Happy Wednesday! I’m officially writing to you from my home office again. It feels so good to be back. If you’re new around here, our house had some damages during winter storm Uri, and my home office has been without a ceiling for four months. The repairs were finally complete, so I’m no longer relegated to working out of my dining room.
So, in honor of feeling a bit more settled, today’s Part III travel guide to Punta de Mita, Mexico, is brought to you from my home office. You can read part I here and part II here. Remember in part I where I mentioned that you needed a negative COVID test to be able to re-enter the U.S.? Well, luckily, our hotel offered them on site. We made morning appointments for the day before we were leaving.
After about a half hour wait at their onsite testing clinic, they let our group of four in to get tested together. It takes maybe about ten minutes once you are inside. We were all negative, and they provide the proper documentation you need to provide to customs/your airline to re-enter the U.S.
Sayulita
When I was researching short day trips from Punta de Mita, Sayulita kept coming up. So, I started doing some reading. We were possibly wanting to visit Puerto Vallarta’s malecon, which is the main boardwalk. But, I wanted to visit somewhere I had never been. The more I read about it, the more I wanted to go check it out.
Sayulita is a little beach town, which is also known as the crown jewel of the Riviera Nayarit. It’s a tiny little surfing village that is lined with some great shops and some neat little bars. It was about a 45-minute car ride from our resort (the W Punta de Mita), and we booked our driver for three hours, so he knew when to come back to get us. Because we had access to the beach at our resort, we didn’t dress for the beach, we wanted to shop and explore.
Playa del Oro
The beach on Sayulita is known as the Playa del Oro – or gold beach. When the waves come up, they stir up the sand that has gold speckles that float around in the water, which is how it got its name. Our first stop was the AllyCat Tours store (remember our tour from yesterday). They make an “I like boobies” shirt in honor of the blue-footed boobies, and dontcha know, that my husband and Blair just had to have one. While I was there, I met Raquel, who helped me book the trip. Side story: Lee really wanted a specific shirt, but they didn’t have the one she wanted in the size she needed. About an hour into our trip to Sayulita, Raquel came chasing after us down the street to give Lee a shirt. She had found one – and really wanted her to have it.
It was really hot that day, and there is not a ton of air conditioning to be had. And, this is important to note, the Ley Seca (or, the dry law) was in place that day because Mexico was holding its elections, so the bars close early. Luckily, we had plenty of bottled water available in the stores. Unfortunately, due to the Ley Seca, we were unable to grab a beer at one of the cute bars that lined the streets.
We did bring some pesos with us on the trip, which I pre-ordered from Bank of America, just in case. I did buy a couple of items from some street vendors, and I was thankful to have pesos, but most of the actual shops did take credit cards. There is a store there that sells and makes the authentic Huichol art. Aaron and Blair both bought some unique pieces for their offices.
Sayulita is tiny enough that you don’t need to spend an entire day there, unless you are going to the beach. Three hours was plenty of time to explore the sights and sounds. After our three hours was up, our driver came to pick us back up!
Dinner plans
Now, we had reservations at Cafe de Artiste, which is one of the best restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. It’s a Thierry Blouet concept, and the food is supposed to be incredible. There is also a location in New York. But, it meant we would need to take an hour drive into Puerto Vallarta, and spend an hour driving back after dinner. And, we wanted to just spend some time in our pool. While it was a tough decision to make, we opted to eat our last dinner at the resort, so we could spend some quality time in the pool. And, while I am sad I missed out on Cafe de Artiste, I’m sure it won’t be my last time in Puerto Vallarta.
Once we got back from Sayulita, we ordered some adult beverages to our own little pool (the Ley Seca does not necessarily apply to resorts). While we were in the pool, we made reservations at the resort restaurant: Spice Market, which was an indian/asian fusion concept. It was delicious, and we were still pretty full from our meal the previous night at La Leche. We called it a night early because we were all exhausted!
The following day, which was our last, we met for breakfast at the resort restaurant. Our rooms came with breakfast included and you had your choice of a fresh juice, pastry, fruit and a couple of entrees. Then, we packed up and headed out to the airport. On the return trip, you also need to fill out the Vuela Seguro form – and have that QR code ready when you go through the airport. Filling it out in advance will save you some time. The travel back was uneventful, and I’m so thankful we were able to get away on a short, magical trip to Punta de Mita before we picked up our puppies!
