Punta Mita / Sayulita surf, food and lodging beta please...

[J_Berg]

Bumping. Read thru the entire thread (very bored at work). I'm going to be in Sayulita for spring break in march. What size board would you guys recommend (I'll be renting)? I consider myself a upper level beginner, maybe intermediate? I'm a big skier/mtb guy but visited Bucerias two years ago and was able to surf La lancha in march, I think I was on a 9' board one day and 8' another day? I was able to pop up and ride the wave back in essentially. Thanks in advance everyone

[ex-powderbroker]

just got in and this place is not unattractive

[ex-powderbroker]

Bumping. Read thru the entire thread (very bored at work). I'm going to be in Sayulita for spring break in march. What size board would you guys recommend (I'll be renting)? I consider myself a upper level beginner, maybe intermediate? I'm a big skier/mtb guy but visited Bucerias two years ago and was able to surf La lancha in march, I think I was on a 9' board one day and 8' another day? I was able to pop up and ride the wave back in essentially. Thanks in advance everyone

i think it’s gonna depend on the waves man. we had some big days but mostly small ones. car rental is 6ish a day. beaches about 5km to the south have bigger surf. water is almost 80 degrees now and getting warmer, it was sweet.

the torta shop just north of the bridge is excellent.

bring 300 pesos for one of those cool oaxaca blankets and don’t pay more.

at the carnaval in town you get three throws at bottles for 40 pesos. if you have a good arm you can win a sixer, find the stall with the bottles close together and let it rip.

[liv2ski]

Bumping. Read thru the entire thread (very bored at work). I'm going to be in Sayulita for spring break in march. What size board would you guys recommend (I'll be renting)? I consider myself a upper level beginner, maybe intermediate? I'm a big skier/mtb guy but visited Bucerias two years ago and was able to surf La lancha in march, I think I was on a 9' board one day and 8' another day? I was able to pop up and ride the wave back in essentially. Thanks in advance everyone

It depends on what is available, but you know it will be easier on the long board, so just go 9 ft.

[skivan]

Was just down in sayulita in early March. Not much swell...but a great family trip. Didn’t really get sick (was pretty careful and only ate at nice spots) and stayed in a nice place. Heard other people talking about it though “half the people that came for the wedding got sick [emoji855]” but that’s avoidable.

Wow la lancha has changed...was a zoo.

They’re almost finished w the water treatment effluent pipe. Sending it 2km offshore. Hopefully that will help some, but hasn’t really addressed the leaks from houses before the treatment plan. Progress nonetheless!

[Long duc dong]

So I'm finally going to get to this area. We have some points to use, and we were thinking about Aruba, but have settled on Punta Mita, late August. We will be staying at the St. Regis for 6 nights, paying only about 140 a night because of points, so we could not turn that down. There are some breaks within walking distance, and some others that we can reach. This is not a surf trip per se, I'm probably not going to get two sessions a day in, but I do want to get at least one session a day and that looks to be doable. My wife is going to want to take some surfing lessons. I would love to hit up the lefts that are something like an hour to 1.5 hours north, Chicala and Santa Cruz, but I don't know if that will happen. Still, there does seem to be enough surf in the Punta Mita area that I should be able to get my fill.

That Costa Azul resort place does look great, but this should be a nice trip all-around. There do seem to be breaks that are walking distance from the St. Regis.

How safe is the village of Punta Mita? I know the area around the St. Regis will be safe, and we won't be doing any serious traveling on the roads at night, but I do want to go into the village without too much worry. Hopefully we will get some swell.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Punta Mita is very safe, as for driving at night, I spent many a night driving between there and Sayulita with no worries.. Lived there for almost a year working on a private villa in the four seasons compound.

[Ottime]

Pints Miya is Mexico Light. You pay more for things, but the main strip in town was super safe. My 70 ur old in laws were comfortable taking my 2 yr old son out for the evening so we could have a separate date.

There are plenty of breaks walking distance of the st Regis (if I have my properties straight), and being south swell season, you shouldn’t really have a need to go else where. If the swell is cranking, head in toward Buros. If small, walk out to the cove.

The point break on the south facing side can be tricky entering/exiting the water.

[Long duc dong]

Many thanks guys. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

I figured Punta Mita was pretty safe. Surfline has a feature up called Cartel Land which is straight up scary.

[Name Redacted]

We spent a day in Sayulita a few weeks ago, drove up from PV for the day. I was amazed by how busy it was, and this was post Easter, midweek in their kinda slow season. Tons of people out, breaks were crowded (didn't surf, more of a recon for future trips).

One thing I noticed was the restaurants in Sayulita had norovirus warnings so definitely take precautions. They were handing out hand sanitizer like candy when you walked in.

Ended up at Don Pedro's, and the food (fish tacos) and service were excellent. Beer was cold. But it was probably the most americanized touristy restaurant on the beach. Nothing wrong with that I guess, but less authentic. Nobody got norovirus so I count that as a win.

We didn't get a chance to check out Punta Mita, but will next time.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Many thanks guys. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

I figured Punta Mita was pretty safe. Surfline has a feature up called Cartel Land which is straight up scary.

Pay your bills, don't try to take someone's business away and you'll be fine in Mex. A couple of Canadians got smoked up in PV when I was living in Punta Mita, but they were slinging sacks and it sounds like someone took offense to their behavior. It was funny when the Canadian consulate's official position was basically, "Eh, that's what happens.."

[Ottime]

^^^^sure. But some parts of the country are inherently more dangerous than other. Punta Mita i would List on the safer side of things. As in you are not likely to get mugged, threatened or propositioned while walking the main drag during evening business hours. I was not out at 3AM, so no idea about night. But in general way safer than Tijuana for instance.

[Long duc dong]

Heading out in a few days for a week. It looks like there should be some swell. Will report on it. I might try to hit the chacala area for a day.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Jealous. Enjoy it.. It will still be hotter than blazes but just move slower and drink lots of
penafiels.

[ElCollier23]

Haven't been to Punta Mita but I'm thinking maybe next year.

[summit]

We spent a day in Sayulita a few weeks ago, drove up from PV for the day. I was amazed by how busy it was, and this was post Easter, midweek in their kinda slow season. Tons of people out, breaks were crowded (didn't surf, more of a recon for future trips).

One thing I noticed was the restaurants in Sayulita had norovirus warnings so definitely take precautions. They were handing out hand sanitizer like candy when you walked in.

Ended up at Don Pedro's, and the food (fish tacos) and service were excellent. Beer was cold. But it was probably the most americanized touristy restaurant on the beach. Nothing wrong with that I guess, but less authentic. Nobody got norovirus so I count that as a win.

We didn't get a chance to check out Punta Mita, but will next time.

We were there at the same time. We had heard of the norovirus issue. Funny thing is that hand sani is not so effective at norovirus. Gotta use soap and water. Nobody got sick in our group though. Their new water treatment plant also is a good thing. We always carry hand sani in a mi I bottle when traveling.

I surfed and went bird watching... And tequila

[rideit]

I’ll be there next March/April. Traveling with my bike...anyone ride any single track there?

[ex-powderbroker]

I’ll be there next March/April. Traveling with my bike...anyone ride any single track there?

i bet this guy would know if there any trails, i think he mentioned something when i went hiking with him

https://www.sayulitalife.com/news/detail/523

[summit]

Regret not riding bikes there... heard great things, but I'd have to go when its not hot. I can't do hot

[rideit]

I’ll actually have a mountain bike and surf guide for Mascota and Sayulita, so I am sure I will ride the goods. Also going to Todos Santos to ride and surf with my 11 y.o. Kiddo.

[Telemarketeer]

There was a specialized bike shop in the marina in PV when I was there recently. They also had ebikes, don't know if they had demos. An ebike would be pretty sweet in that heat and humidity. We didn't ride but probably will when we go back next year.

[Long duc dong]

So we got back a couple of days ago. Overall it was fun, but there was not much surf. We surfed a few days, mostly at La Lancha, which required a cab from the hotel, and my wife got surfing lessons. La Lancha was fun, a decent left and a longer right, but we did not get it over chest high, and it was mostly waist high. Overall it was an awesome overall trip, some surf, some lessons for the wife, plenty of tennis, good food and pool drinks. Punta Mita does not have a huge swell window, but I would really like to go back with more swell in the water. The area behind the gates, which is where the St. Regis and 4 Seasons are, is off limits except for those that boat in, so you have very few people in the water.

Directly in front of the St. Regis there is a nice right, one that we could see from our room. It breaks off a rocky island that is slightly off shore, you can walk to the island at low tide. It is a really nice setup, although the inside is rocky. Last Sunday night it was head high when we arrived as the sun was going down. It looked really fun, with no one on it. The next morning I got a session there in stomach high surf. It was fun, but I really would have loved to have it with more juice. I did rent a longboard from the hotel one day and hit it at thigh high, which was actually really fun on a longboard, but I really wish I had gotten to surf it with more swell in the water. I can't tell if it is called Bahia, or El Skupa, I got conflicting reports, but there is also El Faro, and a couple of other spots behind the gates. Outside the gates, in Punta Mita, the most consistent spot is La Lancha, but there are also a few other places.

My wife got surf lessons from a place called WildMex. I highly recommend them. Her instructor told me that if I came back when there was swell he could take me up to La Caleta, the left point an hour and a half north that I REALLY wanted to hit, so hopefully I will get the chance at some point. WildMex has locations in Punta Mita and Sayulita, I had a great experience with them and I would highly recommend them. They also have LOTS of boards for rent in Punta Mita, which is nice because you can take a standard board and rent something bigger from them if it is small.

I would REALLY like to hit this area with some swell, but it was still a fun trip overall. The right points in the Punta Mita area are fun on longboards, but I would really like to get the area with some swell.

Here is a shitty picture of the right point in front of the St. Regis. It gives you a bit of a sense of the place, it was pretty dark when I shot it.


This was only thigh high, but at head high this wave would be a blast. It is only accessible to guests at the St. Regis, or people staying behind the gates, or people who boat in.

For a pure surf trip I would go somewhere else. But for great food, tennis/golf, pool drinks and some surf it was great. If you want to party you are a 40 minute cab ride from Puerto Vallarta, but those days are, for the most part, behind me. We will probably go back to Punta Mita, I just hope there is more swell in the water.

[Ottime]

That spot looks like what I thought was “the cove” out near the top of the point. A bit past El Faro. I was able to walk to those places along the shore line and surf up there. No one hassled me. It was a good length hike in uneven sloped cobbles.

[Long duc dong]

That spot looks like what I thought was “the cove” out near the top of the point. A bit past El Faro. I was able to walk to those places along the shore line and surf up there. No one hassled me. It was a good length hike in uneven sloped cobbles.

I would not think you would get hassled. The cove and El Faro are south of this spot, this one is directly in front of the St. Regis, the rocks you can see in the picture are actually part of a small, rocky island just off shore. It is kind of cool, you can easily walk out to the island at low tide, I should have taken a better shot to really show the setup.

Here is a surf break map from the people at WildMex.

https://wildmex.com/surf-break-map-s...rm=Surf+Breaks

You need to zoom way in, but if you do you can see El Faro, and north of that the Cove. North of the cove you will see two little islands, the photo I took is of the right going off the island the is in front of the sign for 'St. Regis Punta Mita Resort Remede Spa' on the map. You will see another little island in front of a sign for 'Sea Breeze Restaurant' if you zoom in. The four seasons resort is north of the St. Regis, I did not check to see if there was anything up there. If you are staying behind the gates you can access any of these, no one at the St. Regis would really bother someone who walked in from the beach as they don't know if you are staying at the condos or the resort. The map also shows the other breaks if you zoom in, Anclote, La Lancha, Punta Burros and the rest. Punta Burros is located in front of the Palladium resort. La Lancha is probably the most consistent break in the area, it was a 15 minute cab ride from the St. Regis, most of that time was spent getting back to the exit. The St. Regis, Four Seasons and a bunch of private homes and condos are behind those gates. If you are staying in the town of Punta Mita it would be tough to get to El Skupa, the break in the picture I took, it would be a VERY long walk, quite a bit north of El Faro and the cove.

Here is another map and some more info:

http://cincopuntamita.com/surfing-in...e-for-surfers/

I would love to go back there if there is some significant swell.

[skivan]

Hey! Anyone ever rent a car in sayulita, proper? Looks cheap from the airport but we generally get picked up and taken direct (3 generations going). But not having transportation kinda blows if trying to surf down south. Thanks for any comments.