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Sayulita report: The Good, The Bad, and The Barfy

 
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Wind Slither

Since 04 Mar 2005
2570 Posts
The 503
METAL



PostFri Feb 24, 17 10:40 am    Sayulita report: The Good, The Bad, and The Barfy Reply with quote

The Good:
Flying into PVR was easy, less agro vendors than Cabo and no rental car skim-scam at Thrifty. Hit the Mega in Bucerias on short drive up, great prices. Careful not to overstock as the restaurants in Sayulita are great and you may not be eating for a couple days (more on that later).

We stayed a block off the beach from the main surf break where all the action is. Nice surfboards and SUPs for between $3-$10/hour on the beach. For the first four days of our week trip the waves were perfect fun size +. My boys were enjoying nearby cliff jumping and boogie boarding. My wife was loving the food and shopping. We rented some nice Marin full suspension bikes from Wildmex for $10/hour and rode the fun jungle single tracks right out of town to the north. I was surfing my ass off and closing out the days with a $20/1HR massage right on the beach. The rental car was gathering dust. As we sat on the beach on day 4 eating some of the best fresh oysters and shrimp we've ever had, we thought we found heaven. ....then it hit us.

The Bad and the Barfy:
My wife started feeling 'not right' and within an hour or 2 she was violently ill. Next it got my youngest, then over night my older boy and me. It's the norovirus, aka cruise ship sickness. The good news it only lasts 2 days or so and for us this coincided with some rainy stormy weather and the surf turning to an oversized mess. You barf your head off for the first day, then sleep through the second day. People mistake it for food poisoning because whatever the last thing you ate before the symptoms hit, you never want to eat again. Threads on Trip Advisor say this has been an issue in Sayulita since 2012 but my sister's family got nailed back in 2008. There's some debate about water quality issues in the ocean but plenty of people that never go in the ocean get it and it's definitely not Montezuma's.

I loved the convenience of staying down close in town but it is noisy. About the time the bar noise quiets down around 4am, the roosters fire up, then the vendors driving around with full blast PA speakers, then the construction, jack hammers, skill saws, etc. The narrow cobblestone/dirt roads are trafficky and congested.

All that said, Sayulita is awesome but has just grown very fast. If you're after the Spring Break atmosphere, it's where you want to be. Otherwise staying in Punta de Mita and commuting into Sayulita for the occasional excitement is probably the way to go. There's no good snorkeling without a boat trip that I know of and even with the boat trip I don't think it's that great. I had my 17M and there were a few days I probably could have kited but didn't bother.

Go for the surfing, fishing, food, chilling out, partying, sun, shopping...but watch out for El Noro! Thumb's Up


   Sayulita break.png 
   cliff jump 1.png 

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Gman

Since 11 Feb 2006
4907 Posts
Portland
Unstrapped



PostFri Feb 24, 17 2:01 pm     Reply with quote

Surfs up! Looks sweet!

sorry to hear you got the plague - that can be rough...

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pkh

Since 27 Feb 2005
6548 Posts
Couve / Hood
Site Lackey



PostFri Feb 24, 17 5:37 pm     Reply with quote

Thumb's Up Shocked Shocked Shocked Thumb's Up

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wylieflyote

Since 30 Jun 2006
1634 Posts
Puget Sound & Wa. Coast
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PostSat Feb 25, 17 3:56 am     Reply with quote

Are you saying the oysters on the beach had nothing to do with your gut? We've been coming to Mexico for 28 years (now live here 5 months every year) and one paramount rule is never eat "fresh" stuff right on the beach. Especially oysters. These kids are constantly walking around with shrimp on a stick and some days I've seen them store them overnight for tomorrow's suckers... without refrigeration. Same thing with the mango on a stick, etc, etc.
But yes, most of these beach town send their poo directly into the ocean. Our town 5 hours south of Sayulita funded and built a nice sewer treatment plant 12 years ago, and then a new president was elected and they simply turned off the power. Now all feces goes to the estuary which is shrinking because of more parking lots and construction. A mess.

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Kip Wylie

Last edited by wylieflyote on Sun Feb 26, 17 8:27 am; edited 1 time in total

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Wind Slither

Since 04 Mar 2005
2570 Posts
The 503
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PostSat Feb 25, 17 9:16 am     Reply with quote

wylieflyote wrote:
Are you sating the oysters on the beach had nothing to do with your gut?


Fair question Kip, but yes in our case I don't think so. Our boys didn't eat them, and my wife started the sickness a long time before I did and we ate them at the same time. And as I said, I don't doubt there's issues with the Ocean there...the whole town is a big steep funnel into the surf break. I took my boy into the surf 2 days after the heavy rain on our last day and it didn't smell right.

Norovirus outbreaks can happen anywhere, it has nothing to do with food sanitation standards or water quality. The problem for Sayulita or any other dense and popular tourist town is that there's a steady stream of fresh hosts rotating though and becoming new carriers.

My wife won't go back but I would. It was like an accelerated cleanse, I slept more in 2 days than I have all year and lost a few pounds. Bonus!

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letsflykites

Since 11 Mar 2015
13 Posts

 



PostSun Feb 26, 17 7:22 am     Reply with quote

Wife and I had the same experience last year, so did our friends. Like the OP said, google it and there are many reports over the years.

Beats the rosehip cleanse, that's for sure.

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wylieflyote

Since 30 Jun 2006
1634 Posts
Puget Sound & Wa. Coast
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PostSun Feb 26, 17 8:30 am     Reply with quote

Wind Slither wrote:
.... and lost a few pounds. Bonus!


So funny Smile After many decades down here my wife will look over at me during a sketchy taco stand adventure and say "Mmmm... Que Bueno! And weight loss también"

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