Sayulita Archives - KARATE AND CAVIAR

Karateandcaviar / June 1, 2017

Surfing in Mexico: Sayulita & Punta Mita

Have you ever wanted to live in a cute little hippie beach town, go surfing during sunrise and do yoga during sunset?

Just head over to Sayulita in Mexico!

Sayulita: Hippie, yoga addict & surfer paradise

Sayulita is located around an hour by car from Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific side of Mexico. A Mexican friend of mine (who’s wedding we attended in Puerto Vallarta) recommended that town and OMG, thank you, SOFIA! The moment we arrived in Sayulita I instantly fell in love with the place and was wondering why on earth would my friend (born in Puerto Vallarta) trade paradise for London?!

Hidden surf spots around Sayulita

We were so lucky with the Airbnb that we rented which was located just 15 mins walk from the beach and came with two cute dogs. The landlord was quite a hippe and went surfing every morning for sunrise :) And that doesn’t mean that he got up at sunrise. No, he got up BEFORE sunrise so that he would be sitting on his board waiting for the perfect line up while the sun was rising. I’ve never known someone so committed to surfing like this guy was. Still to this day, I still don’t understand how one person can have so many Surfing Wet Suits for Men, but considering he does surf literally every day, it comes as no surprise. On top of that, he went to a hidden surf spot in Punta Mita rather than to surf in Sayulita, so he would only see a handful of other surfers in the water :)

The perfect sunrise surf in Punta Mita..

When I joined him one morning and was lying down on my board soaking in the beautiful ambiance, I saw huge turtles coming by to say hi, birds flying in the super close distance not even taking notice of me… and then the sunrise. It was so so so beautiful. There was this huge red ball at the horizon, slowly rising up from the water. I don’t even have words to describe how gorgeous everything was.I was so happy I could have cried. The moment was just so perfect. I felt entirely calm and at peace surrounded by incredibly beautiful nature.

So, yes, make sure you get in a few sunrise surfing sessions :) If you’ve never tried surfing before, I highly recommend it. One of my friends (who lives in San Diego) attended some of Everyday California’s surfing lessons the other week and she’s now super confident in the water. No matter where you’re vacationing, having surfing lessons is a great activity to try. Literally, just ask around ‘in the water’ in Sayulita to get to know the best and hidden spots. Someone will eventually tell you if you are nice :) The locals were super friendly and quite fun. Sayulita is such a small town that at the weekend at night you will bump into a number of surfers that you have met while surfing during the day.

Hippie Life & Surfing in Sayulita – Holiday Schedule:

5 am/6 am

Early rise (mostly because of the rooster living next doors) and go surfing (either for sunrise at that hidden surf spot or around 8 am in Sayulita)

11.00 am /12.00 pm

Come home and have lunch, take a shower and have a little nap

1 pm / 2 pm

Head to town for cappuccino with my kindle // or go to the SPA or the beach for a massage // or take the dogs out and hang out with them on the beach.

4 pm / 5 pm

Go out for another surfing session or, if waves aren’t good, have a Margarita in one of the beach bars. Watch the sunset on the beach :)

7 pm

Head home to get changed and walk back into town for dinner :) We mostly had fajitas and tacos in one of the restaurants near the plaza de armas.

This was the schedule for almost three weeks. I totally loved it :) So if you guys are searching for a good surfer town in Mexico, Sayulita may just be the one you are looking for! The surf is quite good in Punta Mita as well as on the beach in Sayulita – you have to go in when it’s not super packed. That’s quite easy though: Just relax on the beach and as soon as it’s a bit less crowded, walk over to one of the various surfboard rental places on the beach, get your board, and paddle out :) :)

And here are more photos of Sayulita so you know exactly what to expect :)

And last but not least, the cutest dogs ever: Mexican Xoloitzcuintli :)

The perfect honeymoon in Mexico

For the honeymoon people wanting to stay around the area, check out this amazing hotel where some friends of mine stayed. It’s literally paradise on earth – the below photo shows your own private beach… :)

Karateandcaviar / March 22, 2017

Imanta Resorts Punta Mita – The Perfect Honeymoon Luxury Resort in Mexico

Imanta Resorts Punta Mita: Welcome to paradise!

There is usually always something that I spot in hotels that can be improved. This means that I generally don’t find many hotels where everything is perfect without a single reason to complain. The Imanta Resorts Punta Mita Hotel though seems to be one of these places. When we were staying in Sayulita for a few weeks, friends of ours flew in and stayed for a few days at the Imanta Punta Mita. As they didn’t want to leave the hotel to join us surfing in Sayulita (now I know why!), we decided visit them instead. So happy we did this! The hotel is seriously paradise!

The minute our friends told the hotel staff that they were expecting guests, the staff literally didn’t stop asking them when exactly we would arrive, whether anything special should be planned, whether we would have any diet requirements etc.. I guess you could say that the staff was super attentive :) And as the hotel wasn’t fully booked, there were around three waiters per guest – what more could you want!?

When we arrived at the entrance gate of Imanta Resorts Punta Mita the receptionist at the gate greeted us and a golf car was sent to pick us. The super attentive staff also knew exactly where our friends were at that moment and brought us to them – obviously our friends were hanging out at the private hotel beach :)

The entire beach for ourselves

The hotel is very small with respect to number of guests yet immense when you look at the hotel facilities and site. It feels like they literally bought the entire jungle around the hotel. The Imanta Resorts Punta Mita even offers private hiking tours to explore the hotel’s jungle preserve.

Now you can imagine how many other people you’d find sun bathing on the beach… NOBODY. That meant that we had a huge and super beautiful beach just for the four if us :)

After a bit of swimming and sun bathing we had lunch which was super yummy. Then of course we started drinking margaritas! After around 2 margaritas each we moved over to the sun beds and then went for a little walk to the Silent Zone of the SPA :)

Don’t drink and body board!

And another margarita later we decided that it’s the perfect time go body boarding! (Guys, don’t do that, especially if the waves break super steep onto the sand!) Rather than just having fun in the white water we, of course, had to swim out a bit to catch the (unbroken) waves properly (what a stupid idea!). The first wave smashed me face first into sand. I bruised my chin and my shoulder. After that I realised that the broken waves are probably much more fun after 3 margaritas.. The moment I turned around to check when the next wave was coming I saw how first Michael, then Jonas, were repeating the same face plant into the sand that I had just done! Oh well.. the wonderfully attentive staff immediately brought us some ice so Michael could cool his jaw.. fun times!

The cutest baby turtles in Punta Mita

Around sunset we had almost forgotten our little injuries and it was time to release baby turtles into the sea (read more about this here). It was so much fun, aren’t they super cute!?

For dinner we got changed and then went up to the roof top bar for some yummy food and, well, another margarita :)

The Imanta Resorts Punta Mita is seriously amazing and makes the perfect hotel for a honeymoon in Mexico. To read more about the hotel, click over to their website here.

Karateandcaviar / November 3, 2015

Dia de Muertos en Sayulita

We have now been in Sayulita for one week and will stay until Wednesday next week. I’m so in love with this little town. Everyone is so nice and chilled out here :) On Wednesday we will head down to Puerto Vallarta to my friend’s wedding to which also some of my best friends from London will travel. Can’t wait to see them all again!

For the last 2 days the plaza in Sayulita was set up for Dia de Muertos. These are the photos I took today. They are taken with my mobile as I didn’t have my camera but should give you an idea of how it all looks like.