We took a super easy UBER from our hotel Rivera Del Rio Boutique Hotel in Puerto Vallarta to the Casa Parota Boutique Hotel in Sayulita for under $30USD for the hour drive. The lush portion from Bucerias to Sayulita was really pretty on a road covered part of the time by a tunnel of trees. We imagined there were critters about and Glenn asked our driver “Hay monjas en los arboles?” at which point the driver made the sign of the cross and laughed!!! Glenn had asked “are there nuns in the trees?'” instead of “Hay monos en los arboles?” or “Are there monkeys in the trees?” Close but no cigar! I think some more Spanish lessons are in order!!
We had seen lots of photos on Instagram before we came to Sayulita that looked very “hippy, travel vibe” and which really appealed to me. We were not disappointed! Sayulita is COLOR!! There are so many great murals all over town, one of my favorite is the “wings” on a wall in one of the boutiques on a main street. We had to ask around to find out where it is and forgot to write down the name, but it isn’t hard to find. The shops and restaurants are full of colorful items and decor and there are so many photos just waiting to be captured, which I tried to do. On Sunday there is a small market along the river right after the bridge to your left. This is a great place to find lots of used clothing, especially men’s shorts etc. Golf carts are seen all over town as they seem to be a preferred way of travel especially is one is staying in the surrounding areas.
We stayed at the colorful Casa Parota Boutique Hotel (also booked through booking.com) which is in a great location close to the edge of town as you come in and before the bridge. Everything is close by since Sayulita is small with the majority of restaurants and shops in a main 4 block area. The hotel was quite reasonable and we had a huge bedroom and bathroom (with a lot of empty space) and a terrace. Unfortunately the terrace did not have a stunning view as it was next to the river. This was a great place for us to do our hand washing since the bathroom floor was all tile with a big clothes rod over it. Checking in was a bit confusing as I don’t believe there is someone there all the time, so there is a number to call to be let in. The guy who checked us in gave very little information to us. There are no keys, you are given a combination to a key pad for the front door and a separate one for your room. It seems to be a bit more like a guest house. It does have a very nice communal kitchen that you can use. There is a breakfast included but you have to go to a place called El Patio on the beach a few blocks away and we were not too impressed with it and gave it a miss on the second morning trying someplace else. It is more of a bar than a cafe. We were confused as to whether a continental or full breakfast was included in our hotel price and kind of never really got it figured out. Sayulita was HOT!! and we would have loved to have had a pool since we weren’t into being down at the beach. We will keep this in mind next time we are closing a place to stay.
There are plenty of really good restaurants in Sayulita!!! We had one of the best thin crust wood fired pizzas ever at La Rustica where there are a variety of outdoor spaces and a really nice staff. They also do a very nice breakfast and the staff is great. We found prices at restaurants to be less expensive for much better quality than in both PV and Bucerias. Next to Casa Parota is a great organic cafe called Organi-k where they have amazing smoothies!!! along with acai bowls and other fabulous eats in a nice setting. Mary’s, on one of the main streets, was another great place if you want super Mexican food. Very reasonable prices and nice people. Amazing tacos. There are tons of street stalls where the food looks phenomenal but we could only take in so many meals in the short time we were in town.
The one thing we were not impressed with at all was the extremely crowded main beach. There was hardly room to move and this is low season still. We can just imagine how packed it will be in a month. As we mentioned in our previous blog post for Puerto Vallarta, we did not have much time to be able to explore other beaches in the area so maybe those are better.
During our time here we heard an amazing singer (Frad Mulier) along with her husband, playing guitar and a friend from Argentina who plays percussion. We wish we could put a video on our post but you can catch a listen by visiting our Instagram (@ourprimeoflife). And you can see a video with us in it taken by someone else by going to Glenn’s Facebook page. Weird to not know you are being filmed. We really wish them the best for their future in music and would love to hear them again, maybe in San Miguel? They are at the Oz Sayulita Boutique Hotel for awhile on the weekends. When we saw them it was downstairs in the restaurant from 5-7pm. But times/dates can change. So check it out if you are around.
One thing we should add is a bit about the money situation in Sayulita. We saw no banks! So, bring pesos with you as the ATM machines we saw did not look to be in the best of order. Actually they looked like they were falling apart. We were able to use credit cards in quite a few of the restaurants that we went to but not everyone accepts cards, so be prepared. 
It is still the rainy/low season and we did experience some of the wet stuff, but it didn’t really damper our spirits or our discovery of the town. We did however come for too short of a time, and are looking forward to returning someday. Perhaps taking advantage of one of the many AirBnb’s (with pool).
Sayulita was a fun little blast from the past feeling for us and we really enjoyed our time there. We had been told by a lot of people that it was too touristy and crowded, which I could see being some’s opinion. But I would say if you have done some world travel and want a little bit of “hippy” in your life along the coast give it a try. And let us know what you think.
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