Sayulita (Puerto Vallarta) Mexico - guided day trips & tourist services

Update:
leaving Mexico on April 1. back to Denver colorado where i'll be offering ADV-style tour guiding
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771876
hopefully i'll get to meet a few more of you before i leave!
thanks all


Hola,
We're from Steamboat Springs, Colorado and my family and i will be living in Sayulita, Mexico for the winter of 2011-12 (nov. 1 - end of may).

I'm here with my Honda SUV and my DR650. I'm offering day trips & services for those traveling through Mexico (MX 200) who want to stop for a few days at this amazing beach town (1/2hr north of Puerto Vallarta), unload all your gear and go for some amazing day rides.

I've post up pictures latter, but i know some great remote dirt roads to empty beaches plus remote mountain roads high up into the surrounding mountains. These are places you would completely miss if you stayed on MX200 the whole time and never ventured down that unmarked road.

For those vacationing with their family, I offer some great day trips to the colonial mountain town of San Sebastion, Yelapa day trip (drive to PV and take a boat), Purerto Vallarta day and night trips, remote beach adventures, local boat trip to a cool island and other places. I have room in my CRV to pickup 1-4 people and luggage from the airport.

I can even setup a plan where you ride down to Sayulita and i pickup your family and you all stay in Sayulita for combo tour/family vacation.


Paid services I offer:
-Guided motorcycle day trips to remote beaches and mountain towns. Paved or dirt.
-Vehicle-based (Honda SUV) guided day trips to San Sebastian, Puerto Vallarta (day or night excursions), Yelapa and other unique places. 1-4 people. Car seat available.
-Airport (Puerto Vallarta – PVR) shuttle services for 1-4 passengers.


How I can help you:
-Lodging options in Sayulita: http://www.sayulitalife.com/ is the place to start, but there are some other unlisted ones as well low cost Hotels http://hotelinsayulita.com/?page_id=16 , Hostels w/ secure parking http://www.sayulitalife.com/lolita and camping options http://www.travbuddy.com/Sayulita-hostels-327467
My landlady might also have camping space in her gated property in a pinch plus she has a small 1bd place to rent at times.
-Restaurant info: I know about most of the places to eat from tasty $1.50 fish tacos to fancy meals and can give you my opinions on where to eat and drink.
-Sayulita town info. What you should check out when you’re here. I have a map of the town you can keep.
-Motorcycle maintenance and repair. I have a fair amount of tools with me to change tires, bearings, chains, oil etc. plus I have a motorcycle trailer if we need to move your bike. There are a few shops in Vallarta for supplies too (and they can get more from Guadalajara) or you can have supplies shipped to me.
-Travel info when you head on down the road. I’ll tell you what I know and what I’ve seen.
-If nothing else, stop by to say hi! I should have a cold beer and a Butler Maps sticker for you.

Prices:
-$60 (or peso equiv) - Customized full day tour, 1 bike
-$85 - 2+ group of bikes
-$50 - airport pickup
-$15/hr - bike repair/tuning
-Inquire about car based shuttle trips
-Inquire about small 1 queen bd casita for rent w/ secure parking where i live
-Free - as much local info you want/need. no obligation beyond that.

Contacts:
-Send me a PM if you have any questions.
-You can send an email to me through ADV and then you'll get my email address.
-local mexico cell #322-191-7795
-Bill.Eakins - skype
-Best place to meet me in Sayulita is the gazebo in the center of town in the square...around 9pm works most every night, if you PM me.

Thanks!
Bill Eakins

FAQs:

Sayulita info:

-Where is Sayulita?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayulita
30 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta (PVR)

-How long does it take to get to Sayulita from the US?
3 days of riding through Nogales, AZ. The overnights are San Carlos (just north of Guaymas) & Mazatlan. Alamos, Sonora http://www.alamosmexico.com/ is a cool layover as is Chacala (1hr north of Sayulita).

Many come down Baja and take the ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan http://www.bajaferries.com/
You need to get your bike import paperwork and pay the bond deposit for the mainland @ the ferry terminal in La Paz. You also need a 6mo tourist visa (not avail. in Tecate). When you leave Mazatlan, you'll be heading towards Tepic. Gas up! You can take the toll road (cuota) towards Tepic and then make time and take get off at the San Blas exit. Then drop down to the coast (go check out San Blas) and head towards Las Varas and Puerto Vallarta.

Here is a new alternative loop (extra days of travel) by SR, that eliminates the somewhat boring drive drive down 15/15D between Mazatlan and the turn down to San Blas. This takes you up the famous Espinazo Del Diablo (EDD) to Durango for an overnight and then down a newly paved road back to the Nayarit state (where Sayulita is)
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603538
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=478265&page=9

Here's another interesting mainland approach
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18117478&postcount=4

-Permit info
http://rollybrook.com/vehicle_permits.htm
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=689844

-What is Sayulita like?
Awesome small surf town. Mellow vibe with plenty to do and see and a ton of great restaurants and bars.



-How far is Sayulita from the airport?
30 minutes north of PVR

-What kind of lodging is there in Sayulita?
http://www.sayulitalife.com/

-Is Sayulita safe?
Very. Plenty of police presence and no drug related issues. Like all of S.A., petty crime is a concern.

-How do i get $ (pesos)
A few ATMS and dollar changers in town. Banks are south in Bucerias @ the Mega.
Make sure to let your bank (atm debit card) and credit card company you'll be in mexico, so your card works. Mexico is a cash society and few place accept credit cards.

-What about food?
Plenty of great places to go out and local stores to buy. Fish tacos are everywhere and cheap (under $2) w/ pork tacos under $1.

-What is there to do in the area?
Chill, beach, surf, snorkle, shop, hiking, mtb and more

Riding info:

-What sort of terrain will be ride on?
Paved and easy to medium grade dirt roads. There are more difficult grades to be found.

-What should i bring?
If you're a through rider then I know you're prepped. If you come via plane a helmet and riding gear.

-What if we have a mechanical problem?
We'll never be so far out there, that we're beyond civilization. There's always some one w/ a truck.
With that being said, I have solid tool kit i bring with to do what we can...and in the end, we ride back to Sayulita 2 up and get my SUV and trailer and go get the bike. We'll never be farther than a few hours away and i bring a lock if we need to secure a bike for a short while. One way or another all the bikes are coming home that night.

-Travel info.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=745227
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141751
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207964

-GPS and mapping info for mexico & beyond
Paid Garmin maps:
http://www.bicimapas.com.mx/Mapas_GPS_EN.htm - routable
http://www.cartografiagps.com/mape32/index.htm - not routable, but much better off-road detail
Free Garmin maps:
http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ - world-wide. routable
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649144 - routable CA (except mex.)
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=641027


-What bike do i ride?
I use a heavily modified DR650


-Past RR
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=742819

-Show me some pics! (i'll update w/ much more asap)
Mountain towns like this:





Another great ride up into the mtns:

Good to know..........hmm. I know all about how you are " supposed to totally immerse yourself in the local culture" and only speak the local language ect. but I'm the kinda traveler that just likes to wander and check stuff out at what ever level I feel like at the time. Knowing about someone doing what your doing would be fantastic. Kinda like an island , if that makes any sense. Doubt I'd be down there this winter but hope it ends up worth it for you !

thanks man!

yeah ideally you emerge yourself, but in reality that doesn't always work.
i've been in mex. for a bit and i seek out other foreigners all the time to hear their story and what they've learned along the way. my spanish is also far from where i can have a fluid conversation with a local.

as for people taking me up on this, sure i hope a few give it a fly, but i stay plenty busy updating Butler Maps. i've found some awesome day trips to way cool spots most would miss if you just stayed on MX 200 hiway. if not, we're down here for this winter and i atleast want to catch up with some through riders on tour or those on vaca to sayulita. sayulita is such a cool beach town not to miss either way!

bill

Hey Bill sounds like a great idea!

I'd certainly be happy to pay a fee to ship some tires there and have them waiting for me when I come thru. Changing them with "real" as oppossed to travel tool kit tools would be great as well!

I wonder if it would be worth your while if driving down to bring several sets of the more popular ADV tires?

As far as the dirt roads around the area is there any single track?

Once upon a time I lived in La Lima del Abajo - about 1/2 way between Las Varas and Las Penitas (no clue how to type Spanish as in how do you put those little thingy's over the "n's"). That was before my riding days however so I'm clueless as to what is available.

thanks man.

when are you gonna be in the area? i've been working on the cheapest way for people to ship tires down to Mex. got any ideas?

my real real tires tools are back in colorado where i have a changing stand w/ upgraded mount bar for tubeless tires and a support stand for tubed tires. what i have in mexico are 2 types of spoons (3 each): the shorter travel ones and the larger motion pro ones. i also have a nice tool to lever away the bead http://pitposse.com/kltiretamer.html on stiff tires to get the tube in there plus a bead breaking tool and a tool to help feed the tube stem. i have some ru-glyde and several pumps. i use a 5 gallon bucket to hold the wheel up of the ground and 2 people makes it smooth. i also brought my marc parnes tire balancer and have some stick on wheel weights too, if need be.

i'm in mexico now so i'm not driving south from the US. rear tire life is the issue so a 130-17, 150-17 would probably be the 2 most popular followed by 120-18 & 140/150-18. when i'm back in sayulita i'll get prices on several popular sizes and compare that to buying in the US and shipping down.

i've looked around for single track but haven't found much, or it ended real quick as it was someone's foot path, as most don't have woods bikes down here. there is a ton of dirt roads of various grades all over the places to make thing interesting. i never expected someone touring through the area to risk bike damage on the real technical stuff.

my thought was to be able to stay a few nights in sayulita (camp, hostel, cheap hotel) thus unloaded the bike. then we could head out on some out of the way day trips on those remote roads either up in the mtns. or to remote beaches or both. many of the roads are easy dirt or we can find rougher stuff. there are also some sweet out and back curvy paved roads to be had to some way cool colonial inland mtn. towns and such. i like doing it all. you can go from sea level to above 8000ft in a few hours so lunch in the mtns. and a dinner back on the beach.

i'll have to go check out las limas.

thnx, bill

this is tempting Bill, thanks for doing this

I've followed a lot of your posts over time here on Advrider since I've relied on the Butler Maps quite a bit and you always come across as a very stand up fellow.

I've been weighing options for an escape within this time window, and what you are talking about sounds like it would suit me very well. A niece and a nephew both decided to get married this spring, so those trips are cutting into my funding and time off budgets, but if I can figure something out, I'll hit you up for some more specifics.

Is a second bike an option if I flew into somewhere near there? Doesn't have to be through you obviously, just curious. My preference would be to ride the whole way, but time is going to be a bigger factor than funding so trying to look at all the options.

Best of luck in Mexico, I'm jealous.

Paul

thanks paul for the kind words!

let me know if you have any questions.

i'm hopping i can find a way to have some rental bikes available, maybe some 250 dual-sports, for those who fly in, but i'll have to see. there was a guy, dorados, that was renting in suyulita in the past but he's not around anymore. that would have been ideal as i'm not into buying bikes in mex. at this point. i'm going to poke around and see if i can find locals w/ extra bikes to rent. i've seen posts on ADV from a guy in guadalajara who had bikes to rent in PV but i can't seem to find him info. i'll also be asking all the local PV shops if they rent or know anyone who does.

thx, bill

B,

If you get a line on rental bikes let us know. It has been 2 years since we have been to Sayultia, but we need a winter trip to get out of the snow.

will do! i heading back down in less than a week and it's a top priority.

they may be just some Honda 125cc Bros dual-sports if that's ok as that's the most common size...but hey your riding in the winter right?

I'm now in Sayulita and will check up on finding some rentals.

Bill, do you ride down when you go each time?

i'm here for the whole winter this time with my wife and daughter.
we drove down and trailered my bike. have come here in the past via a plane.
drive took 3 days via Nogales like this:

-san carlos
-mazatlan
-sayulita

you can also come from the east over the espinazo del diablo from durango
or down baja and across to mazatlan.

Good to know. Would like to do a ride down to Nica someday. Will definitely pay you a visit when we do. If we could even make the trip down with you guys that'd be rockin!

PM sent

way cool. look me up.

Hi Bill!

This is timely. Wife and I need to get away from the cold, either just before or just after Christmas. Sayulita is on the short list. I had not necessarily counted on being able to ride on this trip, but if I could, so much the better. Mostly we were looking for a quiet, warm beach where we might play in the surf etc. Karen was in Sayulita in May. It seems to be about the right size and pace and budget, but Karen's worried there might not be enough for me to do. I don't know how to surf, but understand it's a good place to learn. Any stand-up paddle boarding? What about sea kayaks?
125 Bros rentals would be just fine in my book.


I don't have any experience south of the border, so i've been trying to research some different places. Puerto Viejo Costa Rico was recommended to me as was Todos Santos Mexico. I know you've been to the former as that's how I stumbled upon this thread.

I like non-tourist places. No fabricated resort destinations like Acapulco. I'd go to Florida if I wanted a vacation where everything is just like in the states. And I'd never go to Florida. I want to hang out with the locals, go where the locals go, eat and drink where they do etc. I want to be in another culture.

Hope I have not hijacked this into a vacation planning thread!

-Doug

stand up paddle boarding is huge here. you can rent sea kayaks.
yes great place to learn to surf. ideal wave for it.
plenty to do around here and there is alot of activity, but it's still a nice small town w/ great restaurants. boat trip to yelapa is a must do as is the malecon (sea wall in vallarta). around christmas the busiest time all year and alot of places are booked solid already, but i might know a something. i like the hotel diamante http://www.hoteldiamantesayulita.com/en/ but the cheap rooms might be gone.

puerto viejo is also way cool. i was there last christmas. laid back carib town.

still working on a rental.

Hmm....thought I subscribed to this thread but no updates.

We would be maybe Jan 9 to 18th so I'd hope to miss the holiday traffic. Does that put us out of the crush? Also discovered that inmate Gunga Galunga's father lives here. GG is in Idaho. Maybe you have met his dad?

Let me know how the rentals are looking. I have been scouring airfare and most of Latin and South America is too long a flight and too $$ for our preferences.

Thanks, Bill!

hoping to check some shops in PV tommorrow but no luck so far. sorry.