SAYULITA · THE TOWN GUIDE · NAYARIT
Until the late 1960s, Sayulita was a handful of palm-thatched houses belonging to coconut farmers. Tecoscquin peoples lived on this coast before the Spanish arrived, and Captain Francisco Cortes de San Buenaventura, a nephew of Hernan Cortes, reached the area in 1524. Today the town beach is a well-known place to stand up on a board for the first time.
SECTUR, Mexico’s tourism ministry, named Sayulita a Pueblo Mágico on December 3, 2015, and renewed the designation in August 2021 alongside Compostela and Jala. The town sits in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, in Nayarit. The state, more than the town, is what the hotel tax and the U.S. travel advisory below attach to.
THE TOWN AT A GLANCE · SAYULITA
Sayulita is a beginner-friendly surf town and Pueblo Mágico in Nayarit: pick your airport, budget the 5% state lodging tax, and read the Level 2 advisory before you book.
PUEBLO MÁGICO SINCE 2015 · NAYARIT LODGING TAX 5% · STATE DEPT. LEVEL 2
Go for: a first surf lesson on the town beach, a sea-turtle camp on SECTUR’s official list, and boat departures toward Islas Marietas National Park.
Think twice if: you need the airport transfer fare and schedule settled before you land. We haven’t verified them, so ask your hotel.
Festival Sayulita runs January 30 to February 3 on SECTUR’s calendar, and the Fiestas Patronales fill December 1 to 12.
SECTUR · CONANP · U.S. Department of State · Nayarit Ley de Hacienda · full list below
On this page
- What is there to do in Sayulita?Surf breaks, the turtle camp and Marietas boats
- Which airport do you fly into for Sayulita?Puerto Vallarta and Tepic (TPQ) airports
- Nayarit hotel tax in SayulitaThe 5% lodging tax under Article 62
- When is the best time to visit Sayulita?Festival Sayulita, Día de Muertos and the Surf Open
- Is Sayulita safe to visit?Nayarit at Level 2, plus water and boat checks
Start with the water. Sayulita’s town beach is a well-known beginner-friendly surf break, so a first lesson happens right in town. The point break and the river-mouth beaches nearby draw more experienced surfers, which gives a mixed group of levels a spot each.
What is there to do in Sayulita?
Beyond the surf, SECTUR’s official attraction list includes a sea-turtle camp, Campamento Tortuguero Sayulita. Boats for Islas Marietas National Park leave from this same stretch of coast, and Playa del Amor lies inside that park. CONANP, which runs it, sets the entrance fee and the days the park opens, so read its current notice before paying a tour operator. The town’s big dates are Festival Sayulita (January 30 to February 3), Día de Muertos (November 1 and 2) and the Fiestas Patronales de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (December 1 to 12).
Which airport do you fly into for Sayulita?
| Airport | How SECTUR describes it | What we haven’t verified |
|---|---|---|
| Puerto Vallarta International Airport | One of the two air gateways SECTUR names for this stretch of Nayarit | Ground transfer to Sayulita: mode, fare, hours and drop-off point |
| Tepic International Airport (TPQ) | The other gateway, about an hour east of the coast | The same questions, plus the leg from Tepic to the coast |
SECTUR names two air gateways for this stretch of Nayarit: Puerto Vallarta International Airport and Tepic International Airport (TPQ), about an hour east of the coast. Either one gets you to the region. Neither gets you to the town, and we have not verified the last leg from either terminal: the transport mode, its fare, how often it runs and where it drops you.
Those details change, and a wrong figure would leave you on the sidewalk with your luggage, so we are not guessing at them. Ask your hotel which transfer it recommends before you buy the flight, and get the drop-off address in writing before you land.
What taxes are added to a hotel bill in Sayulita?
Nayarit sets its lodging tax, the Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje, at 5% under Article 62 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda. The state’s 2026 Ley de Ingresos confirms the rate for this year. Because Sayulita is in Nayarit, that is the lodging tax you are dealing with.
Look for it as its own line on the bill, and compare hotels on the final total rather than the nightly rate that appears first. Other possible add-ons, such as sales tax, cleaning fees or resort fees, are not in our fact base, so we quote none of them. Ask each property what its total includes.
Budget three separate lines for the trip. The room comes with its 5% attached. The airport transfer is unverified and belongs to whoever runs it. The Islas Marietas park entrance is a CONANP charge, paid apart from any hotel bill, and CONANP publishes the current amount.
When is the best time to visit Sayulita?
SECTUR gives Sayulita an average annual temperature of about 77°F (25°C). That is a yearly average, so it says the town is warm overall but not which month runs hottest or wettest. We hold no month-by-month temperature, rain or hurricane figures for Sayulita, and we won’t name a wet month without them.
The calendar can be dated, though. Festival Sayulita runs January 30 to February 3 on SECTUR’s own listing, which puts the town’s biggest organized event at the turn of winter into early February.
May 25 and 26 hold a shore fishing tournament. November brings Día de Muertos on the 1st and 2nd, then the Surf Open Sayulita on November 22. December opens with the Fiestas Patronales de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, December 1 to 12.
Those are the dates in SECTUR’s calendar, and some movable festivals can slip from one year to the next, so confirm the current year’s dates before booking a room around one. Planning around Mexico’s Caribbean coast instead? Cancun’s best-time guide covers that side’s calendar.
Is Sayulita safe to visit?
Sources & data for Sayulita
- Pueblo Mágico designation and 2021 renewal · SECTUR (gob.mx, «Sayulita, Nayarit»), Diario Gente y Poder (Dec 3, 2015), Milenio (Aug 23, 2021) · checked Sep 29, 2026
- History, average temperature, attractions, event calendar and air gateways · SECTUR, gob.mx, «Sayulita, Nayarit» · checked Sep 29, 2026
- Lodging tax · Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Nayarit, Article 62, and the 2026 Ley de Ingresos · checked Sep 29, 2026
- Travel advisory · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory (travel.state.gov) · checked Sep 29, 2026
- Islas Marietas National Park · CONANP fact sheet (descubreanp.conanp.gob.mx) · checked Sep 29, 2026
- Surf description is editorial. Airport transfers, room rates and month-by-month weather are not in our fact base yet · check operators when you book.
The U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory rates Nayarit at Level 2, “Exercise increased caution.” We consulted it on September 29, 2026.
That rating is for the state of Nayarit. We have no separate rating for Sayulita, so we don’t offer one. The Nayarit entry on travel.state.gov carries the current specifics, and advisories get revised, so read the live version instead of a summary.
In the water, match the spot to your level. The town beach is the beginner break, and the point break and river-mouth beaches nearby draw more experienced surfers. We hold no rip-current or lifeguard data for any of them, so ask your surf school what the water is doing that day.
For the Islas Marietas boats, CONANP’s notice is the authority on when the park is open, and it does not open every day of the week. Check it first, then choose an operator who quotes the park fee separately from the boat.
Read the Nayarit advisory the week you book and again the week you fly, and get the airport transfer confirmed in writing. Still weighing Sayulita against other beach towns? Browse our destinations.