Sayulita in August: Weather, Rain Days, Sea Temperature and Crowds

SAYULITA · AUGUST · NAYARIT, MEXICO

Sayulita in August comes with warm rain and warmer water. Mexico’s national weather service counts 23.5 days of measurable rain in an average August, and the sea off the beach still averages 88.8°F. Plan around the weather and the month pays you back in swimming.

Sayulita is a Pueblo Mágico in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, on the Nayarit coast. If August doesn’t suit your dates, July and September sit on either side with their own numbers below, and other places are waiting in our destinations section.

On this page

• Sayulita weather in AugustHigh 94.8°F, low 73.4°F, 23.5 rain days
• Can you swim in Sayulita in August?Sea at 88.8°F and the surf beaches
• Is Sayulita crowded or expensive in August?No rate data found, plus the 5% Nayarit lodging tax
• Things to do in Sayulita in AugustIslas Marietas, 125 pesos, Wednesday to Sunday
• Sayulita itinerary for AugustTwo days planned around sunrise and sunset
• Sayulita in August vs July and SeptemberRain days 20.4, 23.5 and 22.1
• Is August a good time to visit Sayulita?Who it suits, and July as the drier fallback

Two airports serve this stretch of Nayarit, according to SECTUR: Puerto Vallarta International and Tepic International (TPQ), about an hour east of the coast. The U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory rates Nayarit at Level 2, “Exercise increased caution.” For general trip preparation, see our travel basics.

Sayulita weather in August

Every figure here comes from Mexico’s national weather service, the SMN: the 1991-2020 official normals for station 18021, Las Gaviotas, on Bahía de Banderas. For August they give an average high of 94.8°F, an average low of 73.4°F and 16.18 inches of precipitation. Las Gaviotas sits about 19 miles east across the bay and is the nearest official station for this coast. Sayulita’s own beach is not measured separately, so these are the bay’s climate rather than a reading taken on the sand.

The SMN counts 23.5 days of measurable rain in an average August, roughly three days in four, and its station sheet does not publish the rainfall threshold behind that count. It gives no hour-of-day pattern either, so we cannot promise dry mornings. Put the item you would hate to lose, the boat trip or a surf lesson, early in your stay, and keep a spare day free to swap in.

Highs of 94.8°F and lows of 73.4°F leave a spread of 21.4 degrees, and the low is the number that decides the bag. Nights stay warm, so a thin layer for air-conditioned restaurants is the heaviest thing you need. Pack quick-drying shirts, a light rain shell, sandals with grip and plenty of sunscreen.

August 15 brings about 12 hours 52 minutes of daylight, with sunrise near 6:39 a.m. and sunset near 7:32 p.m. local time, calculated by sunrise-sunset.org. Dusk arrives soon after the sun drops, so schedule the walk back from the beach before sunset.

Can you swim in Sayulita in August? Sea temperature

The Open-Meteo Marine API puts the sea surface off Sayulita at 88.8°F for August, averaged over 2015-2024. That is a mean of daily maxima, so it reads a shade warmer than a 24-hour mean, and another source built on full-day readings will show a slightly lower number.

At 88.8°F you need no wetsuit. July’s sea sits at 86.4°F, so August is 2.4 degrees warmer, and September’s 89.0°F is only 0.2 degrees above August. Sun protection matters more here than water temperature.

We found no wind or swell series for Sayulita in August, so we cannot say how large the waves run. The town beach is a well-known beginner-friendly surf break, and the point break and river-mouth beaches nearby draw more experienced surfers. Ask a local surf school about conditions on the day before you paddle out.

How busy is Sayulita in August? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no month-by-month hotel rates for Sayulita, so we crown no month expensive and none cheap. What the record does show is weather: 23.5 rain days and 16.18 inches of precipitation put August in the wet part of the calendar. Whether that moves rates or crowds is something we could not verify.

We hold no booking lead-time data either, so we give no number of weeks. Two items do have fixed calendars. Playa del Amor at Islas Marietas opens Wednesday through Sunday, so choose those days first and build the rest around them. And with rain this frequent, ask for refundable or changeable rates wherever a property offers them.

Nayarit’s lodging tax (Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje) is 5% under Article 62 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda. We could not verify whether a given booking site folds it into the headline price or adds it at checkout, so compare final totals rather than nightly rates.

The one place where paying more changes the month is the room itself. With highs of 94.8°F and lows of 73.4°F, air conditioning and a room that ventilates and dries are worth the upgrade. We have no rate data for what that costs.

Things to do in Sayulita in August

Warm water is the month’s first offer, with the sea averaging 88.8°F. The second is a clear calendar: SECTUR’s own events list for Sayulita has nothing in August. Its dates run from the Festival Sayulita, January 30 to February 3, to the shore fishing tournament on May 25 and 26, Dia de Muertos on November 1 and 2, the Surf Open Sayulita on November 22 and the Guadalupe fiestas from December 1 to 12. Some movable dates shift from year to year.

Playa del Amor, in Islas Marietas National Park, charges a 125-peso CONANP entrance fee and opens Wednesday through Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The boat departures are on the same stretch of coast as Sayulita. A boat fare is separate and we could not verify it, so we quote none. In town, SECTUR lists the sea-turtle camp, Campamento Tortuguero Sayulita, among the official attractions.

The sea barely moves across the three months, from 86.4°F in July to 89.0°F in September, so the variable is the air, with a daily high of 94.8°F. The 8:00 a.m. opening at Playa del Amor falls in the cooler end of that day. We cannot say whether boats sail on rainy days, and we could not verify the turtle camp’s August hours or what it offers then. Call both before you plan around them.

Our sources list no free attractions for Sayulita, so we name none. SECTUR’s Sayulita page is the place to look for anything without an entrance charge.

Sayulita itinerary for August

Day one, the Marietas day. Choose a day between Wednesday and Sunday and reach the boat departure early enough for Playa del Amor’s 8:00 a.m. opening. Plan to be off the island before it closes at 5:00 p.m. The high reaches 94.8°F, so hat, water and sunscreen go in the bag before you leave. Back in town, the beach is there for a swim before sunset near 7:32 p.m.

Day two, the town. Start at sunrise, near 6:39 a.m., with a swim or a beginner lesson on the town beach while the air is cooler, then call Campamento Tortuguero Sayulita about its hours. If rain sets in, and it falls on 23.5 days of an average August, spend the wet stretch over a long lunch and return to the water when it clears. The sea stays at 88.8°F either way.

Sayulita in August vs July and September

Highs barely move: 95.0°F in July, 94.8°F in August and 94.3°F in September. Rain does move: 14.33 inches over 20.4 days in July, 16.18 inches over 23.5 days in August, 16.67 inches over 22.1 days in September. Air figures are SMN normals for station 18021. Sea figures come from the Open-Meteo Marine API for 2015-2024 and are means of daily maxima.

Moving four weeks earlier, to July, removes 3.1 days of rain and 1.85 inches of precipitation and costs 2.4 degrees of sea warmth. Moving four weeks later, to September, removes 1.4 days of rain but adds 0.49 inches of precipitation, and the sea gains 0.2 degrees. The heat stays about where it is either way.

Is August a good time to visit Sayulita?

Yes for anyone who wants a sea at 88.8°F and can plan around rain on 23.5 days. No for anyone who needs dry days or a rigid outdoor schedule. Highs of 94.8°F also make air conditioning worth having for most sleepers.

If the answer is no, choose July: 20.4 rain days and 14.33 inches against August’s 23.5 and 16.18, with the sea still at 86.4°F. We hold normals for these three months only, so we cannot name a drier month beyond them. If your dates are flexible, our month-by-month travel guides cover where to go at other times of year.

August is also the month in which SECTUR renewed the Pueblo Mágico designation in 2021, alongside Compostela and Jala, after first granting it to Sayulita on December 3, 2015.

The last word

Book August for the water and bring the rain shell. Pick a Wednesday-to-Sunday day for Playa del Amor’s 8:00 a.m. opening and its 125-peso entrance fee, keep the day after free for weather, and remember that this town was a handful of palm-thatched coconut-farming houses until the late 1960s. It has had plenty of practice with a wet summer.

Sources & data for this guide

• August, July and September air normals, rain days · Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (CONAGUA), normales climatológicas 1991-2020, station 18021 Las Gaviotas · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Sea surface temperature, means of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Sunrise, sunset and daylight on August 15 · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Pueblo Mágico designation, history, events calendar, turtle camp, airports · SECTUR, gob.mx, page Sayulita, Nayarit · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Playa del Amor fee and hours · CONANP, Islas Marietas · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Lodging tax · Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Nayarit, article 62 · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Travel advisory level · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory · checked Sep 30, 2026
• We found no occupancy, hotel-rate, wind, swell or free-attraction data for Sayulita in August, and we could not verify boat fares or turtle-camp hours. Confirm with operators when you book.