Travel Guide To Sayulita Mexico 2025 | Tips for A Great Trip
I just got back from a week stay in Sayulita, Mexico. Mexico’s surfing town packed with walkable restaurants, cafes, bars, shops, markets, and beaches. It’s located about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast of Mexico. While a small town, it’s packed with so much and felt bigger than we thought it would. My husband and I needed the full week to really get a grasp of the town and enjoy it. It was not love at first sight that first day for me; I kind of wondered if I made a bad decision booking a trip there. However, once I settled in and got a feel of the whole area, I realized it’s a unique gem of a place. We had an amazing trip and would like to return at least once more.
I was initially trying to compare Sayulita to two of my favorite spots – Tulum, Mexico (which has changed for the worse over the years, but still has my heart) and Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – a super laid back surfer town that was one of our best vacations ever. However, they are just not comparable as they’re all so different. Sayulita seems to be more of an equal mix of locals, expats, and tourists. It’s a bustling and busy small fishing village with poverty mixed in with the wealth. While a surf spot, the beaches are not as beautiful as many other areas. If you are looking for a relaxing beach vacation, I personally wouldn’t pick Sayulita. It’s packed with more energy, lots of great food options, great shopping, markets, and culture. You are immersed in a ton of culture when you travel to Sayulita. What Sayulita lacks, is made up in other ways.
Travel Guide To Sayulita Mexico 2025 Tips for A Great Trip
SAYULITA, MEXICO TRAVEL GUIDE
The Best Time To Travel To Sayulita, Mexico
The best months to travel to Sayulita are November and February. The weather is pretty perfect, it’s sunny every day, not too hot, and it’s not crowded. For mid February, the days were high 70s, early 80s and not too humid at all. December and January is the busiest season in Sayulita due to the nice weather and people escaping the winters. March and April are also great months, but the weekends are supposedly super busy from nearby area’s like Puerto Vallarta. Just skip going July through September during their super hot and rainy season. I learned that a lot of the expats leave during this time since it gets so uncomfortable.
How to get to Sayulita, Mexico
Best and Easiest Option. You fly into Puerto Vallarta, and from there you take an Uber. It’s around $60 and takes about an hour. Both price and time depend on the time and traffic as well.
Another option. Take a taxi right out of the airport. This is more expensive than an Uber.
Most affordable option – their Local Bus which is around $3. Make sure you have small peso bills ready to pay the driver. The bus makes lots of stops, might not have air conditioning, and can be pretty rough depending on which bus pulls up. To get on the bus, take a left out of the airport and then another left to go up the stairs onto the bridge. This walking bridge crosses the highway to the bus stop. It’s a bus stop for many buses so be sure to ask if it’s going to Sayulita before you get on. If you don’t know any Spanish, I would probably skip the bus. Also, you need to have minimum carry-on luggage if you take the bus. We took the bus on the way there (quite the experience) and took an Uber on the way back.
It’s about an hour drive from the airport, but depending on traffic it can be more or less. It took 1 hr and 15 minutes on the bus and our return Uber trip took around 45 minutes. Our Airbnb host said to leave 3 hours prior to our flight departure since you never know what the traffic will be.
How To Get Around In Sayulita
Once you are in Sayulita, you can easily walk everywhere. Some beaches and areas are a bit longer of a walk, but there are golf carts you can rent as well Ubers need be. We just chose to walk everywhere. Both of our Airbnb’s were on hills – our second more so, so we had some steeper inclines to walk, but still manageable if you’re in shape. You just have to be super careful walking up and down so you don’t trip or slip on the rocks or sidewalk.
Where To Stay In Sayulita
It’s not a quiet town, so you may want to stay off the main busy streets. You’ll still might get woken up by the roosters, birds, or trucks, but it’s much more peaceful staying off the main drag. I packed a sleep machine and eye mask and slept well.
I’m sure there are a lot of great places to stay in Sayulita. Being that I have only gone once, we booked our stay through Airbnb and would probably do that again. We ended up booking two places due to last minute availability over President’s Day weekend. I liked it though as we stumbled upon more of the area with two different places and gained a new perspective. With this said, I preferred our first place overall so it’s the one I’ve linked. Even though we didn’t cook, it was still nice to use the kitchen to cut up fruit in morning and use the electric kettle for tea morning and night.
To get a better rate, I recommend skipping staying over a holiday weekend/week. We spent $600 for a 3 night stay with taxes at our first place, but many days at the same place are only $99 per night (excluding taxes). While $600 still sounded great to us for the place we booked, Sayulita is a less expensive place to travel overall. You can spend even less if you pay attention to different dates – especially on Airbnb. Save the extra $ for shopping; you’re going to want it. Hotels are going to run higher.
Distrito 88 was the hotel near our second place and it looked like a great option if you want a nicer hotel. It was in a good quiet area, but only a 5 minute or so walk to town. Some rooms have a distant ocean view too. Just know there is a steep incline to walk up in that area. Adults only hotel.
Salulinda Hotel is one of the more popular hotels right in the mix of everything. It’s nicer, so maybe the walls are thicker so you don’t have too much noise? Not sure. Check it out and see if it’s for you.
Where To Eat – Best Restaurants In Sayulita, Mexico
There are SO many restaurants here with options for all. A big part of the draw for me was the amount of healthier options due to the large wellness scene in Sayulita. I love a boho hippy beach town vibe for several reasons, but a major one is that it is generally paired with plenty of healthier eats. I’ve yet to go somewhere where I like the food as much as Tulum and I think Sayulita might beat it for me now. The prices certainly do. It really is a mixed bag of a town. There is the wellness scene, a foodie scene, the surfer/beach scene, the party scene.. although we didn’t stay up late enough to really see it.
My Favorite Places To Eat In Sayulita, Mexico
I have a larger, more detailed food and restaurant post as well, but here are some highlights:
For the best brunch with something for all. We went three times during our stay since it was that good. My favorite was their sourdough avocado toast and my husband enjoyed the goat cheese veggie sourdough toast. There are many great choices to pick from though. I would just skip their acai bowl as it’s a little thing. If you enjoy quality coffee, you’ll be in heaven here as well. From a good Americano to the various specialty cold brews, you’ll be sure to enjoy something. They also take credit card here over $200 pesos. Closed on Tuesday’s.
For the best chia pudding with a frozen fruit topping (makes a great mid-day snack) and incredible smoothie bowls. Pesos only.
For tacos of your choice, guacamole and chips, and/or a big bowl of grilled veggies, mushrooms, beans, rice called Vegetales Cazuelita (the veggie bowl was my pick here). If you don’t eat dairy, just be sure to say no butter or cheese. As for tacos, they are known for their grilled fish and grilled shrimp tacos. If you enjoy shrimp, get their grilled shrimp tacos as I thought they looked the best. After reading many reviews and hearing orders/seeing their food, try their grilled shrimp Sayulita taco or the Mary’s shrimp taco with some chipotle sauce. Mary’s is one of the most inexpensive lunches or dinners. There is usually a line, but it goes fast. Pesos only.
For a nicer dinner. An Italian place with great pizzas, pastas, and salad. If you don’t eat dairy, they have a vegan cheese or you can also just ask for no cheese altogether and extra garlic with a side of garlic olive oil. They don’t skimp on the garlic either. Takes CC over $800 pesos.
What To Do In Sayulita, Mexico
Play In The Ocean + Walk the Beach
Going to one of the many beaches is a must. It’s a great way to relax from the bustling town, be immersed in the beauty of nature, and just cool off. However, unless you’re a surfer or an incredible swimmer, exercise caution. We found the waves super strong. Although not seemingly high, the moving sand underneath your feet can easily pull you under. Neither myself or my husband went in too far due to this.
We chose to lay out beach towels about a 15 minute walk north of the main area as it was much more relaxing. Plus, the water is considerably cleaner away from that central main area as it’s not overpopulated with people and urine, etc. With this said, stay alert in the slower areas of the beach as apparently there is more theft on the slower north end. We just took turns leaving our stuff, but there were still plenty of nice people walking past and enjoying the beach as well. Always exercise caution and stay alert, but never once did we feel unsafe here.
My husband spoke with someone who goes to Sayulita a month every January and said to stay out of the main beach water and skip eating and drinking at the beach restaurants out of caution. Norovirus and other stuff can be high there, so better to exercise caution. We chose to stay further up out of the water in the main beach area when walking it.
Different beach areas:
- Playa De Los Muertos – about a 15 minute walk south from the main beach when walking through town. We found it too busy when we went, but it was interesting to see the cemetery on the way.
- Playa Carracitos – It’s a far walk through the jungle, but the best beach if you have the time and energy. You walk towards Los Muertos, but take a left into the jungle and weave around until you get to the beach. Follow google maps as you are walking it.
- As much as it’s a beach town, the beaches did not impress me that much. It’s nowhere near as beautiful as the Tulum area on the other coast of Mexico. If you’re strictly going for a relaxing beach vacation, I don’t think this is the place. Plus, you have to walk a decent walk from most places to get to a good section of the beach.
Learn To Surf or Take a Boat Trip to Marieta Islands
Sunset surfing with a shuttle trip to La Lancha.
Boat trips to the Marieta Islands where you can hopefully see a whale.
Explore the Shops & Boutiques
The shopping is good. If you love to shop beautiful handmade and artisanal local goods like I do, you’ll be excited and overwhelmed by the many shops. I had to keep myself in check. It helped that I only had so many pesos. There is also a larger open market with cheaper souvenirs on the north side of town. To get to this open market, take a right when you see the Organi-K smoothie place when you get into town. You’ll eventually hit one street of the market and it somewhat wraps around.
Get Massages or Take a Yoga Class
Our time passed by quickly so we didn’t get a massage, but there are many beachfront options as well as holistic spots in the town that offer massages. If you want to take a Yoga class, check out Paraiso Yoga School.
Sayulita Friday Farmer’s Market
This market was one of my highlights. It’s somewhat hidden to the left of El Itacate, over the bridge on Calle Revolucion. It was full of quality prepared foods and local goods. We got various jackfruit tacos from Juan’s vegan taco stand, a cold-pressed mango orange juice with a shot of ginger that was pressed that morning, some raw cacao balls, and I got a pretty small tabletop runner here as well. I also saw some good sourdough bread, fresh hummus, organic produce, natural dog food, and other various stands that looked great. If I was a local, I would be going there every Friday. It’s from 10am to 2pm.
Day Trip to San Pancho
Take a 10-15 min Uber to San Pancho, also called San Francisco, for the day. It costs about $7 each way with no traffic. It’s a much smaller, more relaxed, quiet town with a pretty long sandy beach. The water was still strong here though too. It’s more of a place to cool off and dip your feet in than actually swim.
You can walk the whole main street with stopping in shops here and there in about 2 hours if you move fairly quickly. If you have the time to soak it all up, move leisurely. It feels relaxing here. There are sweet little side streets to venture off to as well. Next time I would probably do 4 nights in Sayulita due to the great food options and end with 2 or 3 nights in San Pancho for a more relaxing end to the trip.
Money & Currency
Bring plenty of pesos prior to coming. You won’t get ripped off at your local bank.
Everyone is going to spend differently, but incase this is helpful for someone: we brought $800 US dollars in pesos for one week for two of us. Make sure you get some smaller 50 and 100 bills too. 50 pesos is around $2.50, 100 – $5, 200 – $10, and so on. While we managed just fine, next time we would probably exchange $1000 US dollars for pesos and have less on the card. While some restaurants and shops take credit card, more are just pesos.
Bring two credit cards just incase one card cuts you off for some reason since you are out of country. Better to be prepared.
What To Know
You can easily travel here on a budget. Restaurants and cafes are incredibly inexpensive. This was our least expensive trip like this due to the food prices. $30 was our average breakfast and lunch bill and our dinner bills were around $60-70. On average we spent $130 a day for two of us give or take with snacks and waters/drinks included. If you enjoy more cocktails on vacation though, it’s going to be much higher than this. And of course you can easily spend a lot here on other things if you choose to, such as shopping or excursions, but the low restaurant bills and more inexpensive Airbnb’s allow you to travel for less.
Don’t drink the water, make sure to buy water and drink plenty of it to stay hydrated. Also, don’t go to the shiny, clean pharmacy stores to buy your water. We of course were instantly drawn to them and the first day we spent $20 on 3 large water bottles because we didn’t pay attention to the peso conversion right away. You’ll pay around $130 pesos for a bottle of water at the pharmacies or $20-30 pesos at the local marts – OXXO and Kiosk. It’s all the same questionable water bottles, but still not the tap water.
Most places you can’t flush anything down the toilet, including toilet paper. Unless you are staying somewhere that has a better septic system, you have to place your toilet paper in the waste basket next to you. You get use to it. I will say there is a lack of bathrooms in the town and majority of them are super rough, so pack hand sanitizer and wipes. You’ll be really happy with these travel wipes when you don’t have toilet paper.
If you know some Spanish, it will come in very handy here, but you can still get by without. Most of the cafes have people who speak English as well.
We felt extra safe here. Obliviously be smart and watch your stuff, but never once did we feel unsafe. We were back in our Airbnb’s by 10:00pm at the latest.
Other Tips:
- Uber is cheaper than a Taxi here as most places now are.
- I heard that Intercom right outside of town has the best exchange rate for Pesos need be, but don’t quote me on this as we exchanged for Pesos at our bank in the US. You’ll get the best rate from your own local bank vs in Mexico.
- Bring travel packs of wipes to have in your purse, backpack, or fanny for the rougher bathrooms throughout and sanitation when you need it.
- If you have the room, you may want to bring a collapsible umbrella for the beach.
- Don’t eat or drink at the beach bars or get food from vendors on the beach if you want to exercise more caution.
- If you have a kitchen where you are staying, you may want to grab some fruit from one of the many nearby spots to start your day with something healthy and fresh. I started with watermelon or papaya in the morning when we had a kitchen in our first Airbnb. We used some Dr. Bronner’s soap to wash them. The one time I grabbed a peach which is a little more daring, I washed it and sprayed it with sovereign silver before eating it.
- Bring a good digestive aid with all the food. These worked wonders for me on this trip.
- Terrenal Organic Food Store – If you have a kitchen and plan to make more of your meals in, this is the grocery store for quality food. It’s a long walk from town, so only worth it if you are staying a longer time.
- The streets are uneven stone streets. While super beautiful, if you have a bad knees or need an even surface, I would rethink this place.
- What to Wear – Beachwear, swimsuits, wrap scarfs for at night, and your Boho jewelry. While I chose to dress up a tad at the nicer restaurants, you can easily stay casual everywhere too. Stay in flip flops or flat shoes with the uneven streets. Men – shorts, t-shirts, swimsuits, a short sleeve button down, a linen long sleeve.
- You can see my wellness + beauty packing list for Mexico here.
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