Sayulita 2026

I set my phone alarm to 0300, try to get a few hours sleep, hit the snooze button once, and then stagger out of bed to start an epic day-long journey to meet friends down south in the land of palm trees & beaches.

It’s a half-hour drive to Kelowna’s airport, an hour flight to YVR, a few hours there, then a five hour flight to Puerto Vallarta. I’m going on my own while Craig stays home to mind the pets.

“Bienvenidos a Mexico!” says the sign at the airport. As if the heat & humidity, the smiling brown faces, and the smell of frying tortillas were not enough of a welcome.

It’s an hour’s taxi ride north to what was once a sleepy surf town and is now a bustling tourist mecca. Sayulita has changed drastically since I was last here in 2009. I can’t quite believe my eyes. The official population is a mere 5,000 but the tourists and expats outnumber the locals by a long shot.

Donna, Ron & Kyle, Seonag & Geoff are already in Sayulita. A quick check into my hotel, change of clothes and I’m off to meet them at a restaurant close to the central square. That first margarita tastes mighty fine. As do the fish tacos.

The impulsive decision to book flights and a hotel suddenly seems like the best way to escape January in B.C. There’s been little snow in Vernon so I’m not even missing time on the ski hill. Not to mention the short days, low clouds, post-Christmas drink & diet resolutions, the NFL pay-off games that keep Craig company. Adios to all of it and hola Mexico, a country where I’ve spent many a November birthday. It’s good to be back!

Villa Amor https://www.villaamor.com.mx/ is on the south end of town, built into the side of a verdant cliff. Large rooms with huge balconies cascade down the jungled hillside. Mine is the Villa Verde, up five flights of stairs (no elevator!), with a view of the Pacific. It’s billed as 3.5 stars but I give it at least 4 and maybe more except for the fact that it could use a refresh. But couldn’t we all?

A pattern quickly develops: mornings on my balcony, reading, writing, doing yoga, chatting with Craig, followed by afternoons on the beach reading, snoozing, cooling off in the ocean, and ending with dinner at one of the too many to choose from restaurants. It’s the balm I need after the chaos of 2025.

Even though English is widely spoken I practice mi Espanol as much as I can. I’ve always used “quiero” to indicate I want something, but sense that it can sound a bit demanding and so on this trip I try out the more polite sounding “quisiera”, I would like. No one laughs or corrects me so I add this to my tourist vocabulary.

As well, I learn a new word for cash: efectivo. Different than dinero, which means money. Incredibly it’s almost impossible to get any efectivo in Sayulita. The ATMs are all “temporarily out of service”. All the time. Nothing temporary about it. And there’s no banco. Closest one is an hour away in PV. So far my credit cards are working and I try not to worry too much about being sin efectivo. I do have some emergency US$, but prefer to keep them for real emergencies.

A few words about the street & beach dogs, which I notice in a whole new way now. Most look pretty well fed & many wear collars, but are allowed to run free. It’s so fun to see them on the beach cavorting in the surf, chasing the many pelicans, tussling with each other. At the end of the day owners show up, leash the dogs and home they go. So civilized! Wish we could take the same approach in Canada. As for the argument that they will defecate in the sand, making a mess… I see no evidence of that.

Some are skinny & mangy. Collarless, likely homeless. Others seem to be not well treated by their keepers. One that I walk by everyday languishes in front of a surf shop, covered in flies and tied to a tree with a 6 ft long rope. I battle the urge to liberate him and berate the owner.

I see a couple of dogs who look uncannily like Chichi in size & colouring, with the same floppy ears and black snouts. Do they share the same genetic heritage, I wonder? Dogs who’ve evolved alongside humans without having been bred by them. Noble creatures who prove to be wonderful companions unaffected by overbreeding. I feel very fortunate to have been gifted one of these dogs and have come to understand that she has rescued me as much, if not more than, I have rescued her.

And while I am tempted to snatch the surf shop dog and bring him home … that’s a better fantasy than a real option.

I’m on my own for the last few days as Donna, Ron & Kyle head farther south to Barra de Navidad and Seonag & Geoff go inland to Queretaro. I miss their camaraderie, especially at happy hour, but am happy to have some time alone. If for no other reason than to know I can still manage the solo traveller gig. By now the hotel staff know my comings and goings and the beach vendors call me “Toronto”, because of the Blue Jays hat, intended to mark me as Canadian. I feel very safe!!

Remarkably, and even though it is only an hour south, I don’t go into Puerto Vallarta. Maybe because I’ve been there so many times and partly because it’s no longer the quaint beach town it was, it has lost its former appeal. Sayulita more than ticks the boxes and fills the bill for what I’m looking for in a tropical vacation. Pretty sure I’ll be back.