Yesterday I wrote a post about the 5 things I loved about Sayulita. Today I write about the top 5 reasons why I didn’t like Sayulita. Believe me, I don’t relish this post. I have never disliked a place enough to write a post, however there are big issues with Sayulita, for me. Issues large enough to make me second guess another trip in the future. And ones which I think others who may be planning a longer visit, should be aware of.
I did not take many photo’s of the following issues. I am inclined to photograph the positive and beautiful. The few pictures I did take, I will post here.
Dust
There is dust everywhere in the world. I know that. I have travelled extensively for many years. Never have I visited a place where I could constantly feel the dust and grime like a lump at the back of my mouth and throat, every single day that I was walking around town. There is so much dust built up on all surfaces, plants are choking, there are so very few flowers blooming, it is depressing.
The dry season is upon us in Nayarit, there was not a single drop of rain while I was visiting for three weeks. It is therefore the normal part of the year when things will be extra dry and dusty. However, nor was there any rain for the two weeks I stayed in La Penita and Guayabitos, but those towns are bright, clean and plants are healthy, thriving and blooming. Those towns are making a concerted effort to rinse and water their greenery. To beautify and take pride in their communities.
The dust coats everything, your shoes, your clothes, your skin, the food you purchase. If dust is on all of these things, it is also being inhaled. And what is that dust made up of? Garbage juice, sand, dirt, chicken and dog poop, all being pummelled into oblivion by vehicles on the cobblestone streets. Most of the shop keepers try and sweep the area directly outside the front of their businesses, however nothing seems to get washed or rinsed off elsewhere.
Dirty
The town and beach is dirty. The main part of Sayulita beach has a considerable amount of garbage and dog excrement. Many beaches in Mexico and all over the world are dirty, but usually, almost always, I can see kind people walking the beach in the morning and picked up the garbage, myself included. Not one single day did I witness anyone attempting to clean the sand or shoreline.
The streets, sidewalks and easements are full of accumulated dirt, garbage and dog poop. Don’t look up while walking around or you are certain to have a shoe full of shit. Again many shopkeepers sweep or rinse their little space in front of their door each morning, but most of the real estate that is not commercial, is filthy.
When the garbage is swept up, it is often burnt, filling the air with an acrid stench that lasts for hours as the small piles of garbage smoulder in the heat.
Crowds
Sayulita has become so popular it is overwhelmed with visitors. The downtown core is bursting from about noon until the wee hours of the morning. The streets are jam packed with loud vehicles, mostly service trucks, taxi’s, motorbikes and golf carts. I would suggest not sitting in the outdoor seating at restaurants, that is on the roadways. You will be inches from vehicles, exhaust and dust plumes.
Town Pride
Doesn’t seem to be much of any. In other Mexican towns I have visited, residents are out sweeping the streets, picking up litter, planting little gardens, keeping the exterior of their homes and vehicles tidy and clean. I have always found the locals to be very vigilant and prideful about their personal spaces. In Sayulita, I don’t have this impression. The town looks tired and overwhelmed. The shopkeepers and vendors look exhausted. People don’t smile or greet one another in passing. There is a distinct feeling of separation between the locals, the north American immigrants and the visitors.
Seediness
I have never felt this in any other town or city in Mexico like I do in Sayulita. It is difficult to explain. It is a uneasy feeling of being taken advantage of and having to have your guard up.
Right across the road from the town square is a gambling tent. My understanding is it is being run by an organized group, if you know what I mean. To see visitors sitting there, being sucked in and taken advantage of every day is so sad. I know those visitors are choosing to sit there, I get that. But the tactics invoked with what is going on is sickening.
I was also taken aback by the exceedingly spiked prices, I felt like I was being gouged at every turn. For example, I regularly take my laundry to a local lavanderia everywhere I visit in Mexico. The procedure has been the same everywhere. Your bag of clothing is weighed and you pay a set price per kilogram. When I tried to get laundry done in Sayulita, I was quoted a price twice as much as I have ever paid anywhere else, without the bag being weighed.
When I tried to purchase some jack fruit, which is in season right now. It is being sold everywhere, being thrown out because it is rotting in such abundance, there is that much of it available. I asked how much for a small tray, and was quoted $80 pesos. The most I have paid anywhere else this year for the same size tray is $25.
Those are two small examples, of what I regularly encountered in town. Once you repeatedly have things like that happen on a daily basis, you realize it is a wide spread occurrence.
My thought is because the town is just so crowded and there is no shortage of business, sellers can absolutely charge what ever they want, there is enough people who will pay the inflated price. And really I cannot blame the locals for that! Who wouldn’t want to make a bundle while you can? It just ends up leaving some of the visitors however, with a feeling of being taken to the cleaners.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of the post, these are my observations, and things I wished I had been able to discover in my research before I booked three weeks in Sayulita. It really is a unique and fun town and has a lot going for it. If I should come back for a visit in the future, it will be for two or three days instead of weeks.
