The Local's Guide to Sayulita

A Sayulita Guide From the People Who Live It

The internet has a thousand "things to do in Sayulita" lists, and they all say the same things. This is not one of them. We live, work, and play in this town. We run a farm and a farm-to-table kitchen just up the road, and we eat, drink, and surf here like everyone else. So the places below are the ones we actually send our own friends to. One real dish at one real place beats ten vague recommendations. If we would not go ourselves, it is not on here.

Sayulita is where Cachasol makes sense: great food, good tequila, friends, family, the ocean, and the sun. That is the whole brand in one town. Catch the sun, then come find out where to eat.

Where Should You Eat in Sayulita?

Eat past the main strip. The best food in Sayulita is spread across breakfast counters, taco corners, hidden courtyards, and one tuna tostada that two of us still argue about. Start with breakfast, work through tacos, and save room for dinner. Here is where we go.

Breakfast

Don Pedro's is seriously one of the best breakfasts in town. Settle in with a freshly made americano, the surf break in front of you and the ocean breeze coming through, and they will bring out hot house-made bread, toasted, with jam. For something more, the machaca or the Eggs Benedict are what we order. It is the best way to start a day in Sayulita.

Chocobanana is the other breakfast anchor. Eat on the street or inside, get there early, and share a giant rol de canela for a sweet-tooth alternative to pancakes. Bonus: there are usually Huichol artisans set up right alongside, so you can pick up something genuinely cultural and handmade while you wait.

For coffee that is the whole point of the morning, Café Coyote is where Esteban goes to drink a good cup and work for a while. Anchor Café is the other reliable spot for breakfast or lunch with great coffee.

Tacos and Quick Bites

Tacos Al Pastor Diaz, on the C. Marlin corner, is the consensus pick. The pastor is the best in town, and they stay open late, so it is the classic last stop for a few tacos on the walk home after a night out.

Mary's Tacos is the experience as much as the food: you wait on the sidewalk for a table with a cold Pacifico in hand, street performers around you and the occasional motorcycle wheezing past. Order the Sayulita tacos off the menu. The name fits, because the whole thing is pure Sayulita.

A couple more we reach for between the beach and the next thing: Tacos Tal Ivan (you smell it before you see it, in the best way), and for something light and fresh, the falafel truck outside Nawalli Plaza. And if you trust us on one sketchy-looking gem, the al pastor torta stand on Avenida Revolución, right next to Costa Verde, proves that the humblest spots often have the best flavor.

The Tuna Tostada Debate

We genuinely do not agree on this one, so here are both. Some of us swear by the tuna tostadas at Barracuda on Selfie Row, the flag-lined street one block off the town square that is in half the photos people take of Sayulita. Others insist the best tuna tostadas in town are at Tostadas Matiz. Try both and pick a side.

Sit-Down and a Little Elevated

Don Pedro's is the cornerstone. It is the oldest restaurant in Sayulita and the go-to sit-down in town, right on the beach with the break in front of you. It was here long before the crowds, and it still sets the standard for a proper meal. James tells it best:

"Don Pedro's is the OG of Sayulita. My girlfriend and I would visit in the early 2000s and always eat at DP's. Years later, when we got married in the area, we had our celebratory family lunch there. Today we go as often as we can, for a Cachasol Skinny Margarita while we watch the surfers on the epic Sayulita break, and for the food, which is contemporary and genuinely good. Any chance she gets, my daughter orders the tuna sashimi roll."

Among the newer spots, our top dinner pick in town is Carbon, on the north side. It is one of the newer restaurants but completely on point. Carbón means charcoal, and everything is cooked over hardwood charcoal, so it all carries a deep, smoky flavor. Two dishes to order: the burrata salad, charred tomatoes and burrata with homemade pesto and arugula, where the char on the tomatoes and the cheese against fresh homemade bread is the whole point, and the camarones, jumbo shrimp cooked over the embers and poached in house French butter, served with sourdough. Both are must-orders.

Bichos and Itacate are the other go-tos for an elevated meal. Public House on the central plaza is the spot for a properly made cocktail or an easy burger, and they are careful curators of tequila. Mazo, on the north end, is barefoot elegance at its finest: stay the night or grab a day pass (hugely popular with locals), and their new rooftop restaurant has the best view in the area and a meal to match.

Hidden Gems

Embers is the one we love handing people like a secret. It is tucked down a long hall into a courtyard built around a giant tree, a literal secret garden. The steak sandwich is worth the trip, the cocktails are great, the happy hour is a deal, and there is often a DJ or a band late at night.

Mariscos Nono is hidden enough that most people do not believe how good it is until they try it. Look for it on the left side of the highway toward Punta Mita, right before Manuel Plasencia.

Light and Fresh

Orangy Smoothies is the family favorite for something light and bright, and an easy golf-cart ride into town. The mango is the one to get. Local tip: with little kids, order one and ask them to split it into two cups.

Where Can You Drink Cachasol in Sayulita?

You can find Cachasol all over town, and these are the spots we genuinely stand behind, not just anywhere that carries a bottle. Here is where to drink it and what to order while you do.

• Don Pedro's: order a Cachasol Skinny Margarita and take it to a table facing the break.
• Embers: Cachasol cocktails in the secret-garden courtyard, best paired with the steak sandwich and a late-night set.
• Sports Garden: the place to catch the game, with food better than it needs to be. Ask for the Cachasol combo, and get the cheese sticks.
• Pineapple: a beer and a shot of Cachasol over a game is the move here. Unlike the people-watching bars, this is where you actually meet locals and make a few friends. The food is a genuine surprise.
• Mazo: Cachasol cocktails on the menu, with the best view in the area from the rooftop.
• Public House: Cachasol on a carefully built tequila list, on the central plaza.
• Bar El Patrón at the Sayulinda Rooftop: amazing rooftop views and a serious list, the spot to settle in with Cachasol and actually get into agave beyond a margarita.

Want to taste it at the source? Our farm distillery tours and tastings are eight minutes up the road, and you can take bottles home from the shop.

Where Do the Locals Drink and Watch the Sunset?

For sunset, head north. The sunsets north of town beat the main beach, and the spot is Palmare de Cameron, right by the left surf break on the north side. After an afternoon surf this is where you will find everyone: kids running around, a great family vibe, the whole community winding down together. It is Sayulita at its best.

Past sunset, the town has a bar for every mood. El Barrilito is the best people-watching seat in town, perfect for a two-beer catch-up with a friend or a quiet wind-down on your own. YamBak, on the C. Marlin corner, is the craft answer if you want something past a Corona or Pacifico: their IPAs are excellent (the hazy especially) and the tropical lager is a favorite, and it turns into a late-night hub with a DJ most nights. And for a rooftop drink with a view, the Bar El Patrón rooftop at Sayulinda is hard to beat.

What Is There to Do Beyond the Beach?

If you only stay on the beach and the main strip, you miss the real Sayulita. There is a whole world of surf, trails, classes, and markets behind it. Here is what is worth your time.

Surf has to be part of any trip, and there is no better instructor than Risa. She has taught our kids and half our friends, she is a gifted teacher with a huge heart, and she comes with Chia, the surfing dog with the shark fin, which is exactly as great as it sounds.

For everything else: The Hot Box for a yoga class, the countless hiking trails around town with jungle scenery and beach payoffs that most visitors never find, and the arts and crafts scene that surprises people who think of Sayulita as only yoga and nightlife. The Mercado del Pueblo, Sayulita's Friday farmers market, runs 10 AM to 2 PM on Calle Revolución, and it is seasonal, roughly November through May. Go for local organic produce, artisanal cheeses, fresh bread, handmade crafts, and live music. It is the move if you are in town long enough to actually cook. And on Mondays, salsa night at Don Pedro's is the perfect way to close out a day.

Where Are Sayulita's Secret Beaches?

Sayulita's quietest beaches are the ones you have to work for. Just south of town, Patzcuarito and Carricitos are local secret spots off the main path. They are usually empty, and reaching them means a hike through the jungle, which is exactly why they stay that way. Bring water, go early, and have the sand mostly to yourself.

What Are the Best Day Trips From Sayulita?

When you want a change of scenery, you do not have to go far. San Pancho, the next town up and about 15 minutes north, is the easy, always-good option. Farther up the coast, about 30 minutes north, the town of Lo de Marcos is worth a full day: a cooler breeze than Sayulita, a more relaxed feel, and water made for swimming.

And just down the coast toward the resorts, our tequila tour from Punta Mita is built for exactly this kind of day trip.

When Is the Best Time to Visit Sayulita?

Sayulita is beautiful year round, but May is the sweet spot: the weather is still fantastic, it is not too hot yet, and the high-season crowds have thinned out. We also love the rainy season, when everything turns lush and green, the storms roll through with incredible lightning, and the streets feel quieter. The trade-off is the occasional power outage, which you learn to live with.

If you can time your trip to one of these two festivals, do it.

Sayulita Days builds for about two weeks and culminates on Flag Day, February 24 (Día de la Bandera). There is a morning parade with school children, folkloric dancers, and horses, but the heart of it is the fair that takes over the baseball field: rides, food stalls, games, and a big stage with banda music late into the night. The Flag Day highlight is the jaripeo, the local rodeo, where the ranches show off their horsemanship and their dancing horses. This is not the week for peace and quiet. It is the week for the full buzz of the place.

The Festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe runs from December 1 through 12, peaking on the night of December 11 and through the 12th. You will hear fireworks early in the morning calling people to church, and every evening a different neighborhood's procession winds toward it. The part everyone waits for, especially the kids, is El Torito: someone wears a wire frame shaped like a bull, loaded with fireworks and spinning pinwheels, and runs through the town square chasing the children. It comes from an old parable about a bull that gets loose and the whole town trying to wrangle it back, and some nights they act the story out. Fireworks, smoke, kids laughing and screaming and running everywhere. It is the most kinetic, most genuinely cultural thing you can witness here.

Why Is Sayulita Home to Cachasol?

Because the town and the tequila are the same idea. Sayulita is for curious, active people who came for the surf and the sun and stayed for everything underneath it, and so is Cachasol. Esteban calls Sayulita a grown-up summer camp, a place where people finally have the time to do all the things they always wanted to do. If you look closely, you can find almost anything you are into. As he puts it:

"There are plenty of tequilas made for parties. Cachasol is the tequila for people who want to embrace the day and enjoy it from sunrise to sunset."

That is the whole thing. Great food, good tequila, friends and family, the ocean and the sun. You will find it at the beach or in the town, and you will find it in the glass. The best moments do not find you. You catch them.

Come taste it at the farm, eat with us at the restaurant, or take a bottle home from the shop.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sayulita