Posted on Sun, Jul. 11, 2004   Nearby town is laid-back antidote to Puerto Vallarta By Michelle Quinn Mercury News SAYULITA, Mexico - As the heat rises into the mid-90s, this little Pacific coastal town 25 miles north of the Puerto Vallarta airport empties out of tourists and seems to let out a long exhalation. This being off-season, it's possible to imagine life here 10 years ago, before tourists discovered what was once primarily a fishing town. The fishermen drive their boats fast up onto the beach, not worried about hitting beachcombers who dominate the sand between May and September. Midday, trucks with loudspeakers advertise the day's catch -- shrimp, mahi-mahi. On one late afternoon, the fishermen hold noisy beachside disco parties that end, reasonably, at 10 p.m. But also during this stretch from June through August, the rains threaten and the humidity in the surrounding jungle increases. Turtles appear and lay eggs. The shy sand crabs have no choice but to come out into the open and mate. The year-round surfers talk excitedly about the rising waves churned by the coming storms. Some restaurants close for a few weeks, and workers head home to Guadalajara, Liverpool and Bisbee, Ariz. Construction begins and ends quickly as the town seems to return to a dormant state. The ebb and flow of small-town life is part of Sayulita's appeal. Spend time here and you'll meet the town characters. Dirt roads and roosters With just 3,000 residents, Sayulita is the antidote to Puerto Vallarta, with 300,000 people. In Sayulita, there are no high-rise hotels along the beach, no swim-up bars, no salesmen speaking excellent English combing the beach trying to sell time-shares. There are also no police, post office, hospital or government. With roosters and dogs running in the dirt roads and residents walking in the town square at night, Sayulita, at first, gives off the illusion of being undiscovered. But that illusion is hard to sustain. There are 31 restaurants, two video rental stores and an Internet cafe, of course, launched by a Silicon Valley refugee. Peak into a real estate office to entertain thoughts of a second home in Mexico, and see that prices start at $250,000. No, you are too late to discover Sayulita. Oh well. In Sayulita, you can have your small Mexican village fantasy and still eat ice cream from one of three ice cream stores. It is possible to dine in Sayulita for a week and not long for the greater range of restaurants offered in Puerto Vallarta. Sayulita attracts North Americans who want to escape. The hippie vibe, however, mixes awkwardly at times with locals trying to earn a living. Still, Victor Ruiz RamÌrez, a filmmaker from Jalisco, came to Sayulita five years ago because of what he called Sayulita's ``energy and culture.'' The town, he says, is ``milagroso y misterioso'' (miraculous and mysterious). Serena Sullivan arrived from Bisbee eight months ago and found a house on the beach without electricity. Why did she move here? ``I don't want to be part of what the U.S. is doing right now,'' she says. Although they call Aspen, Colo., home, Patrick and Cheri Hasburgh are putting down roots in Sayulita. They have owned a home here for five years. Now that their 3-year-old daughter is almost school age, they are trying to improve the local school by suggesting a ``gringo tax,'' charging non-Mexican homeowners a tax that would go to funding the school. ``Two weeks after being here, people want to be Lord Jim and start talking about `I want to save this town,' '' says Patrick Hasburgh, a TV and film writer and author of a new book, ``Aspen Pulp.'' His next book, he says, will be set in Sayulita. A year ago, Bonnie McCoy, 19, graduated from high school in Tucson and decided to live in Mexico for a year. First she went to Puerto Vallarta, but then heard she could camp in Sayulita. There, she met artisans, surfers, retired boomers, backpackers. She picked up waitressing work and learned to make flan to sell in the town square. ``I had to pick up something,'' she says. The right thing to do in Sayulita, of course, is go to the beach. The water is warm, and the ocean can be calm as a bay for hours or raucous for days. The white sand is deceptive, though. It has black mica in it that sticks to swimsuits and skin, so before long, it's hard not to look dirty. Burgers or tacos? Two restaurants on the beach can keep the drinks and food coming. Don Pedro's serves U.S.-style breakfast, lunch and dinner. El CosteÒo serves traditional Mexican food. But it's no more than a two- or three-minute walk into town for a taco or a soda. Then back to the beach. Surfers have long flocked to Sayulita. For the novice, there are several places to take lessons. Javier Barrera manages a surf school on the beach called Duende Surf Dawgs from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's $25 for a two-hour lesson. Barrera also provides UV-protective shirts so that students don't ruin their vacations with a serious sunburn. He also rents his fishing boat, Godzilla (also the name of his Chihuahua), for $150 and takes surfers to break points. Barrera came to Sayulita from Chihuahua 15 years ago to surf and has never left. He bemoans the growth and shows off a book of photos of how Sayulita has changed. Six years ago, a highway was built linking Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta, making Sayulita an easy day trip for people visiting Puerto Vallarta. While there is little building north and south of the town, properties in Sayulita itself are being bought up and remodeled. The sound of construction workers and their radios is the first thing you hear in the morning. Around the beaches of Sayulita are, well, more beaches. A short walk through a cemetery on the south side of the main beach leads to La Playa de Los Muertos, a flat beach with typically calmer surf than Sayulita's. The beach at Carricitos, a 25-minute walk farther south through the jungle, is best for watching the sun set. (Because of the shape of the coastline, Sayulita doesn't have a direct view of the sunset.) Other than the beach life, there's shopping. This is where Sayulita lacks Puerto Vallarta's variety. A few Huichol Indians set up stands in the center of town, and some go to the beach to sell their beaded art and colorful fabrics. Odair Bravo came from his home state of Oaxaca to surf. Now he sells jewelry with his wife. They are opening up a shop called Sol at DelfÌn No. 7 just off the square. He says he likes the pace of life in Sayulita but still can earn a living. On the square, SayulitaNet Lounge, No. 12 Marlin, provides a fast connection. The price is 10 pesos (less than $1) to log on for 15 minutes. There is also a cafe, and movies are shown. Sean Millis, formerly of E*Trade, says he started his business in Sayulita because ``it is far enough away from the States to get a feeling of being different, which is something that I like. And it is close enough to fly back to San Francisco in half a day.'' Looking at lizards Perhaps the best thing about Sayulita, other than talking to the locals, is watching the local wildlife: the geckos on the ceiling of the restaurant. The gulls diving into the water after a school of fish. The sand crabs and their sideways walk. On the corner of Manuel Navarrete and Marlin is a large tree filled with iguanas. ``The Night of the Iguana'' made Puerto Vallarta famous, but this tree in Sayulita should draw crowds. Instead, no one pays attention to it, and construction is happening all around it. The tree is protected, according to a sign, as a sanctuary for a bright green iguana, but other types of iguanas, including one the size of a golden retriever, inhabit the area. At first, you can't see the camouflaged reptiles. After watching the tree for a few minutes, your eyes adjust and you see movement. First one iguana and then another. There could be 20 iguanas in that tree at one time. It's discoveries like this that make Sayulita still feel like a secret. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact Michelle Quinn at mquinn@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5749. Posted on Sun, Jul. 11, 2004   IF YOU GO Getting there: A non-stop round-trip flight from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta on Alaska Airlines starts at $421 in July. Also, Sun Trips has a low-price non-stop round trip, from Oakland to Puerto Vallarta. We paid about $300 a ticket. Where to stay: Casa Higuera, beachfront location, http://admin.vrbo.com/8960. Each casita has a view of the beach and a kitchen. A two-bedroom casita runs $950 a week. The studio-style casitas are $495. To contact the owners: (718) 446-1234. Villa Amor, 011-52-329-291-3010; www.villaamor.com. Beachfront location. Rooms $50 to $270 a night. Sayulita Properties, (800) 899-4167; www.sayulita.com/papaspalapas.html. $45-$300 a night. Food: There are great restaurants in town, but also excellent street vendors. At the corner of Calle JosÈ Mariscal y RevoluciÛn, is Taco Cheo, an impromptu outdoor cafe. Eight tacos with sodas run about $4.50 to $5.50. At a different location every day, a woman sells corn in a cup with chile, salt, sour cream, cheese and lime for less than $1. The bolsita de fruta -- jicama, cucumber, salt, lime, chile, salsa picante -- sells for about 60 cents. Other popular places to eat: Choco Bananas, 14 Calle DelfÌn, was started by Tracie Willis and her mother, Eve Snowdon, from Liverpool. Willis says she came to Sayulita in 1991 and sold chocolate muffins on the beach. Four hotcakes and a fruit cup are $4. So is the Spanish omelet with cheese and ham. Open 7 a.m. through lunch. Restaurant Leyza (south side of the plaza on DelfÌn, two doors down from the Internet cafe). Traditional Mexican breakfast of ``huaraches'' is $1.35, burrito $2.20 and chilaquiles for $2.65. Fresh squeezed juice is about $1. Open 7 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-10:30 p.m. Sayulita Cafe, RevoluciÛn 37, is probably the best Mexican food in town, with traditional fare from Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Jalisco. But it is pricier than other places. The guacamole is $3.50, not far from U.S. prices. Entrees run $5.25-$7. Dinner for two with four beers runs $22. Opens at 1 p.m. Don Pedro's, Marlin No. 2, www.donpedros.com, is the place to go when one gets tired of Mexican food or if you want to pay by credit card. Wood-fired pizza or pancakes comes with a view of the beach. Open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Don Pedro's also rents umbrellas and tables in front of the property. Two umbrellas and a table go for $8.85. Other conveniences: Groceries: There are several small grocery stores on the square where a coke is 70 cents and three avocados are 66 cents. Or you can buy tortillas at 15 JosÈ Mariscal, 66 cents a kilogram. Open 5-9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Bookstore: LibrerÌa Sayulita, 3 Manuel Navarrete. Tips: • Sayulita is one hour behind Puerto Vallarta, so don't forget to change your watch. To get a less expensive cab ride from Puerto Vallarta airport, walk over the overpass and wait for a cab. (price: about $35.50). • There is no local hospital, but there is a health clinic at the entrance of town. The nearest hospital is a clinic four miles north in San Francisco or south in Puerto Vallarta. • There are no automatic teller machines in Sayulita, so if you want cash, a trip to BucerÌas, about 25 minutes away, is in order. You can take a bus there from the square. While there, stop in at Pie in the Sky bakery, owned by Oakland residents Sue Drexler Price and Philip Price. Get off at the very last stop light in BucerÌas on the edge of town. Also try the besos, gooey chocolate brownies with walnuts, at HÈroe de Nacozari, No. 202 BucerÌas. It's across the street from the Decameron Hotel sign. Open daily 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.