Layout of Sayulita
Sayulita is small. The whole settlement holds a few thousand permanent residents and occupies about a kilometre of shore where a short river reaches a bay between two rocky headlands. Highway 200, the coast road between Puerto Vallarta and Tepic, passes about 2 km inland; a single paved access road drops from it into the village, and there is no through traffic.
The village is a flat grid of a dozen or so streets running back from the beach, most of them cobbled and several of them one-way, with the plaza and the church a block from the sand. The main beach, Playa Sayulita, is the centre of the town in practice: the surf schools, the board rentals and the beach restaurants are strung along it, and the river mouth divides it into a north and a south half. Development climbs the hillsides on both sides of the bay in rental houses, with the steeper and quieter north side reached by a road that ends above the headland.
South of the village, past the cemetery on the point, a footpath of about 15 minutes leads to Playa Los Muertos, a small sheltered cove with no road access and no surf. North of the bay the path continues towards Playa Carricitos, a longer and emptier beach. Sayulita has no airport, no bus terminal and no hospital: local buses and vans run to Puerto Vallarta and to Tepic from the highway junction and from the village entrance, and Puerto Vallarta airport, 40 km away, does all the flying. The village became one of Mexico's pueblos mágicos in 2015, and its year is shaped by the dry season from November to May, when the swell is smaller and the days are clear, and the wet season from June to October.
Distances from Sayulita
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Pancho (San Francisco) | 7 | 10 min | Highway 200 north |
| Lo de Marcos | 15 | 20 min | Highway 200 north |
| Punta de Mita | 20 | 30 min | Highway 200 south, then the Punta Mita road |
| La Cruz de Huanacaxtle | 22 | 30 min | Highway 200 south |
| Rincón de Guayabitos | 30 | 35 min | Highway 200 north |
| Nuevo Vallarta | 35 | 40 min | Highway 200 south |
| Puerto Vallarta airport (PVR) | 40 | 45 min | Highway 200 south, shuttle or taxi |
| Puerto Vallarta centre | 50 | 1 h 10 | Highway 200 south, local bus |
| Tepic | 120 | 1 h 45 | Highway 200 north |
| Guadalajara | 340 | 5 h | Highway 200 and 15D via Compostela |
| Mazatlán | 410 | 5 h 30 | Highway 200 to Tepic, then 15D |
The Riviera Nayarit around Sayulita
Sayulita sits in the middle of about 300 km of coast, from Nuevo Vallarta at the Jalisco border up to San Blas, that the state promotes as the Riviera Nayarit. The southern end of it is the Nayarit shore of Banderas Bay: flat, sandy and built up, with the marina at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and the resorts of Nuevo Vallarta. Beyond the point at Punta de Mita the coast turns north and becomes a series of small bays separated by headlands, of which Sayulita is one. The Islas Marietas, a group of uninhabited islands off Punta de Mita, are a national park and a nesting site for blue-footed boobies; visitor numbers to their collapsed-crater beach have been capped since 2016 and access requires a permitted operator.
Immediately north, San Pancho — officially San Francisco — is a quieter village of similar size 7 km up the highway, with a longer beach and a stronger shore break. Lo de Marcos and Rincón de Guayabitos, further on, are the beaches Mexican families use in the Easter and December holidays rather than foreign resorts. Behind the coast the land rises quickly into the Sierra de Vallejo, a forested range that keeps development to a narrow strip. Humpback whales pass this shore on their way into Banderas Bay between December and March, and the beaches south of the village are olive ridley turtle nesting grounds from roughly July to December. For the wider picture see the Pacific Coast map, the Puerto Vallarta map for the bay itself, and the beaches map of Mexico.
Questions about Sayulita
Where is Sayulita on the map of Mexico?
On the Pacific coast of Nayarit at 20.87° N, about 40 km north of Puerto Vallarta airport and just north of the headland that closes Banderas Bay. It is in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, on the stretch of shore marketed as the Riviera Nayarit.
What airport do you fly into for Sayulita?
Puerto Vallarta (PVR), 40 km south in Jalisco, which is the nearest international airport and about 45 minutes away by road. Tepic (TPQ), 120 km north, has only a few domestic flights.
What time is it in Sayulita?
Central time, UTC−6, the same as Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City. Bahía de Banderas is the only municipality in Nayarit on Central time; the rest of the state, including Tepic, is an hour behind at UTC−7. Mexico stopped changing its clocks in October 2022.
Is Sayulita good for beginner surfers?
The main beach has a sand-bottomed break that works both left and right and is usually small enough for lessons, which is why the surf schools are there. The bigger, less forgiving waves are at the neighbouring points; Playa Los Muertos, the cove south of town, has no surf and is used for swimming.
Is Sayulita safe to visit?
Nayarit carries a US State Department Level 2 advisory, exercise increased caution, and the department places no travel restrictions on its own employees anywhere in the state. Petty theft on the beach and strong rip currents are the practical risks. Check the current advisory before travelling.