Every guest’s week looks a little different, but after hosting travelers for years, we’ve noticed a rhythm that tends to work best in a private villa rather than a hotel room — slower mornings, a couple of planned outings, and long unstructured stretches by the pool. Here’s what a realistic week can look like.
Day 1: Arrival
Most guests land in Puerto Vallarta and make the drive up the coast, arriving with just enough daylight left for a walk to the beach and dinner in town. First night is rarely ambitious — it’s for settling into the villa, figuring out where the kitchen things are, and getting a first look at the pool before bed.
Day 2: Town and Beach, No Plans
A short walk gets you to the main beach and the plaza. This is usually the day people wander without an itinerary — the artisan market, a few of the town’s restaurants, a swim off the main beach. Having a villa with its own kitchen means there’s no pressure to be anywhere for meals; you can come back midday, cook something simple, and head back out later.
Day 3: Surf Lesson Morning
Sayulita’s beach break is genuinely beginner-friendly, so a group lesson works even if nobody has surfed before — our surfing guide covers the local schools. Afternoons after a surf lesson are for the pool, not another activity — everyone is more tired than they expect.
Day 4: A Day Trip
Mid-week is when most guests take one day trip — to Marietas Islands, Punta de Mita, or San Pancho, or into Puerto Vallarta for a change of scenery. See our day trips guide for the options. Coming back to a private villa in the evening, rather than a hotel lobby, makes the return from a long excursion day noticeably easier — everyone scatters to their own space instead of waiting on room assignments.
Day 5: Private Chef Night
This is the night most groups build the week around. A private chef cooking in the villa — see our private chef guide — turns an ordinary evening into the kind of dinner you’d otherwise need a restaurant reservation weeks out to get, without anyone needing to get dressed up or drive anywhere.
Day 6: Slow Morning, Spa Afternoon
By the second-to-last day, the strongest pull is usually to do less, not more. A late breakfast at the villa, a slow walk to wherever hasn’t been explored yet, and a spa treatment in the afternoon — our spas guide has the options — rounds out a week without cramming in one more excursion.
Day 7: Departure
Pack the night before if the flight is early — Sayulita to the Puerto Vallarta airport is roughly an hour depending on traffic, covered in our airport transportation guide. Most guests leave wishing they’d built in one more unplanned day — which, if this is your first trip, is worth listening to when you book the next one.
Our Take
The villa weeks that work best have two or three anchored plans — a surf lesson, a day trip, one chef’s dinner — and leave the rest genuinely open. That’s the advantage a private villa has over a packed resort itinerary: nobody has to ask permission to just stay by the pool for a day.