived, we were immediately greeted by our host along with our golf cart rental drop-off at our place.
Dinner was arranged by our Airbnb host, with a local Chef. She cooked us an authentic Mexican dish, starting with chips and guacomole, and delicious fish tacos (which we thought was the main course) but turns out it was just the appetizers, and our main course was chicken enchiladas.
The rest of the night we stayed in, played games and drank!
Day 2: Yoga and Beach hangout day (SaTurday):
Yoga - Yoga in Sayulita is a must! We woke up early for a morning yoga session arranged through Mexi Fit, our yoga instructor was very friendly and she offered for us to meet her at her beautiful palapa for yoga, or to have an in-home session. We wanted to go to the Palapa after seeing pictures of it, located up in the hills overlooking the ocean. Our yoga session was amazing, the instructor also does Pilates sessions as well so she did a mix of yoga and Pilates.
Breakfast - After Yoga, we drove our golf carts around and found a cute breakfast spot and stopped for coffee in the town. We found a coffee spot on the corner, literally found out its called “Coffee on the Corner” after. One of the best chai tea lattes!
Beach - Spent the day on the beach, some of us took surfing lessons, and some of us got massages right on the beach
For Dinner, we walked around the Sayulita Plaza and walked down the cute alley with colorful flags strung above the streets.
Day 3: Boat Day
AlleyCat Sailing Tour - We had a day out on a catamaran with AlleyCat from 9am-3pm. The boat we booked was a group boat with other people but it ended up being really amazing and worth it! It also included open bar, small breakfast, and lunch. We set sail to Las Marietas Islands, a wildlife sanctuary and marine reserve, and also went snorkeling, and paddle boarding. Our tour guides were really amazing, they would bring us drinks after drinks, were super friendly, and they even helped us pull a prank on my sister pretending to marry her off to a crew member on the boat and held a fake ceremony.
Day 4: Leave Sayulita
It was a short trip, but just the right amount of time to see everything. We spent the morning lounging at our pool and had to catch out flight at PVR Airport.
