sayulita - jan 2024

The whole 'digital nomad' tag is overplayed so I get why people avoid it - not everyone can move to a new country for months at a time and still pay rent for their place back home. But length of stay really doesn't matter imo, if the opportunity comes up where you can find a cheap flight for a couple weeks I would test the waters and see if it suits your situation. We could all use a reset, and if you combine this time away with some productive work time, I think this will only elevate your experience and it will be quite rewarding.

Now's a good time to mention that we both work from home and work off our laptops - and my ideal trip would be to stick to my routine, walk around a lot, be spontaneous to a fault, and plan literally nothing...so on paper, this trip should work right?

A little bit about Sayulita: from what i heard the town grew popular during the hippie movement in the 60's and attracted a ton of young people from the States and Canada. This is still visible today in the little trailer parks scattered around town.

The expat community is visible in Sayulita, but the town definitely hasn't lost its local feel despite what some of the OG purists here might think. It's still a surf town by nature so I'd say that original hippie vibe is going strong.

Kate (bless her heart) went through the trouble of looking up some places to stay. She split the area up into zones before we started looking for accommodations ie. we didn't want to be staying too close to the downtown core but instead in a more local neighbourhood that is still walking distance away.

The downtown zone is full of different types of places to stay. If you're looking for female friendly hostels, hotels, villas, airbnbs, or resorts - there is no shortage of options here. Most places have decent wifi and are reasonably priced depending on when you visit.

Things to note: downtown is bustling during the day - constant car traffic, random golf carts flying by, tons of visitors and tons of locals. Most of the good restaurants are here too, but also most of the tourist traps.

Kate found a really interesting spot about 10-12min away that caught our eye.

Sayulita Cabins

The rustic little compound that we stayed at. We picked the Cabin Coco room - 2 beds and 2 bath. It was really spacious, had plenty of countertop space, and was very clean. The room had lockers and felt secure. The courtyard also had a communal kitchen that you could use - included extra jugs of water etc. Our neighbours were mostly folks who were living in Sayulita long term.

The owner, Javed, reached out early on and was really accommodating; he pretty much took care of us from the get go, which let us focus on other things as we prepped for the trip.

There are several businesses like this around town that aren't advertised on airbnb or any booking website - instead they have their own booking system and site, so try and find a directory of listings in the area and book directly through them.

The cabins were definitely the most cost effective choice - so if you're looking to get a hotel-esque experience that's an options too. There are a bunch of hostels like Selina downtown too.

The nice surprise about Sayulita Cabins was that the neighbourhood it was in was much more local than the downtown core. Just walking around felt like you were in the countryside and it was a cool experience to wake up with the sun every day and try some of the nearby breakfast eateries.

The area is full of families, small makeshift diners, exactly one coffee shop, a little taco bar, and tons of dogs and roosters who start their day at 4am.

our neighbourhood

During the first week we explored a ton and found a bunch of different spots worth checking out.

1. Al-pastor taco stand, one of the only spot with al-pastor in town from what we saw, they start setting up around 6pm, tacos are about $1, try the gringas.

2. Cafe Coyote, decent coffee shop with chill interior, books to read, random dogs to pet for hours, I went here some mornings when I had work to do and it was a nice lil walk.

3. Tacos Toño, fire taco stand that opens around 7pm - try the rib tacos. Also try the fried guts if you wanna roll the dice.

4. La Cabra Cafe, a good working spot close to the downtown core with wifi, coffee, breakfast.

5. Palu Gallery and Blood Brothers, a cool art gallery with a cafe in the back, it's zen.

There's definitely no shortage of places and areas to explore in Sayu. Every street has a combination of local business with inconsistent hours and small crowds waiting to order food (we took this as a sign that the food there must be good - ie. try not to be the only person eating at a restaurant or street food stall because your chances of getting sick will basically double hahaha true story).

At the end of the day - get comfortable with trying new things. There's a ton of taco spots in town, but also really nice fusion restaurants at a little higher price point, and when I say 'higher' I mean average for Toronto.

Best food award: This easily goes to the fish tacos we had from this food stall located here.

They open around 5-6pm and no word of a lie, the empanadas here were ridiculous. It was a game changer and we went here a bunch of times over the course of our trip.

On a good day beaches in town are full of surfers, families, and people trying to sell you all sorts of stuff. We actually bought a nice handmade blanket for ~30 dollars here and I'm really hoping it's not some cheap thing. (Update: we've used it a bunch of times on the trip, it's good good). It's get's pretty busy during the day so make your way to the north end of the beach for a more chill time.

Here's a bunch of photos from the beach that I took with my Panasonic.

On a good sunny day the energy on the beach is great. The second you get there, a homie will look to get you set up with a good spot, and you can buy a chair/umbrella set-up for the day for about $20 depending on your negotiation skills. Everything here depends on how good you haggle which honestly I've always been told I was good at, but then I had an older Mexican lady who barely spoke English out-haggle me and I got humbled. But it's all in good fun, cause everyone is on the same page here. The sunsets here are really nice, and depending on the time of year pretty early in the eve.

BEACH MENU

Beer ~ 50p

Cocktail ~ 100p

Guac ~ 100p

Cigarettes ~ free?? Maybe ~ 5p each

Mexican Blankets ~ 300p

Umbrella Rental ~ 150p

Umbrella + Chairs ~ 300p

Massages ~ 500p/hr

Snack Cart Guy ~ 40p/100g

Other random things include pre-rolls, bracelets, chains, legit hair braiding. Honestly I feel like you can speak to your guy and get pretty much anything you need, just be nice, tip generously, and chill. You'll get approached a lot at the busy beaches if you're up, but if you're lying down people selling things usually skip you.

If you're into trying surfing I'd say it's beginner friendly. The bay is always full of people of all skill levels and there are classes that you can sign up for. I've only surfed once but from my virgin eyes the waves look consistent and even if you suck it's still fun to be out there watching other pros. Extra points if you are out during golden hour.

If you want to go outside Sayulita, take a bus from the terminal to San Pancho. Tickets are about 3 bucks and it's only 10 minutes away. It's a way more relaxed vibe, with similar types of eateries. The beach/sunset combo here is top tier. It's basically one road and a small stretch of good food, bars, and shopping. We found the only pool table here in the whole Sayulita area.

Post Trip Reflection

I've been back for a few days now and missing the beach for sure. But it's good to be home in my own bed. This trip really surprised me since it didn't really feel like vacation but more like an extension of my day-to-day routine in Toronto. I felt energized and active, finding time to work and start new projects like this. At the same time feeling relaxed and clear headed, disconnecting from the stress of January and finding a sort of carefree energy in this small village. I like to go into trips like this not expecting much, which sometimes backfires because I can sometimes miss on really good opportunities. But by managing expectations you can really avoid the pitfalls of doing too much, when what you actually need is a productive break. All in all really happy and thanks for reading if you made it this far.