Surf Spot Review: Sayulita, Mexico
Posted on December 28, 2009 by Srinivas Rao
For Christmas this year my parents decided to take us on a cruise. Naturally I saw this is a great opportunity to do some surfing in a spot where your balls don’t shrivel up and you don’t experience serious shrinkage when you don’t wear a wet suit. Needless to say, I was stoked.
Getting to Sayulita:
Our cruise ship docked in Puerto Vallarta at 8:00am and I was probably in the first 10 people off a ship that had about 3000 guests. I was eager to get to Sayulita and get into the water. In Puerto Vallarta itself there were hardly any waves, so keep that in mind if you are headed down there for a surf trip. You have to make at least a 25 mile trek north or south for some good swells. Conveniently the bus to Sayulita was right outside the port and only cost me $2.00. The bus was a piece of shit, but that’s to be expected considering it’s publication transportation in Mexico. After about a 45 minute ride through some hills and mountains, the bus dropped me off in Sayulita. Sayulita is a tiny little town and I’m guessing no more than a few thousand people actually live there. But, it’s a beautiful little place.
The Waves, The Beach, and The Locals:
When I got on to the beach I was happy to see a semi decent swell and finally a place with rideable waves. I was getting stir crazy from so much time out of the water even though ironically I was in the middle of the ocean on a boat. The water was probably about 70 degrees and according to the locals gets even warmer in the summer.
The sets coming in averaged about the 3-4 feet and this wave has one of the most gentle drops I’ve ever experienced. One of the girls teaching at the surf school said that on days when it gets big, it does tend to close out a bit. One thing to be weary of is the fact it is extremely rocky getting in and there are places where the water becomes really shallow suddenly. Fortunately this wave provides you with some seriously long and nice rights.
The locals know their spot and while some are friendly, you can tell they don’t like tourists coming there. I even heard one guy heckling a lady who took a wave saying “It’s time for lunch and we hope to never see you again.” Competing for waves with them is a lost cause and you’ll definitely get snaked from time to time. I found the best thing to do was get on the outside of them and go for easier sets. One local was pretty cool and even allowed me to go several times on a few waves. The afternoons get a bit packed and people tend to crowd around the take off point which is annoying. But, one of the surf instructors informed that you can charter a boat and get to a place where there are less surfers and plenty of space.
Will I return to Sayulita? It’s hard to say. I only got to spend a day there. But considering that it might cost me 400-500 bucks to fly to Puerto Vallarta I would find a better destination. I will say this. It’s a perfect place to live like beach bum for a month because the food is cheap as hell, the waves are good, and the water is warm.
