It was a breezy Saturday morning when I decided to trade the comfort of Barrio Vallarta Boutique Hotel for a spontaneous day trip. I had two names on my mind—Sayulita and San Pancho. Both had been recommended with the same kind of dreamy look by locals and fellow travelers alike. But the question lingered: which one should I go to?
I did what any curious wanderer would do—I visited both.
And though they’re barely 15 minutes apart, they felt like two completely different worlds.

🌊 Sayulita: The Wild, Colorful Pulse

Sayulita came first.
I knew I was getting close when I started seeing the surfboards on tuk-tuks and the explosion of bougainvillea over every fence. As I stepped into the main plaza, I was swallowed up by a vibrant energy—music pouring out of every doorway, barefoot travelers weaving through artisan markets, and a crowd already dancing on the beach at noon. It was loud, colorful, chaotic—and absolutely electric.

Sayulita is the kind of place that thrives on now. Everything moves fast: the drinks are strong, the music is loud, and the waves are full of surfboards and laughter. I ordered a fish taco from a street vendor whose grill was flaming like a campfire, then followed a drumbeat that led to a group of dancers performing a fusion of Aztec and reggae rhythms. Somehow, in Sayulita, that combination made sense.

You don’t come here to rest. You come to live loud. To flirt with strangers, sip passionfruit margaritas on rooftops, and dance under a sky full of string lights. Sayulita is for the moments you want to remember with intensity—the kind you relive with photos and stories for years.

But after a few hours of surfing the town’s high-energy wave, I needed a different kind of magic.

🌿 San Pancho: The Soulful Whisper

I drove just a little further north and pulled into San Pancho. And immediately, the volume turned down.

Here, the rhythm is slower. The streets are quieter. It’s not sleepy—it’s intentional. There’s an ease to the way people walk, a softness in the air. I wandered into a gallery with handwoven textiles and clay pottery, where the owner offered me a cup of warm hibiscus tea and talked about the town’s community projects. No rush. Just two humans connecting over art and stories.

The beach in San Pancho is vast and open, with only a few souls scattered across the sand—reading, meditating, playing guitar. I found a spot under a swaying palm tree, kicked off my sandals, and realized I hadn’t checked my phone in over an hour. It felt... amazing.

Unlike Sayulita, which wraps its arms around you with flair, San Pancho sits beside you in silence and lets you breathe. I met a woman who’d come for a weekend ten years ago and never left. “You either arrive here ready to listen,” she said, “or San Pancho teaches you how.”

As the sun began to dip, I had dinner barefoot in the sand at a little beach restaurant with flickering candles and grilled fish so fresh I swear it had been swimming an hour earlier. The sky turned lavender, and a man strummed an old guitar without a microphone, without fanfare—just music for the sunset.

🌴 One Coast, Two Worlds

What surprised me most wasn’t how different Sayulita and San Pancho are—but how necessary they both felt.

In Sayulita, I felt awake. Like I’d plugged into something electric and free and young. In San Pancho, I felt aware. Of myself. Of the ocean. Of the quiet beauty that comes when you don’t need to chase a moment—it finds you.

So which should you choose?

If you're in the mood for color, crowd, cocktails, and curated chaos—head to Sayulita. It’s where stories happen loudly and often.
If you’re craving peace, poetry, and barefoot dinners under stars—drive a little further to San Pancho. It’s where stories unfold slowly and stay with you in subtler, deeper ways.

As I drove back to Puerto Vallarta with sand on my feet and salt in my hair, I realized the best part of visiting both towns wasn’t choosing between them—it was letting each one show me a different side of myself.

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So if you're staying with us at Barrio Vallarta Boutique Hotel, and you’re debating which one to visit—just ask me. 

I'll say, “Why not both?”