What happened to Sayulita? - Marge

We had heard such wonderful things about Sayulita--the famous surfing town north of Puerto Vallarta. We expected to love it! In fact, we already loved it, even before we got there! We had seen pictures - and they were lovely! And heard stories! Evidently a large number of people who visit Sayulita end up as permanent residents. Plus, the town was featured on HGTV's House Hunters' International--more than once! We watched each episode eagerly and added Sayulita to our bucket list--and our Places to Consider Moving to in Mexico list!

Then we actually went to Sayulita. Or a town that called itself Sayulita. Perhaps it was some other town that had just changed its name to Sayulita to capitalize on all those tourist dollars? Maybe the real Sayulita was  a little further up the coast and we should have kept driving? The thing is, it was very hard to believe this was the Sayulita written about so glowingly in all those articles and blog posts--and even a book or two! First of all, every one of the narrow streets in the town was full of cars. And the cars were barely moving as they went past all the little charming, high-priced tourist shops and past the cafes where people sat at tiny tables drinking expensive foreign beverages while inhaling dust and car emissions, and past the lines of vendors selling silver jewelry and inflatable beach accessories and carved wooden trinkets.

There were too many people for the sidewalks. And too many people roasting on beach loungers set out in rows along the small and lovely crescent beach. And so many surfers riding the great surfing waves there must have been collisions frequently.

We ate lunch at a table on the sand, at a restaurant where the menu was in English, close by a table reserved for a TV shoot, with people carrying movie cameras, arranging and rearranging table settings, calibrating lighting and angling beach umbrellas. They all looked very important and harried as they prepared to shoot what someone said was one more House Hunters International and someone else, one of the crew, claimed was actually an episode of Real Housewives of New York. "No really!" she insisted. But I wonder if there actually is such a show.

In the end, we had to hurry the half mile or so back to the highway where we had left the car, because our dog, goaded beyond endurance by the loud, sudden sound of a motorcycle engine revving - after putting up with the heat and crowds and not enough attention - suddenly ran out into the road and nipped the leg of the motorcyclist who was, of course, stuck in traffic along with everyone else in Sayulita.

Maybe there is a part of town we missed that is less crowded. Or maybe it was just the wonderful weather that drew so many people to Sayulita and we should go back when the weather is worse. Or maybe we just came too late. Maybe the town was loved to death. I've heard of that happening.