What's on in Sayulita (Riviera Nayarit), Mexico through the year

Busy — Winter high season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Humpback whale season (10 Dec – 25 Mar (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 31 Mar)

Busy — Winter high season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Humpback whale season (10 Dec – 25 Mar (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 31 Mar)

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Winter high season

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  20 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Mexican school holidays put the whole of Jalisco and Nayarit on this beach for two weeks, and the village of two thousand behaves like a town of twenty. Parking is impossible and the surf break is shoulder to shoulder. Source ↗

Still on: Humpback whale season (10 Dec – 25 Mar (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 31 Mar)

Busy — Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana Santa (20 Mar – 20 Apr (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Hazard

  Pacific hurricane season

  15 May – 30 Nov

  Banderas Bay is sheltered by the headlands and usually gets swell and rain rather than a landfall, but September storms have taken the beach and the river mouth out before. The bay's shape is not a guarantee. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov)

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Nature

  Turtle nesting and releases

  15 Jul – 15 Dec · usually

  Olive ridleys come ashore on the beaches either side of the point through the second half of the year, and the local camps run hatchling releases at dusk. Peak nesting is late summer, releases run into December.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov)

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Turtle nesting and releases (15 Jul – 15 Dec (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Turtle nesting and releases (15 Jul – 15 Dec (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Turtle nesting and releases (15 Jul – 15 Dec (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Pacific hurricane season (15 May – 30 Nov), Turtle nesting and releases (15 Jul – 15 Dec (usually))

Busy — Winter high season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Humpback whale season

  10 Dec – 25 Mar · usually

  Humpbacks come into Banderas Bay to calve and are visible from the headland at Punta Sayulita on a calm morning, never mind the boats. The Mexican norm keeps the watching season to the winter months.

• Season

  Winter high season

  15 Dec – 31 MarWinter-sun seasonCrowdedBook early

  North Americans arrive for the dry months and the village runs at capacity: rentals booked from the autumn, restaurants on a wait and the cobbled streets full after dark. September is the opposite of this.

Still on: Turtle nesting and releases (15 Jul – 15 Dec (usually))