Sayulita is a surf town of a few thousand people that you can cross on foot in fifteen minutes, so the useful planning question is which beach, which day, and how far up the coast you are willing to go. Learn to surf on the main beach, save the calm swimming for Playa de los Muertos, and use the town as a base for San Pancho, Punta Mita and the islands.
The top 13, ranked
Ranked by how consistently each pick appears across official Sayulita sources, the local destination marketing organization, and recent independent roundups.
- Top pick
#1Best for Surfing · #1 of 13Playa Sayulita and learning to surf
ParkSayulita town and the main beachOpen at all hours with no charge, and surf schools and board rental operating on daytime hours through the yearFree with paid optionsThe town beach is a wide sandy bay with a soft, slow breaking right hander at its northern end, which is the reason Sayulita became a surf town rather than staying a fishing village. Boards, lessons and camps line the sand, the wave is forgiving enough for a first standing attempt, and the north swells that make the winter months work start arriving around December.
Local tipRip currents run here and along most of this coast, the water is not always supervised, and swimmers should stay inside the marked area, watch for the volunteer lifeguard towers and get out if the pull starts taking them sideways.
- Top pick
#2Best for Calm swimming · #2 of 13Playa de los Muertos and the hillside cemetery
ParkThe beaches and jungle paths outside townOpen in daylight hours year round with very limited facilities and no lifeguard coverFreeA ten minute walk south around the bay and up through a small painted cemetery leads to a cove closed off by rock at both ends. The water inside is flat and shallow compared with the main beach, which makes it the swimming beach for families and the snorkeling spot when the sea is calm, and it is small enough to feel full by the middle of the day.
Local tipThere are no services beyond a couple of drinks stalls in season, and the path in crosses the cemetery, which is an active burial ground, so keep noise and photography sensible.
- Top pick
3Best for Hiking · #3 of 13
Monkey Mountain
ParkThe beaches and jungle paths outside townOpen year round in daylight, with the trail hot and exposed in the middle of the day and slippery after summer rainFreeCerro del Mono is the rounded green hill that dominates the skyline south of town, and the climb to the bare granite top takes in the whole coast from Sayulita round to Punta Mita and the Marietas offshore. It is a sacred site to the Wixarika, better known as the Huichol, and the summit slabs are the reason the walk is worth the effort rather than the trail itself.
Local tipAllow around four hours return, start early, carry at least three litres of water and wear closed shoes, because the marked trailhead is at Higuera Blanca and the alternative route from Playa Patzcuaro is steep and easy to lose.
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#4Best for A quieter day · #4 of 13San Pancho
Neighborhood LandmarkSan Pancho and the coast northThe town is open at all times, with galleries, the arts center and the polo season concentrated in the dry monthsFree with paid optionsOfficially San Francisco, the next town north is about five kilometers up the coast and runs at half the volume of Sayulita. It calls itself the cultural capital of the Riviera Nayarit, with galleries, a community arts center, a long open beach and a polo club that doubles as a concert hall and restaurant, and it is the usual escape when Sayulita gets loud.
Local tipThe beach here faces the open Pacific with a steep shore break and no protecting headland, so it is better for walking and watching the sunset than for casual swimming.
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#5Best for Wildlife · #5 of 13Boat trip to the Islas Marietas
ParkPunta Mita and the bayReachable by permitted boat only, with the hidden beach capped daily, closed on some weekdays and subject to seasonal closuresTicketedThe uninhabited islands off Punta Mita are a national park and a seabird colony where blue footed boobies nest, ringed by reef that holds the best snorkeling within reach of Sayulita. The hidden beach inside a collapsed crater, Playa del Amor, is reached by swimming through a rock tunnel, and access to it is rationed rather than sold on demand.
Local tipOnly operators with a federal permit may land visitors, the hidden beach takes a capped number of people a day in short timed groups and is closed on some weekdays, so book weeks ahead and check the permit before paying.
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#6Best for Souvenirs · #6 of 13Huichol beadwork and the town's craft shops
MarketSayulita town and the main beachShops keep long daily hours through the dry season and shorter, more irregular hours in the summer monthsFree with paid optionsThe Wixarika people of the Sierra Madre make yarn paintings and beaded pieces built around peyote visions, deer and maize, pressing each bead into beeswax by hand. Several galleries in Sayulita show serious work rather than tourist copies, alongside the town's own trade in hammocks, embroidered clothing and the beaded jaguar heads it is known for.
Local tipAsk where a piece was made and by whom, because prices vary enormously between mass produced imitations and genuine work bought directly from the artist's family.
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#7Best for Wandering · #7 of 13The plaza, the flagged streets and the town market
MarketSayulita town and the main beachThe streets are open at all hours, with the weekly market running through the dry season and stalls busiest in the eveningsFree with paid optionsSayulita's cobbled center is a grid of about six blocks strung with papel picado bunting above the streets, with a small plaza, a bandstand and taco stands on every corner. A weekly farmers market runs through the dry season with produce, coffee and craft stalls, and the whole town is small enough that nothing here needs a plan.
Local tipGolf carts have largely replaced cars in the center and the cobbles are hard going with a suitcase, so anyone driving in should park on the edge of town rather than trying to reach the plaza.
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#8Best for Wildlife · #8 of 13Whale watching in Banderas Bay
TourPunta Mita and the bayA seasonal activity running through the winter and early spring, with morning departures and cancellations in rough seasTicketedHumpbacks come down from the north Pacific each winter to breed and calve in Banderas Bay, and boats out of Punta Mita and Sayulita reach them within half an hour. The season runs across the winter and early spring, and from the headlands around the bay the blows and breaches are often visible from land as well.
Local tipMexican rules set how close a boat may approach, so check that an operator carries its official permit, and remember that no whale trips run outside the winter window.
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#9Best for Calm swimming · #9 of 13Punta de Mita and El Anclote
Neighborhood LandmarkPunta Mita and the bayOpen at all times, with panga boat trips leaving in the morning and beach restaurants keeping daytime and evening hoursFree with paid optionsThe headland closing the northern side of Banderas Bay is about half an hour south of Sayulita, where a fishing village sits alongside a peninsula of luxury resorts and golf. El Anclote beach is calm and shallow, the panga fleet on the sand runs most of the boat trips to the Marietas, and the reef breaks off the point draw a more experienced surf crowd than Sayulita's.
Local tipLocal buses run down the highway and take around forty minutes, which is the cheap way to get there, though the last services back leave earlier than most people expect.
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10Best for Quiet sand · #10 of 13
Playa La Lancha and Higuera Blanca
ParkPunta Mita and the bayOpen in daylight hours year round with no services on the beach and the surf best in the winter swell seasonFreeReached down a short jungle path from the highway, La Lancha is a long pale sand beach inside a protected stretch of coast, with a mellow left hand point break at its northern end that works on the same winter swells as Sayulita. The village of Higuera Blanca behind it is also the marked trailhead for the walk up Monkey Mountain.
Local tipThe path in from the road is unsigned and easy to drive past, and there are no facilities on the sand, so bring water and shade and treat it as a beach to walk to rather than to arrive at.
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11Best for Adventure · #11 of 13
Horseback riding and jungle trails
TourThe beaches and jungle paths outside townRuns year round in morning and late afternoon slots, with routes altered or cancelled when the rivers are highTicketedBehind the beach the land climbs quickly into dry tropical forest cut by seasonal rivers, and the usual way to see it is on horseback, on a quad or on a guided walk to one of the small waterfalls that run after the rains. Rides commonly finish along the sand at Playa de los Muertos or north toward San Pancho.
Local tipTrail conditions swing hard with the season, with rivers running and everything green in late summer and the same routes dusty and bare by April, so ask what the ground is actually like before booking.
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12Best for Food · #12 of 13
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle marina and Sunday market
MarketPunta Mita and the bayThe village is open year round, with the marina market running weekly through the dry season and finishing by early afternoonFree with paid optionsForty minutes south, a working fishing village has grown a large modern marina without losing its plaza or its fish market. Through the dry season a Sunday market fills the marina boardwalk with producers, bakers and craft stalls from across the bay, and it is the single best food market in the area rather than a tourist stop.
Local tipThe market runs weekly in the high season only and finishes by early afternoon, so treat it as a morning out and combine it with the fish market a block inland.
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#13Best for Calm swimming · #13 of 13Lo de Marcos
Neighborhood LandmarkSan Pancho and the coast northOpen at all times as a working village, with beach restaurants keeping daytime hours and quieter service out of seasonFree with paid optionsTwenty five minutes north past San Pancho, this is what Sayulita looked like before the surf schools arrived, a village of barely more than a thousand people behind a run of calm bays divided by rock. The swimming is gentler than anywhere else on this stretch, the restaurants are palapas on the sand, and almost everyone there is Mexican rather than foreign.
Local tipThere is very little to do beyond swim, walk and eat, which is precisely the point, and the local buses running up the highway make it an easy half day without a car.
Where things cluster
Sayulita itself takes about fifteen minutes to cross, so most of the planning is really about how far up or down the coast you go.
- Sayulita town and the main beachSix blocks of cobbles under papel picado bunting, the plaza, the craft galleries and the surf beach at the bottom of it. Everything here is walkable and nothing needs booking.
- The beaches and jungle paths outside townThe cove at Playa de los Muertos beyond the cemetery, the harder to reach beaches north and south, and the forest trails climbing toward Monkey Mountain. Reached on foot or on horseback rather than by car.
- San Pancho and the coast northSan Pancho five kilometers up the highway and Lo de Marcos beyond it, both quieter and more Mexican than Sayulita. Local buses run the length of it all day.
- Punta Mita and the bayThe headland at the top of Banderas Bay, the beaches and point breaks around it, the marina village of La Cruz and the boats out to the Marietas Islands. All of it half an hour or so south.
Make it a day
A lesson, a cove and the plaza
Take a surf lesson on the main beach in the morning while the wind is still light, then walk south past the cemetery to Playa de los Muertos for calmer swimming and lunch. Spend the late afternoon in the galleries around the plaza and eat from the street stalls once the bunting is lit.
The town, then up and down the coast
Day one stays local, with surfing, the cove and the craft shops, and finishes on the plaza. Day two picks a direction, either north to San Pancho and Lo de Marcos for quieter beaches or south to Punta Mita for the Marietas boats, whales in winter and the Sunday market at La Cruz.
Calm water and horses
Put the swimming at Playa de los Muertos or down at El Anclote, where the water is shallow and the shore break is small, and keep the main beach for a lesson rather than a paddle. A short horseback ride along the sand in the late afternoon fills the gap, and the plaza handles the evening on its own.
Map
Best time to visit
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The dry season brings warm days with little rain, the north swells that make the surf work and the humpback season in the bay, which is also why the town is at its fullest and dearest then. Summer is hot, humid and green with heavy afternoon storms and much warmer water, and the months from June to October sit inside the Pacific hurricane season.
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Sayulita things to do FAQ
Parking, timing, cost, and weather answers for a smoother visit.
Is it safe to swim in Sayulita?
On the main beach, with care. Rip currents are common along this coast, the water is not continuously supervised and the safest approach is to stay inside the marked swimming area near the volunteer lifeguard towers. Playa de los Muertos is the calmer option because rock at both ends breaks the swell. Some of the outlying beaches, Carricitos in particular, have a heavy shore break and a strong undertow and are not for casual swimmers.
Is Sayulita a good place to learn to surf?
It is one of the better ones in Mexico. The wave at the north end of the main beach breaks slowly over sand, the paddle out is short, and there is a dense cluster of schools, camps and board rental right on the sand. The north swells from around December through April give the most consistent conditions, and the same beach gets crowded with beginners at those times, so early mornings are calmer in every sense.
How do you get to Sayulita from Puerto Vallarta?
It is roughly forty five minutes to an hour north of Puerto Vallarta airport by road. Local buses run up the highway from Puerto Vallarta throughout the day and are cheap and frequent, while private transfers and taxis take the same route more quickly. A car is unnecessary once you are in town, where golf carts and walking cover everything.
Do you need to book the Marietas Islands ahead?
Yes, particularly if the hidden beach is the reason for going. Only operators holding a federal permit may take visitors into the national park, the beach at Playa del Amor takes a capped number of people each day in short timed groups, and it is closed on some weekdays and during recovery periods. Trips that circle and snorkel outside the islands are much easier to arrange at short notice.
How many days do you need in Sayulita?
Three or four is a comfortable stay. One day covers the town, the main beach and a surf lesson, a second is enough for Playa de los Muertos and the shops, and a third allows either the climb up Monkey Mountain or a trip to the Marietas. Anyone wanting San Pancho, Lo de Marcos and Punta Mita as well should plan on the better part of a week.
What is Sayulita like compared with Puerto Vallarta?
Much smaller and much less developed. Sayulita has a few thousand residents, cobbled streets, no high rise building and a single main beach, and it runs on surfing, yoga and a young international crowd. Puerto Vallarta is a full city with an airport, a hospital, a marina and a large old town. Many people use Vallarta for arriving and Sayulita for the actual holiday.
Keep planning
Use these nearby guides to extend your Sayulita trip with a different pace and a clear next stop.
Hero image: Playa Sayulita and learning to surf, photograph by Luisalvaz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9 and exposure adjusted. Image credits. #1 Playa Sayulita and learning to surf: Luisalvaz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. #2 Playa de los Muertos and the hillside cemetery: Luisalvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #4 San Pancho: Luisalvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #5 Boat trip to the Islas Marietas: Christian Frausto Bernal from Tepic, Nayarit, MEXICO, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #6 Huichol beadwork and the town's craft shops: Carlos Raúl Camacho Acosta, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #7 The plaza, the flagged streets and the town market: Luisalvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #8 Whale watching in Banderas Bay: Fernando Flores from Caracas, Venezuela, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #9 Punta de Mita and El Anclote: Lynx Burgos, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #13 Lo de Marcos: Elbeta, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.