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 Travel & Outdoors | October 2006 
Boarder Town - Sayulita, Mexico
 Jason Blevins - Denver Post
| | Sayulita long has been a guarded vacation secret among Mexicans and vagabond surfers. (Brandon Knapp) |
Legend holds that those who drink the water in this whimsical fishing-village-turned-surf-hideaway will fall prey to the region's siren song, assuring not only several return trips but a lifetime spent snaring others under Sayulita's salty spell.
Folksy fodder for tourists, certainly, but let's be very clear: Never drink the water in Sayulita. More on that later.
But first, the sultry sirens of Sayulita.
Wedged between dense jungle and the Pacific Ocean, this once humble village has become the sandy metropolis of Nayarit, the coastal state north of bustling Puerto Vallarta. That's not to say the 3,000-resident Sayulita is anything like its sprawling, resort-rich neighbor to the south. It's just that Sayulita's four square blocks of beachfront fun ranks as the largest village among Nayarit's bounty of not-quite-remote but lonely oceanfront hamlets.
Sayulita's fishing economy slowly began to give way to tourism in the mid-1960s, when the government blazed the interstate Mexico 200 north from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita and beyond. In the 1970s the government, as part of a nationwide urbanization effort, erected a town square in Sayulita and flanked it with new buildings. Still, the village spent three decades off the beaten path of barefoot tourists, happily hiding in the shadows of the big-box hotels emerging in Puerto Vallarta.
The quiet villages of Nayarit have always been popular with Mexican vacationers from Guadalajara and Mexico City, but among the gringos, word of the region's treasures rarely trickled beyond the secretive sect of vagabond surfers.
The secret got out
But, as with every hidden paradise, word spread. Outside Magazine in the late '90s whispered to its half-million subscribers that Sayulita was top- shelf for anyone seeking a southern tropical getaway sans doorman. Bulldozers started forging farther up the jungled ridges above the surf, clearing roads for palatial homes for gringos. Cobblestone avenues in Nayarit's Sayulita, Punta Mita, San Francisco and even Lo de Marcos now host plenty of real estate offices, a main- street proliferation mirroring most of Colorado's mountain towns.
Speaking of those mountain towns, it seems as though a growing number of the Rocky Mountain's snowbound villagers, especially those in the Roaring Fork Valley, have been guzzling the Sayulita water, so to speak. In a recent dawn line-up at Sayulita's outstanding surf break, half the board riders hailed from Colorado's highest altitudes.
As for that Sayulita water: Every Mexico traveler knows it's best to avoid the tap water unless you want to lose lots of weight quickly. Sayulita's bountiful restaurants use bottled water for everything - not even the locals sip from the tap. Even worse, the rapidly growing town has a bit of a sewage-processing problem. While a collective effort is underway to raise money for a much- needed treatment plant upgrade, it's best to avoid swimming in the bay after a rainstorm. There's a reason the sand is black where the stinky Rio Sayulita meets beach in the middle of the bay.
Despite its "discovery," Sayulita remains rootsy with delicious food, comfy and affordable hotels, lodges and homes, and a mostly happy-to-see-you local population. It remains the more rough-hewn, adventuresome alternative to Puerto Vallarta; a perfect place for the folks more apt to name the scurrying sand crabs living in the bathroom and feeding the geckos on the porch than call a broom-wielding housekeeper.
Barely an hour's drive from Puerto Vallarta's airport, Sayulita can anchor an authentic, adventure-filled frolic far from the cushy spas and groomed sand of glamorous yet congested PV. About halfway up Puerto Vallarta's cobalt Bahia de Banderas, the flashy state of Jalisco yields to Nayarit, a much more modest region teetering between acutely rural jungle villages and palace- pocked, surf-rocked beaches. Nayarit's coast is cupped with several north-facing bays and inlets that hide increasingly unfettered communities with beautiful surf breaks, secluded sand, cobblestoned streets and vintage Mexican vibes.
The longtime gringo visitors say Sayulita is what Puerto Vallarta was 20 years ago. If the present pilgrimage of tourists continues northward, then it's only a matter of time before those quiet Mexican hamlets north of Sayulita will soon be painted as "the way Sayulita used to be."
GET THERE
Homegrown Frontier Airlines has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the increasing number of Mexico-bound Coloradans. The airline shuttles regularly between Denver and eight Mexican destinations. Jets to Puerto Vallarta run three times a week in the summer-fall and daily in the winter-spring. The airline occasionally offers short- term deals to Puerto Vallarta for around $260 round trip, as well as discounted mileage redemption for frequent fliers (like this summer's flights for only 15,000 miles, compared with the regular redemption rate of 30,000 miles). Sign up for e-mail alerts at frontierairlines.com and get the early scoop on deals.
DRIVING
If you plan to nestle more than explore, you don't need a car in Sayulita. But if you are renting a home up Sayulita's Gringo Hill (homes there are advertised as "minutes from town," and those are arduous, uphill, Mexican minutes on a rocky road), a car is a nice amenity. Rental-car prices near the Puerto Vallarta airport are cheap, especially if you book through an online vendor. Get the insurance, since your American carrier isn't likely to cover Mexican driving damage, and accidents typically involve the immediate incarceration of uninsured and cashless parties. If you plan on some serious wave hunting, get a rig with clearance. Buses from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita are $2, and there are plenty of taxis from the airport that run about $45. Stroll across the pedestrian bridge from the airport, and the taxis are about $30 to Sayulita.
STAY
Prices for lodging run the gamut in Sayulita, but they are exponentially less than most beach-side prices stateside and the resort prices up the road in Puerto Vallarta. There are a few hotels and hostels in Sayulita, but the majority of lodging options are privately owned bungalows, condos and houses with prices for every budget.
The beachfront hotel Playa Escondida overlooking the bay offers an array of rooms, from beachfront cabanas to more traditional hotel rooms. Costs vary from $100 a night in the summer to $475 a night in the high season for a Mayan-themed, two-story bungalow overlooking the beach (playaescondida.com).
For the spa-seeker, the new Bella Vita Retreat in San Pancho offers weight-loss and fitness-centric stays at its posh, surfside casitas. All-inclusive week-long "fitness vacations," with beach-side training, sweaty stretching and massages, run close to $4,500. Check it out at bvretreat.com.
The private palatial spreads - with multiple bedrooms, private pools, cooks, housekeepers and rarely needed air-conditioning - up Gringo Hill rent for as little as $200 a night in the summertime low-season. High season - February through May - sees rents for the best climb to $400 a night or more. Smaller, one-bedroom bungalows up Gringo Hill, a decent stroll to the beach but more apt to snare ocean breezes, rent for as little as $45 a night.
Prices increase the closer to the water. A bedroom in the surfside hostel at Papas Palapas (805-481-7260) rents for $35 a night in low season and double that in the peak season. Lodging at Punta Mita, home to a Four Seasons and Jack Nicklaus golf course, are similar to those found in Sayulita. But lodging in San Francisco/San Pancho is cheaper.
A local hostel in Sayulita, (corner of Navarette and Caracol) offers bunks for $10 to $15 a night.
A campground in Sayulita, right in the middle of the beach next to Papas Palapas, offers tent sites and trailer hookups for about $20 a night, which includes the town's rowdiest and most colorful camaraderie.
Most every place to rent in Nayarit can be found through these two sites: The lodger-run sayulita.com and the public sayulitalife.com.
DINE
Yes, Puerto Vallarta has a more varied supply of eateries. But no, they are not any better than those at Sayulita. And with more than 30 places to eat in Sayulita - ranging from white linen and fresh-pressed waiters to roadside tables and shoeless servers - it's hard to run out of options.
Sayulita Fish Tacos on Av. Jose Mariscol at the town square conjures up the very best fish tacos south of Baja, maybe in all of in Mexico (and possibly the planet). Seriously. Owner and expat Mark Alberto knows his tacos. And your server is likely an internationally ranked surfer, so tip well and maybe you'll get handed a wave in the local lineup. For a truly rich buzz, order Alberto's Slater 7 cocktail, a heady mix of seven liquors. Check out Alberto's live webcam at sayulitafishtaco.com.
Choco Banana, (14 Calle Delfin) also on the square, kicks out fresh fruit smoothies and tasty coffee that obliterates post-surf-session salty tongue and fuels the second session. Choco's signature drink - espresso, milk, chocolate and a frozen banana all blended and topped with whipped cream - is highly addictive.
The Café Economica behind the taxi stand on the square doesn't have a sign. No menus, either. You get what they're cooking, and it's always fantastic and ridiculously cheap. It's where the locals eat, so visitors shouldn't expect attentive service.
Sayulita Café on Av. Revolucěon is small and cramped, but the food is extravagant. The Molcajete Azteca dish is a fiery bowl of goodness like no other. The dish of giant prawns swimming in a papaya sauce is equally unique. And get ready to swing when Mexico's own Elvis - really more of a Donny Osmond - comes by for a dinnertime serenade.
Every night, streetside vendors roll out the grill and serve up some of the tastiest vittles in town. Four can gorge at one of Sayulita's many nameless taco stands for less than $10, all while watching fresh-off-the-clock locals liven up the town square. The best are the most crowded, like the red-tented cafe by the bridge over the Rio Sayulita and the exceedingly modest chicken-on-a-spit shack on Av. Revolucěon coming into town.
Be careful of the salsas the taco makers push. Twisted in little baggies and covertly stowed with the tacos like some sort of illicit drug, the combustible concoctions can punish even the most callous-tongued tourist. Those salsa pushers seem to get a twisted pleasure from watching gringos boil and sob. Take advantage of the town's well-stocked trio of paleterias for dousing oral flames. The frozen bananas wage a chilling battle against the painful Tepěn salsa most vendors slyly promise you will love.
In the afternoons, shortly after booty-laden panga skiffs motor up onto the beach between startled sunbathers, tired trucks crawl through Sayulita with rooftop speakers blaring. The voice may be distorted, but the trucks are full of treasure. The shrimp, dorado, snapper and, on good days, tuna packed inside were blissfully swimming not an hour earlier. Save a few pesos by skipping the truck-toting middlemen and catching the fishermen as they ram their pangas up on the sand between 10 a.m. and noon every day. It's not difficult to find a local chef to prepare a meal in your private home. Ask around at the local taquerias. Most charge about $5 a person plus the cost of groceries.
If you plan to do some home cooking, take a spin through the Sam's Warehouse in Puerto Vallarta before heading north. Cases of Pacificos, Tequila and other essentials can be found there for half the price of the local grocery in Sayulita.
Sayulita definitely offers some of the best eats in Nayarit, but don't miss the dinner-only La Ola Rica in San Francisco, a.k.a. San Pancho. (Av. Tercer Mundo, 329-291-3267) Their succulent BBQ ribs are touted as "the best in Central America," and the line to get in starts early on Cuban-music Tuesdays. The crispy pizzas are essential ingredients of any trip to San Pancho. If you eat here early in your holiday, it could be hard to go anywhere else for the rest of your stay.
Staff Writer Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com. |
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