Sayulita isn’t one beach — it’s a cluster of them, each with a different personality, and picking the wrong one for the day you actually want can mean a long walk for nothing. Our full travel guide covers the town broadly; this is the quick version for choosing a beach.
If you want the social, walk-there, everything’s-nearby beach
Go to Main Sayulita Beach, right off the plaza. Beach restaurants rent chairs and umbrellas, restrooms are close by, and surfers and swimmers share the water — it’s the liveliest option and the easiest to reach on foot from almost anywhere in town. Mornings are calmer than afternoons, especially at the south end.
If you’re swimming with kids and want calm, protected water
Go to Playa de los Muertos. It’s a short walk south around the bay past Villa Amor and through the town cemetery, and the water is roped off and shielded by rocks on both sides — no surf traffic, no boat traffic. It’s popular with local families for exactly that reason.
If you want dramatic scenery and don’t mind earning it
Go to Playa Carricitos — about a 40-minute walk from the plaza along Niños Héroes road and then a jungle path. The waves here are powerful with a strong undertow, so it’s a beach for the view and the solitude rather than a casual swim; use real caution in the water. Our surfer’s beach guide has the wave details if you’re going for the surf itself.
If you want a quiet sunset with almost nobody around
Go to Playa Patzcuarito (or its larger neighbor, Playa Patzcuaro), a roughly hour-long walk or a 10-minute drive south on Avenida Revolución toward Punta de Mita. Dry-season sunsets here are genuinely dramatic, and during the week you can have long stretches of sand to yourself.
If you want the most private beach day of the trip
Go to Las Cuevas and Malpaso, about two miles north via a jungle path off Avenida del Palmar. A natural rock archway connects the two at low tide (check tides before you go), and both stay genuinely uncrowded even in high season — white sand, clear water, and a real hike to get there, which is exactly what keeps it quiet.
Our Take
Most weeks are worth splitting across two or three of these rather than picking just one — main beach for a social afternoon, Los Muertos for a calm swim with kids, and one of the walk-in beaches for a morning that feels like you found somewhere nobody else has.