Sayulita, Mexico

My friend Connie and I headed to Sayulita, Mexico for a few days, just for kicks. She’s on summer break from law school, and I’m just always down to travel. Plus, this was my first time in Mexico! It was a fun adventure mixed with a good bit of misadventure too. Our big mistake was the Airbnb we booked for the stay, which turned out to be in a not-great part of town with no air conditioning and no running water. But after many hours on the phone with Airbnb, they upgraded us to a much nicer place, and things definitely took a turn for the better. Anyway, more on all of that below!

Our first sunset at the beach. Welcome to affordable drinks and very warm air.

Fish tacos from The Real Fish Taco

Sayulita is definitely a small town catering to tourism. A lot of expats seem to live here, enjoying the chill beach life. There are lots of cute shops, and it’s not difficult to get around with English only.

On the left, Cava (we came back for happy hour drinks later). On the right: our airbnb, which would have been cute, had the person who checked us in actually known the address (she kept saying the wrong street number) and had there been air conditioning and running water. Apparently not having running water is just a thing that happens sometimes.

Again, seems cute, but not so cute after traveling all day, walking around for hours in 90 degree weather, and not being able to shower. Also, we were both eaten by mosquitos this first night. No screens in the windows either. Thank goodness we got to switch to a much nicer place the next morning.

Pretty bougainvillea all around, just like I imagined!

Lots of dogs running around this town. And cute shops.

 

   

Evoke the Spirit, with their meticulously made embroidered animal skulls.

They have a second location where you can take workshops to make your own crafts to take home. Too pricey for me, but I’m inspired to maybe make some of these things on my own at some point…

Here’s the Airbnb that we switched into. So cute and wonderful! It even came with two bikes that we took around town and to the beach one day.

It was three floors, with a pool on the roof.

We very seriously contemplated these hammock chairs but then they seemed like a hassle to fly with since there’s a big curved piece of wood involved.

 

Favorite meal: El Itacate, with very generous tacos of all kinds. And a very tasty pineapple basil agua fresca.

 

Another little misadventure: we were right across the street from this adorable yoga hotel, so we decided to join their daily morning yoga session one day. It’s advertised as being in an air conditioned studio.

Instead, we were in this palapa, which sounds like it could be cool… until the mosquitos all got me. I killed one that was in the process of biting my shoulder during savasana. Not very restful. The instructor was also… interesting. She was really into talking about the pelvic bone and the pelvic floor. It was just me and Connie, no other students. So, not the best yoga experience. Oh well.

We had two meals at La Esperanza, both of which were great. It’s “health food” but without the San Francisco price tag!

We took our bikes over to a little secluded beach, Playa de los Muertos, so named because you pass through a little cemetery to get there. It was lovely.

This man is carrying a gigantic tray of donuts.

Happy hour grabbing some mezcal margaritas at Cava.

All the cute animals! I got this wool rooster for myself. And this crazy bug-eyed dog and a psychedelic cat for my friends’ kids. I love them all.

Paletas from Wakika (love). And an iced Mexican hot chocolate from Miscelanea Sayulita, an adorable coffee shop.

The coffee shop is on the second floor, up this spiral staircase.

And finally, I painted all these things that I wish I could’ve brought back with me from Sayulita but either didn’t or couldn’t! Of special note is the juice from Orangy. We managed to go there every day. Yum.

Visit Sayulita

Stay

• This is the airbnb we switched into. It’s a little outside the main town but still in a nice area, and not too far.

Eat

• El Itacate has a seating area up a tiny spiral staircase that’s only open sometimes. Otherwise, eat the delicious tacos on the street level seating. Don’t miss the tasty agua frescas either.
• The Real Fish Taco. Simple, tasty.
• Wakika. Paletas (popsicles).
• La Esparanza. Health food, but without the price tag that you’d get in America.
• Mariscos Purillo’s. Breakfast and seafood.

Drink

• Don Pedro’s is right by the beach. We didn’t try the food but had some really affordable drinks with a great view.
• Orangy, as in juices, for ~50 pesos!
• Miscelanea Sayulita, a coffee shop tucked away on the second floor.

Shop

• There are boutiques all over town. Don’t miss the very pricey and instagram-friendly Evoke the Spirit with their rugs and embroidered skulls.
• Also hit up the hippie market to the north where you can find street vendors selling cute stuffed animals, hats, pom poms, tassels, and more.

Also

• If you’re relying on ATMs for cash, just be aware that lots of the ATMs are for US dollars only. Not sure how that would ever be helpful. But anyway, there’s an ATM for pesos at the corner of Calle Pelicanos and Av. Revolucion (and there are others too).
• Of course you can visit the main beach right by Sayulita, but for an even better experience, trek through the mini cemetery and make it over to Playa de los Muertos. There are fewer people and even palm trees providing natural shade.
• We took the bus to and from the Puerto Vallarta airport, which takes 90 minutes but cost only about $3 US.

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.