This was our first stay in Mexico together - Rufus had never been except for our bus transit through from Belize to Cuba (Dec 2014) and back but I visited areas on the Caribbean side, on a weekly basis, while I was working on cruise ships after my studies. The "surfing" village of Sayulita is on the Pacific coast in the province of Nayarit, an hr or so drive north from Puerto Vallarta. We flew in to PV from Ft Lauderdale and then took the bus from there.

Luckily for us it was off-season so it was quiet and relatively peaceful except for a few nights when the "gringos" got rowdy in a couple of the nearby bars. We spent the first 3 days exploring the town and nearby beach on foot and then we rented a car and visited a few beaches further on where Rufus could surf while I made friends with the other surfer widows, read and took photos.

There is a vibrant design and craft scene - thankfully not in the typical cheesy (and boring) touristy way though - which we thoroughly enjoyed. We got to observe some of the artisans at work, speak to a couple of the expat designers and get some insight into their collaborations with the locals and how they have integrated centuries old traditional Mexican craft with their modern design aesthetic . My two favourites were Evoke and Artefakto but there are so many more to choose from with an almost overwhelmingly huge variety of beautiful items to choose from, no matter what your budget.

Everything was within walking distance of our little "boutique hotel", a myriad of different options for delicious food and cocktails, some live music and evening strolls through the cobblestone streets. We stayed in, what the owners describe as an "artistic apartment" in the heart of the village, 2 min walking distance from the square. The owners, Lucy and José, also own La Esperanza which is a "health food Café, Restaurant & Bar that creates and serves conscious and nutritious food for the health of their community". It's located directly across the street from their accommodations but unfortunately we were never able to sample their food as it was closed for the slow season. The accommodation itself was lovely and I was super snap happy with my new Fuji, as you will see below. We booked through AirBnB and you can see my review here.

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Every two months we leave the boat (we work on) securely in a marina and take a week off to travel, explore a destination on our bucket list, and use the time to rest, recharge and do the things we can't while working/on the water.The first week we took off was last year, in early September 2016. One of the things Rufus doesn't get to do much while on-board is surf, as the places we go are focused on a specific kind of fishing which, up till now, has rarely coincided with decent surf breaks. I had been in contact with Petter from Sunshine Stories, picking his brain about good surf spots in Mexico. He suggested one of his and Linn's favourite places, Sayulita. After re-reading their posts on the town and googling some additional info we booked our flights, which were conveniently super cheap and fast from our location in Ft Lauderdale, and packed our carry-ons!Since it's almost the same price to fly your surfboard, to and from Mexico, as it is to buy a new one, Ruf decided it best to leave his Al Merrick behind and rather rent a board from one of the many local shops at our destination. I did however pack my new Fuji XT-1 mirrorless camera which I had just received for my birthday.I had been eyeing and throughly researching this beauty for over a year and finally saved the cash (and gathered the guts!) to splurge on the graphite silver model together with a 35mm prime lens. This was the first real opportunity I got to use my new camera and so needless to say I took a LOT of photos... Also, Sayulita is a seriously photogenic town. It felt to me as if all the locals get together on a regular basis to discuss and plan the aesthetic of the village, everything from the colour schemes of the buildings, the street signs, store fronts, street side vendor displays, right down to the type and arrangement of the potted plants and coconut palms. It's such a beautifully curated riot of colour and design, so all of the 6 days we spent there were a visual feats for our eyes!We visited in the off-season so rates were more reasonable and the town wasn't jam-packed with loud and rowdy tourists. We prefer a more chilled out vibe but still appreciate a vibrant atmosphere which Sayulita produced in bucketfuls. One thing we were disappointed with though, was the condition of the town's main beach, it was unfortunately rather dirty (we were prepared for this, having read the same in a few travels blogs beforehand) and the waves were underwhelming so we decided to do day missions down the coast to find better surf, a little further away.Note: I've decided to break this up into two parts as I have so many photos and I couldn't cut nearly enough to make one reasonable length post. So here's part one... enjoy!*Please ask before using any photos from this post, or anywhere else on the blog. We are happy to share but we've had some people poaching pics for their business websites without asking, making money off them. Be cool. Thanks!* [lgc_column grid="50" tablet_grid="50" mobile_grid="100" last="false"][/lgc_column][lgc_column grid="50" tablet_grid="50" mobile_grid="100" last="true"][/lgc_column]