Sayulita in December: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds, Prices and Things to Do

SAYULITA · MEXICO · DECEMBER

Sayulita in December is sun first: an average high of 91.6°F, 0.37 inches of precipitation for the whole month and a Pacific that still holds 79.8°F. The surf town on Nayarit’s coast also opens the month with the Fiestas Patronales de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, which SECTUR lists for December 1-12.

Two neighbors tempt anyone with flexible dates. November runs hotter at 94.3°F with warmer water, and January cools the evenings to an average low of 58.5°F. Every figure here comes with its station and its years attached.

On this page

• Sayulita weather in DecemberHighs of 91.6°F, lows of 61.7°F, 0.37 inches of rain
• Can you swim in Sayulita in December?Sea at 79.8°F, and what we could not verify about the surf
• How busy and how expensive is Sayulita in December?The 5% Nayarit lodging tax and the Guadalupe fiestas dates
• Things to do in Sayulita in DecemberTown surf break, turtle camp and Playa del Amor at 125 pesos
• Sayulita itinerary for DecemberTwo days built around 10 hours 55 minutes of daylight
• Sayulita in December vs November and JanuaryHighs of 94.3, 91.6 and 90.0°F, and rain and sea for each
• Is December a good time to visit Sayulita?Who should book December and who should pick November

Sayulita has carried the Pueblo Mágico title since December 3, 2015, and SECTUR renewed it in August 2021 alongside Compostela and Jala. Our Sayulita guide covers the town itself. For other places worth a December trip, see our month-by-month planner.

Sayulita weather in December

Every figure here comes from Mexico’s national weather service (Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, part of CONAGUA) and its 1991-2020 normals: an average December high of 91.6°F, an average low of 61.7°F and 0.37 inches of precipitation. The thermometer is not in Sayulita. It sits at the Las Gaviotas station (SMN 18021), about 19 miles east across Bahia de Banderas, the nearest official normals for this stretch of coast. The readings describe the region, and the beach itself is not measured separately.

SMN counts 0.9 days of measurable rain in an average December. The threshold isn’t published on its sheet, so “measurable” is the service’s own call. Across a stay of a few days, the odds sit heavily on dry ones, and 0.37 inches for the whole month is a light total.

Days and nights sit 29.9 degrees apart on average, from 91.6°F down to 61.7°F. Pack shorts and sunscreen for the daytime, then a light layer for after dark.

On December 15 the day lasts about 10 hours 55 minutes, going by sunrise-sunset.org’s calculation converted to local time. Sunrise comes near half past seven in the morning and sunset a little after six in the evening. A surf session or a boat trip has to fit inside that window.

Can you swim in Sayulita in December? Sea temperature

Sea surface off Sayulita averages 79.8°F in December, from the Open-Meteo Marine API over 2015-2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima, so it runs a shade warmer than a 24-hour mean would.

In practice, 79.8°F is comfortable swimming water, and no wetsuit is needed for a dip. The sea has already slipped 3.1 degrees from November’s 82.9°F and will lose another 1.9 degrees by January’s 77.9°F, so a mid-month swim lands in the middle of that slide.

Our sources carry no December wind, swell or current record for this coast, so we can’t say how big the waves run. Sayulita’s town beach is a well-known beginner-friendly surf break, while the point break and river-mouth beaches nearby draw more experienced surfers. Check the day’s forecast and ask locally before you paddle out.

How busy is Sayulita in December? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no room-rate series for Sayulita, so we place December nowhere on the year’s price curve and crown no month cheap or expensive. What the calendar does give is a dated event: SECTUR lists the Fiestas Patronales de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe for December 1-12.

We could not verify how many weeks ahead rooms fill, so we give no lead time. If your dates touch December 1-12, confirm the fiestas’ dates before you pay, because SECTUR’s calendar dates for movable celebrations can slip from one year to the next. Ask for a refundable rate if the fiestas overlap your stay.

Nayarit sets its lodging tax (Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje) at 5% under Article 62 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda, and the 2026 Ley de Ingresos confirms it. We could not verify whether a given listing’s quoted price already includes it, so look at the total before you confirm.

The room is the line to watch. The 5% is charged on the rate, so a pricier December night carries a bigger tax in pesos. When you compare December with a November or January quote, compare the totals after tax.

Things to do in Sayulita in December

December opens the dry, hot stretch and brings the Fiestas Patronales de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, December 1-12 on SECTUR’s calendar. Two other dated entries from that calendar sit outside the month: Dia de Muertos (November 1-2) and the Surf Open Sayulita (November 22) are over by December, and the Festival Sayulita (January 30-February 3) is still ahead.

Start on Sayulita’s town beach, a well-known beginner-friendly surf break, with the point break and river-mouth beaches nearby for experienced surfers. SECTUR also lists the Campamento Tortuguero Sayulita sea-turtle camp among the town’s official attractions, and we could not verify its season or hours. The day trip with a published schedule is Playa del Amor in Islas Marietas National Park: a 125-peso CONANP entrance fee, open Wednesday through Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with boats leaving from the same stretch of coast. We did not verify boat fares.

The sea at these beaches has lost 3.1 degrees since November, and the air moves more than the water. SECTUR puts Sayulita’s annual average at about 77°F. December’s average high of 91.6°F sits well above that, and the 61.7°F average low sits well below it. Playa del Amor opens at 8:00 a.m., about half an hour after sunrise, so the first entry comes before the afternoon reaches its high.

We could not verify entry fees or costs for the town beach, the turtle camp or the fiestas, so we label nothing free. The Marietas fee is the only admission price in our sources.

Sayulita itinerary for December

Start the first day at sunrise, around half past seven, on the town beach, where the surf break suits beginners and the air is still near its low of 61.7°F. Get out of the water before midday, when the average high of 91.6°F arrives, and spend the hot hours in shade or indoors. Return to the sand for the late afternoon and stay until the light drops a little after six, with a layer in the bag for the evening.

Give the second day to Playa del Amor and schedule it for a Wednesday through Sunday, when the park is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Rain is the small risk here, at 0.9 days in an average December. If the weather turns, swap the boat for the town beach and move the crossing to the next open day.

Sayulita in December vs November and January

Going from November to December takes 2.7 degrees off the average high and 4.7 degrees off the average low, and January takes off another 1.6 degrees and 3.2 degrees. December is the driest of the three at 0.37 inches and 0.9 rain days, against 0.95 inches and 2.8 days in November and 0.70 inches and 1.9 days in January. Air and rain share one SMN station and period, while the sea comes from the Open-Meteo marine API.

Moving a month earlier gains the warmest sea of the three, 82.9°F, plus Dia de Muertos and the Surf Open Sayulita on SECTUR’s calendar. It costs you 2.8 rain days and 0.95 inches, and the Guadalupe fiestas. Moving a month later leaves 1.9 rain days and a 77.9°F sea, drops the average low to 58.5°F and lands you near the Festival Sayulita, January 30-February 3.

Is December a good time to visit Sayulita?

Yes for anyone who wants dry sun. Afternoons at 91.6°F, 0.9 rain days and a 79.8°F sea make December an easy call for beach days and surf lessons, with the Guadalupe fiestas of December 1-12 as a bonus. Check the safety picture before you book: the U.S. State Department rates Nayarit at Level 2, “Exercise increased caution,” in the Mexico advisory we read in late September.

No if a warm sea is the point of the trip, or if cooler evenings bother you. November holds 82.9°F water and a 66.4°F average low, at the price of 2.8 rain days, and it is the month to pick instead.

Of the three months, only December pairs the Guadalupe fiestas with the driest air, at 0.37 inches.

The last word

Decide by the water and the calendar. November gives the warmest sea at 82.9°F, and December gives dry air, a 79.8°F swim and the fiestas of December 1-12, with an average low of 61.7°F to pack a layer for. You will be standing in a town that, by SECTUR’s account, was a handful of palm-thatched coconut-farming houses until the late 1960s, after Captain Francisco Cortes de San Buenaventura, a nephew of Hernan Cortes, reached this coast in 1524.

Sources & data

• December, November and January air temperature, precipitation and rain days · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA), normales climatologicas 1991-2020, station 18021 (Las Gaviotas, Bahía de Banderas), about 19 miles from Sayulita · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Rain-day threshold · not published on the SMN sheet · 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 on December 15 · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Pueblo Mágico designation, history, annual average temperature, event calendar, turtle camp, airports · SECTUR, gob.mx, page “Sayulita, Nayarit” · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Playa del Amor fee and hours · CONANP, Islas Marietas fact sheet · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Lodging tax · Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Nayarit, Article 62, and Ley de Ingresos 2026 · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Travel advisory level · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Editorial admission: we found no occupancy or room-rate series, no swell, wind or current record, no turtle-camp dates and no boat fares. Event dates come from SECTUR’s calendar and can slip from year to year.