Riviera Nayarit
Just north of Puerto Vallarta Riviera Nayarit is the new destination of 100-mile touristic corridor comprising the municipalities of Bahía de Banderas, Compostela and San Blas, encompassing various touristic sites and spectacular natural scenery to be combined with the planned development of hotel zones geared towards premium domestic and international tourists.
A Champagne Vacation On a Beer Budget
Mexican Journey – Part 7.
A Series of Personal Experiences (Nov 28 – Dec 15, 2008)
Off the beaten path in Mexico
Hola!
For those of you who still follow our little adventure, we hope you are enjoying reading about it just like we injoyed it while we were there.
This time Vera and I are journeying Mexico’s central part, far away from the popular tourist zones; well, kind of. We are visiting the biggest lake in Mexico, Lake Chapala. From the central Mexico we are going to travel to western coast and tourist places like Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta. We thought that we should investigate this part of Mexico, and unlike most other tourists opt to venture far beyond the all inclusive resorts.
Just north of Puerto Vallarta Riviera Nayarit is the new destination of 100-mile touristic corridor comprising the municipalities of Bahía de Banderas, Compostela and San Blas, encompassing various touristic sites and spectacular natural scenery to be combined with the planned development of hotel zones geared towards premium domestic and international tourists.
Touristic areas such as Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerias, Flamingos, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Punta de Mita, Islas Marietas, San Francisco, Sayulita, Lo de Marcos, Destiladeras, Rincón de Guayabitos and San Blas, among others, offer the visitor with the wide array of activities of an integral tourist destination: ecotourism, cultural and adventure tourism, golf, whale watching, fishing, turtle release camps, gastronomy, canopy, scuba diving, swimming with dolphins and much more.
Sayulita pueblo
Vera and I decided to visit pueblo Sayulita, which is about 35 minutes drive from our hotel in PV. The picturesque fishing village of Sayulita Mexico offers visitors and residents incredible beaches, lush jungles and a taste of rural Mexico.
Highway 200 north of PV is very busy…
Sayulita’s location is ideal. Follow Highway 200 north from the airport, cross into the state of Nayarit and you will be in a different time zone. The road passes Mezcales, Bucerias, San Quitin, and finally San Ignacio before reaching the 3 km turnoff to Sayulita.
Sayulita beach
Located on the Pacific coast of Nayarit, Mexico, this pueblo is slowly gaining popularity as a vacation/second home destination with plenty of North Americans. With cobblestone streets hosting dogs, chickens and playing children, Sayulita is a half-century away from nearby Puerto Vallarta and it’s huge resorts, discos and parasailing.
Sayulita’s major attractions are it’s beaches. Sayulita is known for its rare black and white sand beaches. You could visit a different beach every day of the week-by foot, bike, kayak, horse or car.
Playa Centro
A short two-block walk from the square is the town’s main beach. Small wooden fishing boats accent the long swoosh-shaped beach. Many people enjoy walking or jogging the beach that takes about 30 minutes walking. People watchers and seafood lovers flock to El Costeño, Sayulita’s oldest eating establishment. In addition to the restaurant’s affordable menu, local divers often come here to sell their just-caught oysters.
This open-air palapa with a sand floor is steps from the water where waves attract surfers and boogie boarders. The calmer water in front of Don Pedro’s restaurant is very swimmable with a gradual slope and sandy bottom.
Playa Pilitas
North past Papas Palapas is where the river runs into the ocean. Egrets and other birds often feed here while horses and cows graze the riverbed. This isn’t a good place to swim due to the river’s polluted water. The sand gets softer as you reach Playa Questos in front of the village’s two camping parks. The rough waves welcome surfers and brave swimmers.
Las Cuevas
Surrounded by rocky cliffs, this tiny horseshoe-shaped beach is perfect for lovers. Carefully watch the ocean so you don’t get washed when the tide comes in. Access is by a treacherous rocky path through the brush or through the rock arches on the south side of Playa Malpasos. To find it, walk inland along the arroyo after Sayulita’s main beach ends and get on the jungle road until you see another arroyo after the barbed wire fences end.
From town you can also reach Playas Cuevas and Malpasos by walking along Calle M. Navarrete until it turns into the jungle road. Playa Malpasos is free of rocks and surrounded by palm trees. Unfortunately, Vallarta Adventures started bringing groups of tourists here daily. Come in the early morning or evening to enjoy solitude. Don’t swim here, there is a dangerous undertow.
San Pancho
For real exercise, continue walking to the neighboring village of San Francisco AKA San Pancho four miles from Sayulita. One end of the beach is very swimmable and the other end is home to Costa Azul Adventure Resort, a nice place to have a drink and watch the sunset. In the middle lie the quiet cobblestone streets of San Pancho.
After Playa Malpasos, you’ll pass the former estate of Mexico’s former president. Here you might have to practice a bit of citizens’ action because the new owners have blocked access, which is against Mexican law. People still cross by ignoring the “no trespassing” signs. If you’re up for some risky rock climbing, it’s possible to scale the rocks over the ocean at low tide. Hopefully by the time you arrive, this situation will no longer be an issue. San Pancho is accessible by Highway 200.
Playa de Los Muertos
In the other direction from Sayulita is Playa de Los Muertos, which is very popular with Mexican families and a safe swimming beach. Huge rocks protect it on both sides. Walk around the curved bay past Villa Amor and head up the hill through the cemetery. When you hit small river walk along it to the ocean. Las Cargadas is the tiny beach past the rocks to the south. There are other little beaches here that are best accessed by kayak.
Carrizitos
Here, you’ll find huge waves and it’s very possible that you’ll be alone on this wild, windswept beach. There are homes here but most are well hidden in the wooded hill about the water. Taking the one-lane dirt road through the jungle is the best way to get here. Starting at the cemetery, its your second right turn. Through town, follow Niños Heroes until it enters the jungle and make the first left turn. This is an uphill 40-minute walk.
Playas Patzcuaro and Patzcuarito
Near Gringo Hill, these beaches are an hour walk or 10-minute drive from town. Continue out of town on Revolucion past the cantina onto the road to Punta de Mita (Camino Punta Mita). Make a right at the first road and continue straight on it. The adventurous can also climb the rocks past Carrizitos.
Economy lodging
Hotel Diamante Internacional, on the corner across from the trailer park,
has a swimming pool. Rooms and bungalows with kitchens start at $20.
Bungalows Gaviotas, a block from the town center, has clean rooms with
baths starting at around $18. Some rooms have kitchens in varying degrees
of functionality. The longer you stay, the less they charge per night.
Moderate hotels/bungalows
Tia Adrienne’s Bed and Breakfast, Sayulita’s oldest and most popular place to stay less than a block from the beach on Calle Delfines and Manuel Navarrete.
Villa Amor, a newer “honeymoon” hotel for anyone who wants waterfront luxury, offers
horseback riding tours, kayaks and a restaurant.
Aurinko Bungalows and Los Arbolitos (behind the paleteria).
Sayulitalife.com has many rental properties in a web directory.
Casa Rios is the most affordable. This dual level house is on one acre fenced land in the countryside, a 10-minute walk from the beach. The top or bottom rents for $50/$60 and both levels for $85/night. Email: gjrios@mlode.com
Garcia Realty owns several homes to rent. Prices start around $40/night, monthly rates are less. Email: garciarealty@pvnet.com.mx
Villa Olivia is a 3-5 bedroom villa on a private beach with maid service and a swimming pool, 10 minute drive from Sayulita. Costs range $2,250-$4,900 per week with discounts for 2 weeks or more. Tel: 011-52-327-50185.
Rincón de Guayabitos
Located approximately 40 miles from Puerto Vallarta’s Gustavo Díaz Ordaz airport, with excellent weather throughout the year; Rincón de Guayabitos ―a strategic touristic spot of the Riviera Nayarit―, a former fishing village; gives you an oasis’ welcome through its wide avenues leading to its expansive, golden beaches bathed by tranquil waters and decorated by tall palm trees.
Rincón de Guayabitos is nested in a bay next to the town of La Peñita de Jaltemba. Isla Coral (Coral Island) rises in the center of the bay sheltering the beach from stronger tides. There are two more islands in this destination, named Cangrejo (Crab) and Coral in whose transparent waters diving and snorkeling are very highly recommended.
The place is a family tourism destination with 47 places to stay with a wide range of prices among bungalows, hotels, inns, condos and villas.
For visitors’ delight, on its long and wide beach you can find refreshing shaved ices (flavored with varied fruits essences), fruits of the season dressed with salt, chile and lime; coconut milk, tejuino (a semi-fermented corn refreshing drink), basket tacos (small steamed tacos, folded like quesadillas, not rolled like traditional tacos), fresh oysters, as well as kebab-like charcoal-broiled fish and seafood on a stick.
Walking about the main avenue, the visitor finds shops where he can admire and acquire arts and crafts from the whole country, mainly those coming from the southern regions.
Rincón de Guayabitos’ ascent to its successful touristic destination status started in 1970, when the current federal administration decided to create a bank trust backing up the construction and development of what is now enjoyed by thousands of international tourists visiting every year.
There is presently a select number of families, both Mexican and foreign, owning beautiful houses and villas that make up the first-class residential area to the north.
According to recollections of whom for the past 34 years has been responsible of caring for the gardens adjoining the church of La Señora del Perpetuo Socorro; (Our Lady of Perpetual Succour); before becoming a vacation center, Rincón de Guayabitos was a fertile land for growing beans and corn. There were fishermen’s cooperatives capturing shark and sea bass. Back in those days families arrived for days or months to fish, returning then to their campgrounds and to travel to other beaches.
Most of the tourism industry’s workers presently come from the town of La Peñita de Jaltemba, a neighboring town not as touristically developed as Rincón de Guayabitos, where you can enjoy a smaller though beautiful beach offering some bungalows as lodging option.
As a result of a conversation with 52 year-old Mrs. Reinalda García Plasencia, native of the town, La Peñita de Jaltemba was legally formed as an “ejido” (a form of land ownership in Mexico by which land is given to people so they can inhabit and make their livelihood from it, though they cannot lease or sell it) in 1936. In those days the town headed the area’s administration, covering the nearby towns of El Monteón, Chula Vista, Villa Morelos and Lo de Marcos.
The inhabitants of La Peñita de Jaltemba were Rincón de Guayabitos’ tourists and their preferred place was “el rincón” (the corner) of the bay, abundant with wild guava trees for the length of the beach, therefore the name: “Rincón de Guayabitos” (corner of small guava-trees).
There was in La Peñita a large ranch dedicated to the harvest of oil coconut and banana, while in the surroundings, on what is now across the road, towards the east, the land was dedicated to growing tobacco.
Through a dirt road between hills of lush greenery, after crossing a security gate, you can now visit a beautiful beach bathed by an ocean of various hues of turquoise.. Punta Raza.
This place used to be a nursery growing cucumbers, chile, mango, eggplant, avocado, soursop, various types of papaya, pineapple, peanuts, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, radish, tomato, sorghum, corn and beans, among others.
During the times when La Peñita de Jaltemba housed the Fair of Bahía de Banderas, it offered the products grown in the nursery of Punta Raza where a great touristic high-level project is in the process of consolidation.
Here, attracted by the magnificent and abundant natural wealth of the zone, being preserved and cared for as the surrounding environment for great residential developments, “Baby Boomers” have started searching for properties which will become in the near future, their long awaited retirement haven.
To be continued.
Hasta Luego!
Tags: MEXICO
