My sister and her husband have gone on weeklong vacations to Puerto Vallarta ever since their honeymoon 3 years ago. Last year my family (sister, bro in law, T, V and I) decided to all visit PVR together. In planning, I wasn't able to find the perfect place for all of us in the actual city of PVR, so I started searching outside towns and landed on Sayulita. It's a small (population 4000) fishing/surfing village about a 40 minute drive north of the Puerto Vallarta airport. After a few days of reading up and searching blogs, etc, we decided to book our stay there. I seriously cannot tell you how lucky I am that we ended up in Sayulita. It's probably the cutest place I've ever been in my life. It's like if World Market was a town. With fish tacos. And a gorgeous ocean. And filled with gorgeous people...seriously, it's almost alarming how good looking people in Sayulita are.
We stayed in this dope-ass huge house in the hills of Sayulita, overlooking what seemed like the whole town. It had two huge master bedrooms, a nice kitchen, a casita where Tony and I stayed, a rooftop deck with a queen sized hammock, an insane view and a pool. Literal heaven.
Our days consisted of sleeping in a bit, walking down to town for food followed by shopping or hours at the beach. We'd hope a $5 cab the short, but steep as hell, distance back up to the house for a dip in the pool and a rest before cleaning up and heading back down to town for dinner and drinks. Around 9 or 10 we'd go back home for a few poolside beers or tequila shots and a night swim before turning in. Again, literal heaven.
The water in Sayulita was aaaaamazing. It might have to do with me being from northern California and only experiencing cold water beaches, but I swear I could have spent all damn day floating in Sayulita's warm waves. The beaches were clean and friendly, and these people (angels?) will bring you a bucket of beers for like $5! HEAVEN.
The dining options in Sayulita were out of control! Such a tiny, hoppin' little town with tons of restaurants and bars to choose from and everything I had was delicious. The Real Fish Taco is located just steps away from the beach and was insanely good. We heard from several frequent travelers and locals to hit that up and I'm really glad we did. We dined twice at La Rustica for dinner - the first time for the wood fired pizza and the second time for the pasta. In addition to the food, their margaritas were killer. I had a spicy pineapple one that I'm still dreaming about. Like, my mouth is literally watering for it as I type this. My sister had the best carnitas burrito of her life at Burrito Revolution. They also had the coolest playlist I've heard at any restaurant, ever. Van's favorite thing in the world is a cheese enchilada, and we were able to find him one at Mary's. I also had a bite of Tony's marlin taco there and it was SO good and meaty!
While T, my sister and my brother in law hit the town for a few hours after dinner a couple of those nights, I was usually heading back home a bit earlier since I have a 4 year old that needs sleep and consistency and all those 4 year old things. One night, though, Van and I went to the bar at Leyza with everyone and had a blast! Van played foosball and danced to the band from the dancefloor that overlooked the town square and ocean from the third floor balcony.
In general, the trip - Sayulita, was a dream. It absolutely exceeded every expectation I had. You can get tacos al pastor from a food cart next to a green smoothie joint. While dining you can watch as VW buses, golf carts and caballeros pass by down the narrow, cobblestone streets. Visit the town square on a Friday night and listen to the Cubano band play and watch the tourists and expats dance alongside the local children dancing with their parents. Lay under an umbrella in the sand of the Pacific while a mariachi band plays for a group of locals partying on the beach a few yards from you. I'm telling you...heaven.
I think Van summed up the vibe of the trip best as he was floating in the pool the night before we were to leave. "I am sad that we are leaving Mexico, but it's good that we are Mexican." You said it, V.
Here's a little video I made. I want to weep watching it, I love and miss it there so much.
