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 Travel & Outdoors | January 2008 
Adventure Guide to Mexico
Surfing: Sayulita
 Bonnie Tsui - NYTimes
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| | This small coastal fishing village 30 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta has lately achieved the perfect mix of lively beachfront bars, surf camps and terra-cotta architectural charm — all, most importantly, with easy access to numerous breaks ideal for beginners and for intermediates looking to sharpen their technique. | | |
Surfers have been crossing the border to ride waves along Mexico’s Pacific coast for decades, and this small coastal fishing village 30 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta has lately achieved the perfect mix of lively beachfront bars, surf camps and terra-cotta architectural charm — all, most importantly, with easy access to numerous breaks ideal for beginners and for intermediates looking to sharpen their technique. Advanced riders might head south to the body-wrecking barrels at Puerto Escondido, but the rest of us mere mortals will be content to spend a week or two skimming the waves there.
An easy right break on Sayulita’s bay, just off a curving white-sand stretch of town beach, is where longboarders spend most of their time; if those waves get too big, beginners can always move down the beach and find smaller ones. A faster left break caters to speedy shortboarders. In 2006, the Access Trips adventure travel company started a small-group surf itinerary to Sayulita and its surrounding breaks, joining the pioneering Las Olas Surf Safaris (www.surflasolas.com), which runs surf camps for women, and several others. The special flavor of the village, says Alain Chuard, co-owner of Access Trips, comes from its friendly and eclectic population (local fishermen, hippies, expatriates) and the town’s careful control over development (there are no big hotels or big chain stores here, whereas Wal-Mart has landed in Puerto Vallarta).
Most everything in Sayulita is within walking distance, from the beach to the grocery stores and cafes in the village center to the surrounding jungle. The village might not be a secret anymore, but it’s far from being overrun by tourists. Beaches are rarely crowded, a one-bedroom villa at Villa Amor, the luxury hotel in town, starts at $90 a night, and foreign travelers tend to be in their 20s and 30s.
Access Trips’ seven-day surf safaris are led by a local surfer, Javier Chavez, and a core team of instructors. The student-to-teacher ratio is capped at an intimate 4 to 1, and all trip leaders are locals. Days are spent surfing the bay and visiting other secluded surf spots north and south of Sayulita that are accessible only by boat. In the winter, humpback whales cruising by the bay are a bonus. Surfers stay in newly built bungalows with ocean views just up the hill from town, and morning yoga sessions in a private studio help ease the muscle pain left by consecutive pop-ups on the surfboard. Lunch might be grilled shrimp on the beach, and there are plenty of other outdoor activities, including guided jungle treks, mountain biking and trips to hot springs.
Access Trips, (650) 492-4778); www.accesstrips.com; seven-day surf adventures from $1,885, including lodging, instruction, all breakfasts, a lunch and two dinners, yoga and transportation, including airport transfers; November through May.
Bonnie Tsui is editor of “A Leaky Tent Is a Piece of Paradise” (Sierra Club), a collection of essays on the outdoors. |
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