When I last wrote, we had just flown back to Florida from Minnesota in late October (which also happened to be on Bill’s 50^th birthday).

After about a week of celebrating Bill’s birthday with his family in Florida, we flew to Puerto Vallarta (PV), Mexico.

PV is on the Pacific coast of Mexico. It’s south of Mazatlán and north of Acapulco.

We went flew into PV because I was hosting an in-person event there for the members of my online Executive Remote Worker community.

[Click HERE to learn more about our community.]

We flew to Mexico a couple weeks before community members arrived so we could check out Sayulita which we heard SO many good things about.

Sayulita, Mexico

Sayulita is a small beach town about a one-hour drive Northwest from the PV airport.

The town was bustling with tourists, surfers, and local Mexicans.

There was a fun, light-heartedness and youthful spirit that filled the air. You wouldn’t have known a global pandemic was going on in this town if it weren’t for the masked workers in the pharmacies and servers in the bars and restaurants.

Speaking of fun and free-spirit vibes…  We found this guy outside a pretty nice Italian restaurant.  Let’s just say he got a lot of attention from the cameras here:

It was common to see people walking around town barefoot, wearing just a bathing suit, and donning dirty, beachy hair.

Imagine a town where more people carry surfboards than handbags! 😊

Here are a couple pics of the main beach area for surfers (and wannabe surfers), beach bums, and sunbathers:

We stayed in a somewhat reasonably-priced apartment – considering our last-minute booking during PEAK season.

• The best thing about the apartment was that it was in the HEART of Sayulita.

• The worst thing about the apartment was that it was in the HEART of Sayulita.

😁😁😁

The Pro’s

The location was cool because we were living among tons of bars and restaurants. There was a great vibe and energy around us with from all the people and activity around us.

It was also good to be among all the bars and restaurants because our kitchen was not well-equipped, and we had to eat out almost every meal.

Our location was also nice because it was only a few blocks from the sand, surf, and sun along the beach.

This is my favorite beach pic taken within hours of our arrival in Sayulita:

When my best friend/cousin found out we were in Sayulita, she texted me saying we HAD to find maracuya (aka passion fruit) margaritas and send her a pic. Who doesn’t love a margarita scavenger hunt??? Also, they were DELICIOUS!  I loved the crunchy black seeds:

While enjoying our maracuya margaritas, I somehow took this totally random pic of the palm trees above. I thought it was cool so I’m sharing here… 😎

I took the pic below as the sun was setting. Notice the people lined up along the beach to watch the sunset. I really like the simplicity and tranquility here (and 2 for 1 margaritas are fun too!):

The Con’s

The downside of our apartment was that it was on one of the busiest streets in all of Sayulita. There was non-stop traffic (cars, trucks, and golf carts), practically 24/7.

Also, because this street was filled with bars and restaurants with live bands every night, it was really loud in our apartment until the wee hours of the morning – especially Friday and Saturday nights.

I read in the reviews of our apartment that it was pretty noisy but thought it would be okay since it was only two weeks and we’ve stayed in some noisy places before.

Unfortunately, I really underestimated the noise level of this apartment – even with the bedroom being in the BACK of the apartment! 😊

Here’s our balcony view just across the street (golf carts galore in this town.  Cool idea to help people get around):

Here our balcony view up the street in the daylight when it wasn’t too congested (notice the big truck… it was impressive how they maneuvered the big trucks through this little town):

A view from our balcony in the other direction but this time in the early evening. This street was completely congested from around 7pm until 1am. Imagine all these restaurants FULL of people eating, drinking, talking, and laughing. Add in a bar or two having live music too!

The other funny thing about this street that made it extra noisy in our apartment was that street performers often held up traffic to perform for the people in the restaurants, causing people in the cars waiting to honk!

There was a recurring group of bare-foot guys who traveled with some music and an amp and would juggle  machetes in the street. Unfortunately, I only got video of them (no photos)…

Here’s a pic in the late morning when I would do a lot of my writing from my laptop. All-in-all, I think it was a pretty cool view:

The North Side

We ventured over the Sayulita River to the Northside of town a few times

Incidentally, we saw a sign that said “The North side is the BEST side” and we agreed!

It felt more laidback and quieter. This might be because it seemed like an area that attracts a little older crowd (like us) – not the young, surfer types like those near our apartment.

Here’s a pic of the beach on the North end. This was probably the most busy we saw this beach:

🍍🍍🍍 Pineapples 🍍🍍🍍

This is kind of random but…

We were having breakfast one morning and watched a pickup truck pull up across the street with pineapples stacked in the back.

The man driving looked like a Mexican man with thick mustache, probably in his 70’s, about 5’6″, dark wash blue jeans (like Wranglers), plaid shirt, cowboy boots, big belt buckle, and a straw cowboy hat.

It still makes me smile and warms my heart to think about the HUGE smile he had on his face as he got out of his truck and handed some pineapples to a few of the taxi drivers there. 💖

I wish I had caught his big smile in this pic but at least I got a pick of his pineapple truck.  (side note – you can see the beautifully decorated town square right behind him):

Conclusion

In the end, we really liked Sayulita. It’s a great town with really nice people and great dining options! However, I think we’ll be looking to stay on the North side of town next time!  ✨✨✨

Have you ever been to Sayulita?  If so, what was your favorite part?  Would you go back?