Monday, April 2, 2018

Surfing in Sayulita

In the morning, we decided to skip breakfast and head for the famous surf town of Sayulita. It is renowned for being hippy heaven, with lots of surf and yoga shops (at least that's what we were told). Alex and I had plans to surf on the beach (though the surf forecast promised small waves).


The taxi ride from our Villa La Estancia Beach Resort and Spa in Nayarit took about 40 minutes for 300 pesos (about USD 17).

We were hungry when we arrived, so we decided to get a quick breakfast at the nearby breakfast joint called ChocoBanana.


Alex and I had a homemade Mexican breakfast bowl while Inna selected a delicious omelet.


She also tried chai with milk, but it was too sweet. Alex drank the Mexican hot chocolate made with real chocolate. After breakfast, we headed through downtown to the beach.

On the beach, we rented an umbrella and three chairs from a Mexican lady vendor – dozens of vendors offered chairs, umbrellas, pineapples, nuts, etc.


Since the waves were small, I decided that we should try to stand up paddleboarding (SUP) first. The first surf shop - Lunazul - was out of SUPs, so we proceeded to the one nearby (Stand Up Paddle Mexico). We rented two SUPs at 190 pesos per hour (per board).

Here is a GoPro Hero4 Silver video of my SUPping at Sayulita:



The first board I tried was too small for me, so I immediately exchanged it for a larger, 10'6" model. Eventually, Alex also swapped his SUP for a larger model. The 10'6" SUP worked well for me.


After spending one-hour stand-up paddleboarding, I took a rest break while Alex continued to try surfing the small waves. A small part of the beach is extremely rocky, and Alex and I were cut up on the rocks when we surfed there. I returned both SUPs to the Stand Up Paddleboard Mexico shop, and everyone rested under the umbrella. After another hour, Alex finished his paddleboarding and looked a bit tired.


By this time, the beach was overflowing with beachgoers; I had never seen it so crowded! Being a bit hungry and thirsty, we tried some fresh coconuts and peanuts on the beach from local vendors. They were pretty delicious! Alex still wanted to surf, so I rented a few surfboards while Inna explored the town.


I rented two surfboards at the Lunazul Surf School, and we were off surfing. We were immediately doing much better, and I could surf 4 waves. Alex also caught a few waves and was much happier with his progress. After about an hour, Alex got stung by a jellyfish, so we decided to stop and return all the gear to the shop. Lunazul staff poured some vinegar on Alex's hand, and it helped to heal the irritation. By this time, Inna had returned, and we decided to eat dinner at Sayulita before returning to our hotel.


We looked for open restaurants, but many were closed (despite showing as Open in Yelp). Inna finally settled on an organic restaurant named Ino Laboratorio Gastronomico, and we sat there.


We ordered some drinks and chips with guacamole & salsa for our appetizer. The chips and salsa were really amazing! Inna ordered Chicken with Mole sauce for her main entree, while I selected the Lamb. Alex chose a Margherita pizza with pepperoni. All of the food was fantastic and relatively inexpensive.

My ribs were so delicious! Alex raved about his pizza being one of the ten best he ever ate. Inna also commented on the delightful mole sauce. She really enjoyed it!


After dinner, we stopped across the street at the Wa Kika ice cream shop and tried a couple of unique Mexican flavors, like jack fruit (which I really liked).

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