Sayulita in April: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and Lodging Tax

SAYULITA · NAYARIT · APRIL

April settles Sayulita into its dry stretch. Afternoons run hot, nights still cool off, and rain is close to a non-event. That makes the month easy to plan around, and for some travelers a little too warm.

You have already picked the town. What’s left is the slot: how the heat feels, whether the water invites a swim, what a boat to the Marietas costs and when it runs, and whether March or May would suit you better.

On this page

• Sayulita weather in April94.6°F highs, 61.3°F lows and 0.3 rain days
• Can you swim in Sayulita in April?Sea temperature at 77.2°F
• How busy is Sayulita in April?Crowds, the 5% lodging tax and booking
• Things to do in Sayulita in AprilIslas Marietas at 125 pesos, surf and the turtle camp
• Sayulita itinerary for AprilTwo days built around sunrise, heat and sunset
• Sayulita in April vs March and MayHighs, lows, rain and sea across three months
• Is April a good time to visit Sayulita?Who should go and who should shift a month

For neighborhoods, hotels and beaches beyond the calendar, start at our destinations index. Other months sit in Where to Go by month, and the booking basics live in Travel 101.

Sayulita weather in April

The air figures are 1991-2020 official normals from Mexico’s national weather service (Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, part of CONAGUA), measured at the Las Gaviotas station, number 18021. That thermometer stands about 19 miles east across Bahia de Banderas, and Sayulita itself is not separately measured. April averages a high of 94.6°F and a low of 61.3°F, with 0.06 inches of precipitation for the whole month.

Measurable rain falls on 0.3 days in an average April, by SMN’s count. A wet afternoon is the exception, so a beach or boat plan seldom needs a rainy-day fallback. The station sheet does not publish its rain threshold, so be careful setting that count beside a rain-day tally from another country.

Afternoon and night sit 33.3 degrees apart. Pack light cotton, a hat and sunscreen for the hot hours, and a sweatshirt for evenings that fall back toward the 61.3°F average low.

April 15 gives 12 hours 41 minutes of daylight. Converted from the UTC times on sunrise-sunset.org, the sun rises near 6:41 a.m. and sets near 7:22 p.m. local time. Dinner plans that depend on golden light should start after the 7:22 p.m. sunset, not before it.

Can you swim in Sayulita in April? Sea temperature

The sea off Sayulita averages 77.2°F in April. That figure comes from the Open-Meteo Marine API, a 2015-2024 mean of daily maxima, not from the weather station. A mean of daily maxima runs a shade warmer than a 24-hour average, so the water at dawn will feel slightly cooler.

At 77.2°F most people walk in without flinching and stay in for a long swim. A surf session of an hour or more may still feel cooler once the wind hits wet skin, and we have no data to say by how much.

We found no April swell or wind series for this coast, so we give no wave height and cannot say whether the town beach will be flat or breaking in a given week. Check a surf report a few days out before paying for a lesson.

How busy is Sayulita in April? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no room-rate series for Sayulita, so we place April on no price ladder. What the calendar does say: none of the dates on SECTUR’s official list for the town falls in April. The Festival Sayulita runs January 30 to February 3, the shore fishing tournament May 25 and 26, and Dia de Muertos November 1 and 2.

We found no booking-window data, so we give no number of weeks. Holy Week can land in March or April depending on the year, and we did not check next spring’s dates, so confirm them before you pay for anything. SECTUR names Puerto Vallarta International Airport and Tepic International (TPQ), the latter about an hour east of the coast, as the air gateways. General booking habits are in Travel 101.

Nayarit sets its lodging tax (Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje) at 5% under Article 62 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda, confirmed by the 2026 Ley de Ingresos. We could not verify whether a given host folds that 5% into the nightly rate or adds it at checkout, so ask before you book.

An air-conditioned room is the one upgrade that changes April. With highs at 94.6°F, the middle of the day is when you will be indoors. We have no price for that upgrade in Sayulita and won’t guess one.

Things to do in Sayulita in April

With 0.06 inches of rain across the whole month, April is a month where a full open-water day can be booked and expected to run. A boat trip to the islands, a long morning surf or a beach-to-dinner day all fit without a wet-weather plan B.

Islas Marietas National Park shares this stretch of coast, with boat departures nearby. Its Playa del Amor charges a 125-peso CONANP entrance fee and opens Wednesday through Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We have no verified boat-operator price, so treat the 125 pesos as the park’s fee only. SECTUR also lists a sea-turtle camp, Campamento Tortuguero Sayulita, among the town’s official attractions. We did not verify its April hours or programming.

The water barely changes from March: 77.1°F becomes 77.2°F, a 0.1 degree gain. The air moves more, with average highs up 1.8 degrees, so the difference shows up on a boat deck at midday rather than in the sea. The Marietas close at 5:00 p.m., more than two hours before the 7:22 p.m. sunset, so an island day ends while the light is still high.

The Marietas fee is the only entry price we verified. Our sources price neither the town beach nor a walk through town, and we could not confirm a fee or its absence, so budget only for what you have checked. The town beach is a well-known beginner-friendly surf break, and the point break and river-mouth beaches nearby draw more experienced surfers.

Sayulita itinerary for April

Day one is a Marietas day, so it has to fall between Wednesday and Sunday. Start at sunrise (near 6:41 a.m. on April 15) with the sunscreen already on. Reach the islands after the 8:00 a.m. opening, pay the 125 pesos at Playa del Amor and head back well before the 5:00 p.m. close. Spend the hottest hours in a room with a fan or air conditioning, with average highs at 94.6°F, then walk the town as the light softens. Sit down to dinner after the 7:22 p.m. sunset.

Day two stays on land. Take a beginner surf lesson or a swim at the town beach in the early hours, then look in at the sea-turtle camp after confirming its hours. At 0.3 rain days the risk to plans is more likely a rough sea or a closed boat than a shower, and we have no data on either. If your dates land on a Monday or Tuesday, the Marietas are closed, so swap the two days.

Sayulita in April vs March and May

Highs climb 1.8 degrees from March to April, then 2.4 degrees more into May. Lows climb faster, by 2.5 degrees and then 5.1 degrees. April is the driest of the three at 0.06 inches, against 0.19 in March and 0.24 in May. The air numbers are SMN normals for 1991-2020. The sea, from the Open-Meteo Marine API for 2015-2024, sits at 77.1°F, then 77.2°F, then jumps 3.5 degrees to 80.7°F in May.

Shifting to March gives you nights at 58.8°F and days 1.8 degrees cooler, with the same 77.1°F sea and slightly more rain at 0.19 inches. Shifting to May buys a warmer sea at 80.7°F, at the cost of 97.0°F afternoons, 66.4°F nights and 0.9 rain days. The shore fishing tournament on May 25 and 26 also falls in that month. Neither move changes the price picture, because we found no price series to compare.

Is April a good time to visit Sayulita?

Yes, for anyone who wants dry days, warm water and cooler evenings. No, for anyone who wilts at 94.6°F. Nayarit sits at Level 2, “Exercise increased caution,” on the U.S. State Department’s Mexico advisory (consulted September 29, 2026). Read the current text before you book, because advisories are revised.

If heat is the objection, March is the better pick, though it lowers the average high by only 1.8 degrees and the low by 2.5 degrees. If warmer water matters more than warmer air, May’s 80.7°F sea is the target, with the hotter days that come with it. For other months, see Where to Go by month.

April suits a trip built on the water and the sky: it has no SECTUR-listed festival, and the town has carried the Pueblo Magico title since December 3, 2015 (renewed in August 2021).

The last word

Sayulita was a handful of palm-thatched coconut-farming houses until the late 1960s, and today its April comes down to one choice: 94.6°F afternoons and a 77.2°F sea now, or a hotter, warmer-watered May. Take April if you can live with the heat. Plan the boat for a Wednesday through Sunday, pack the sweatshirt for a 61.3°F night and let the sun go down at 7:22 p.m. before you sit down to dinner.

Sources & data

• Air temperature, rain and rain days (1991-2020 normals, Las Gaviotas station 18021) · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA) · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Sea surface temperature, mean of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Sunrise, sunset and daylight for April 15 · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Pueblo Magico designation, event calendar, sea-turtle camp and air gateways · SECTUR, gob.mx page for Sayulita, Nayarit · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Islas Marietas entrance fee and opening days · CONANP · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Lodging tax of 5% · Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Nayarit, Article 62, and the 2026 Ley de Ingresos · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Travel advisory level · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory · checked Sep 30, 2026
• We found no occupancy series, room-rate series, booking-window data or April swell data, so none of those are quoted. Fees, opening days and the Holy Week calendar change · confirm with operators when you book.