Sayulita in January: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and Prices

SAYULITA · JANUARY · NAYARIT, MEXICO

January gives Sayulita its dry, sunny run: afternoons around 90.0°F, only 1.9 days of measurable rain and a Pacific that holds near 77.9°F. The nights cool off to 58.5°F, and that chill is the one thing the month charges for all that sun.

The town sits in the municipality of Bahia de Banderas and has been a Pueblo Mágico since December 3, 2015. Whether January beats December or February comes down to a few degrees of night chill, a little more rain and 1.9 degrees of sea warmth.

On this page

• Sayulita weather in JanuaryHighs of 90.0°F, lows of 58.5°F and 1.9 rain days
• Can you swim in Sayulita in January?A 77.9°F sea, and how that figure is measured
• How busy and how expensive is Sayulita in January?Booking, the 5% Nayarit lodging tax and what we could not price
• Things to do in Sayulita in JanuaryPlaya del Amor, the surf beaches and Festival Sayulita
• A Sayulita itinerary for JanuaryTwo days built around Marietas’ Wednesday-to-Sunday opening
• Sayulita in January vs December and FebruaryThree months of highs, lows, rain and sea temperature
• Is January a good time to visit Sayulita?Who should book it and who should shift a month

Fly into Puerto Vallarta International Airport. SECTUR names it, along with Tepic International Airport (TPQ, about an hour east of the coast), as the two air gateways to this stretch of Nayarit. Planning basics sit in Travel 101, and other months and places are in Where to Go by month.

Sayulita weather in January

Mexico’s national weather service (SMN, part of CONAGUA) publishes 1991-2020 normals for station 18021, Las Gaviotas, and they put January at an average high of 90.0°F, an average low of 58.5°F and 0.70 inches of precipitation. That station sits about 19 miles east across Bahia de Banderas and is the nearest official one for this stretch of coast. Sayulita itself is not measured separately, so read every figure here for air and rain as the bay’s record rather than a thermometer on the town beach.

SMN counts 1.9 days of measurable rain in an average January, though its threshold for “measurable” is not published on the station sheet. In a normal January, most days pass without a drop. The month’s 0.70 inches is nearly double December’s 0.37, and it still amounts to a light month for rain.

Afternoons reach 90.0°F and nights fall to 58.5°F, a swing of 31.5 degrees. Pack shorts and sun protection for the day, and add a sweatshirt or light jacket for evenings outdoors. December’s lows run 3.2 degrees warmer at 61.7°F, so the January layer is a genuine packing item.

January 15 brings about 11 hours 03 minutes of daylight, calculated by sunrise-sunset.org and converted to Bahia de Banderas local time. The sun sets in the early evening, so put the swim and the surf in the afternoon and leave dinner for after dark.

Can you swim in Sayulita in January? Sea temperature

Open-Meteo’s Marine API puts the sea surface off Sayulita at 77.9°F in January, averaged over 2015-2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima, a shade warmer than a 24-hour mean, so the water averaged around the clock sits a little below it.

At 77.9°F the water sits 12.1 degrees under the average afternoon high of 90.0°F, so the first minute is bracing and the rest is comfortable for most swimmers. December was 1.9 degrees warmer at 79.8°F, and February drops 1.1 degrees to 76.8°F.

Our sources carry no wave, swell or wind data for January, so we cannot say how the surf runs this month. Sayulita’s town beach is a well-known beginner-friendly break, and the point break and river-mouth beaches nearby draw more experienced surfers. Check a surf report and a local school on the day you go.

How busy is Sayulita in January? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no monthly hotel-rate data for Sayulita, so we place January in no price ranking. The calendar does show one busy stretch in the neighboring month: SECTUR lists the Fiestas Patronales de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe for December 1-12.

We found no booking-lead data either. The one January date on SECTUR’s calendar that can move demand is Festival Sayulita, so a stay that touches its opening days is the one to reserve early. Choose free cancellation, because SECTUR warns that some festival dates shift between years.

Nayarit’s lodging tax, the Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje, is set at 5% under Article 62 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda. We could not verify whether a given hotel or rental listing includes it in the displayed rate, so check that before you compare prices.

The room for the festival nights is the one line where paying more changes what January gives you, since it puts you in town while the event runs. Our sources give no rates, so we cannot price the premium.

Things to do in Sayulita in January

January’s mix of 1.9 rain days, 90.0°F afternoons and a 77.9°F sea puts a beach day, a surf lesson and a boat trip all within reach on any date you choose. The month closes with Festival Sayulita, which SECTUR’s calendar dates January 30 to February 3. We could not verify the program, so confirm it before you plan around it.

Playa del Amor, in Islas Marietas National Park, is the named excursion: CONANP charges a 125-peso entrance fee, and the park is open Wednesday through Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Boat departures run from the same stretch of coast as Sayulita, and boat fares are not in our sources. In town, the beach is the beginner surf break. SECTUR also lists the Campamento Tortuguero Sayulita, a sea-turtle camp, but we could not verify what it offers in January.

The sea steps down from December’s 79.8°F to 77.9°F now and 76.8°F in February, and the night lows follow: 61.7°F, 58.5°F, then 58.8°F. January has the coldest nights of the three, and its daytime high of 90.0°F is the lowest of the three months.

We found no admission price for the town beach, the surf breaks or the turtle camp, and we will not guess one. Confirm at the camp before you go.

Sayulita itinerary for January

Day 1 stays in town. Book a surf lesson on the town beach in the morning, since it is the beginner break. By midday the high heads toward 90.0°F, so move into shade for lunch. Swim in the 77.9°F sea in the afternoon and stay for the light: the day runs 11 hours 03 minutes, so the sun is down by early evening. Dinner and the plaza come after dark, with a layer for the 58.5°F low.

Day 2 is Islas Marietas, if the calendar cooperates. The park is open Wednesday through Sunday, so Monday and Tuesday are the days for the beach and the lesson. Book a boat for a day inside that window. January averages 1.9 rain days, so if a shower moves in, swapping the two days usually costs nothing.

Sayulita in January vs December and February

January’s average high of 90.0°F is the lowest of the three, against 91.6°F in December and 91.2°F in February. Its 58.5°F average low sits 3.2 degrees under December’s 61.7°F and 0.3 degrees under February’s 58.8°F. It is also the wettest of the three, at 0.70 inches over 1.9 rain days, against 0.37 inches over 0.9 days in December and 0.50 inches over 1.3 days in February. Air figures are SMN normals from Las Gaviotas (1991-2020). Sea figures come from the Open-Meteo Marine API (2015-2024), so the two sets do not share a source or a period.

Shifting to February gives you 1.2 degrees more on the daytime high, 0.50 inches of rain over 1.3 days instead of 0.70 over 1.9, and the closing days of Festival Sayulita. It costs 1.1 degrees of sea warmth. Shifting to December gives you 61.7°F nights, a 79.8°F sea and 0.9 rain days, and puts you in the month of the Guadalupe fiestas (December 1-12).

Is January a good time to visit Sayulita?

Yes, for anyone who wants dry beach days and swimmable water: 90.0°F afternoons, 1.9 rain days and a 77.9°F sea. It fits less well if warm evenings matter, since lows of 58.5°F call for a layer. The U.S. State Department rates Nayarit at Level 2, “Exercise increased caution,” so read the current advisory before you book.

Pick December for the warmest sea (79.8°F), the warmest nights (61.7°F) and 0.9 rain days. Pick February for a 91.2°F high and less rain than January. If neither neighbor fits, our where-to-go pages compare other months.

January pairs a 77.9°F sea with just 1.9 rain days, and it ends with Festival Sayulita opening on January 30.

The last word

Book January if 90.0°F afternoons and a 77.9°F sea matter more to you than warm evenings, and pin the Marietas day to a Wednesday-to-Sunday slot before anything else. The town you are booking was a handful of palm-thatched coconut-farming houses until the late 1960s, and it has been a Pueblo Mágico since December 3, 2015.

Sources & data

• Air temperature, precipitation and rain days · Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (CONAGUA), normales climatológicas 1991-2020, station 18021 (Las Gaviotas, Bahía de Banderas) · checked Sep 30, 2026 · the rain-day threshold is not published on the SMN sheet
• Sea surface temperature · Open-Meteo Marine API, mean of daily maxima 2015-2024 · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Daylight on January 15 · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Pueblo Mágico status, festival calendar, turtle camp, airports and history · SECTUR (gob.mx), Sayulita, Nayarit · checked Sep 30, 2026 · some festival dates shift between years
• Islas Marietas entrance fee and hours · CONANP · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Lodging tax · Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Nayarit, Article 62 · checked Sep 30, 2026
• Travel advisory · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory · checked Sep 30, 2026
• We found no occupancy series, hotel-rate data, boat fares or January surf data, so we rank no month on price and give no wave forecast. The surf-break description is common knowledge, not a measurement.