If you are looking to escape the little touristic bubble that is Sayulita and still get great surf, look no farther than Punta Mita and surroundings! This area is known for its expensive, all-inclusive resorts but if you’re willing to go off the beaten path, you can do it for cheap. Read on for my recommendations on surfing the "Riviera Nayarit" on a backpackers budget.
GETTING THERE
This area is only about an hour north from Puerto Vallarta or 30 minutes south of Sayulita.
From Puerto Vallarta, take the Compostela bus that heads to Punta Mita.
From Sayulita or San Pancho, take the Compostela bus from the terminal leaving every hour to Punta Mita.
WHERE TO STAY
I decided to book a few nights at this hostel in the town of “Corral de Risco” which is the little pueblo that lines the area generally known as Punta (de) Mita.
I really loved this place because even though it had a 10-bed hostel room, I had it ALL TO MYSELF one night. I came here primarily to stay closer to better surf, and that I achieved.
Alternatively, you can look on Airbnb for dorm type accommodations running from around 400 pesos a night, which seem like the perfect hideaway for surfers for a few days.
SURFING
By hopping on the main bus line, ATM, for just 10-20 pesos, I could be dropped right off in front of WildMex surf shop which rented boards by the hour. For around $8 USD per hour, I could rent some of the performance shortboards and strangely enough they had literally every FireWire model ever made in the shop from the Potato to big old logs.
Ah yes, but the short little jungle stroll to La Lancha is where I accumulated the worst mosquito bites of my life. A 10 minute walk each way through mud, dense forest, and crocodile territory puts you at La Lancha which is a wave for all kinds of boards! Even with repellant on, it was painful to watch mosquitos land on me and I helplessly couldn’t swat them away with my surfboard in my arms…. Once there though, the warm ocean healed me right up and though there was a pretty big crowd surfing, I was able to get some good ones. Probably mostly due to the fact that there’s a bunch of surf schools out and not many people know how to catch their own waves out there, but more for me! I was stoked to finally shortboard after a lot of Wavestorming up in Sayulita.
Other than La Lancha, I had arguably one of the most fun sessions of my life, and ON a Wavestorm, out at the beach closest to my hostel (Stinky’s.) Ok personally I didn’t find the water to be that stinky there, but there is a river draining into it so keep that in mind. I spent one evening out for 3 hours until the most cloudy pink sunset, sharing waves with little grows, working on my cross step. Listen, if it’s possible to hang ten on a Wavestorm, I’m pretty sure I did that. These waves were pretty tiny (2-3 feet max!) but endless endless fun and super rewarding to catch it and watch it unfold for 200 m.
Most of my surfing I did in the mornings and evenings and the rest of the day was unbearably hot in late July, but I was luckily saved by the rooftop terrace under a cool palapa that had fast wifi and one of the few cafes in town! I spent most of my meals up here and just vibed to pass the time between hottest hours of the day. To put it in context, you can’t lay on the beach without paying like $5-7 to use an umbrella. I tried to read on the beach sans umbrella and lasted 15 minutes before my head fried from the heat!
I had wanted to try surfing "Burros" which is the best spot for shortboards in a swell, but sadly I was in the Riviera Nayarit area for about 10 days with no swell, and alas the swell came that day that I left....
Overall, the main tourist attractions in Mita would have been the surf and the Islas Marietas which are just off the coast, but I wasn’t really going to dish out the money for that (surprise) so I had some content few days in Mita with very few tourists around, which was a lovely way to switch it up. I probably wouldn’t recommend for the average person to go to Punta Mita if you’re not going to surf or stay at a resort (just cause you might get pretty bored) but this place did just the trick for me for 3 nights and all on a budget! Word.
