Playa Carricitos or Playa Patzcuarito: a Sayulita verdict
Published 2026-09-28. Conditions described are typical and never guaranteed.
The verdict first
If you want the plainer version, here it is before you scroll. Both of these beaches are wild, both are earned on foot through the jungle, and neither is a place to swim. Choose Playa Carricitos when you want the longest, emptiest strand and the small mercy of a few palms at the back for shade, and choose Playa Patzcuarito when you want that unusual black, white and gold sand and a bare, uncrowded sunset over the open Pacific. That is the whole decision in two sentences.
Everything else on this page is about the conditions that flip the answer: the time of day you plan to arrive, whether you are chasing shade or a low sun, whether you are carrying a surfboard or a picnic, and how much walking you actually want to do. These are close neighbours with a shared character, so the win is rarely by a wide margin. It usually comes down to one thing you care about most.
Neither beach has a lifeguard, a vendor, a toilet or reliable phone signal. On both, the surf is strong and swimming is not recommended. Treat the sea as something to watch and respect, keep children well back from the shore break, and never go in alone. We describe typical conditions only and make no safety promise.
What they share, so you know the baseline
Before the differences, be clear on how much these two have in common, because it is a lot. Both sit on the wild coast near the busy town beach yet feel a world away from its pangas and palapas. Both are free and public with no gate. Both are reached only on foot, by a jungle trail of roughly twenty five to thirty minutes, and that walk is the entire reason they stay quiet. Both have no facilities at all, so you carry in water, sun cover, footwear for the trail and a bag for your rubbish, and you carry it all out again.
Both also face the exposed Pacific with powerful surf and currents that can run strong, which is why we keep saying the same thing: these are beaches to walk, to watch and, if you are experienced, to surf. They are not casual swimming beaches. And both are at their best in the dry season from November to April, when the trail is driest, the light is cleanest and the weather is most settled. If you are still weighing the timing, the season by season notes for the area are worth a read.
So if your dealbreaker is any of the shared facts above, the answer is the same for both: bring everything, plan your daylight, and think of the sea as scenery rather than a pool. The tie is broken on the details.
Playa Carricitos: the long empty strand
Carricitos is the one to pick when the appeal is space and solitude on a grand scale. This is a long wild strand of open sand backed by jungle, south of town, and it is often empty in both directions with barely another soul on it. You reach it by walking west on Ninos Heroes to the end, climbing the steep dirt road through the jungle, and taking the left fork that leads away from the town cove, until the beach opens below you over one last rise.
The single practical advantage Carricitos holds is shade. There are a few palms at the back of the beach, and the far end near them is the best spot to settle, giving you cover and a wide view of the empty sand at once. It is not a shade structure and it is not much, but on a coast where the exposed sand bakes hard by midday, a scrap of natural shade is worth naming. Come in the cool of the morning and leave before the heat builds, and that far end rewards you.
Who should pick Carricitos
- Walkers who want the longest stretch of empty sand to pace end to end.
- Surfers comfortable reading a strong, open ocean break.
- Anyone who wants a scrap of natural shade at the back on a hot midday.
- Visitors who like a clear, well known route in from the plaza.
Playa Patzcuarito: the coloured sand and the sunset
Patzcuarito is the one to pick when you care about atmosphere at the end of the day. It is a wild half mile of mixed black, white and gold sand, with the darkest sand gathering toward the northern trail end, and nothing but jungle behind it. That colouring is genuinely distinctive on this coast and gives the beach a moody, remote feel that photographs beautifully in low light. You reach it on foot by a marked jungle trail from the north side of Sayulita, or by scrambling over the rocks from Carricitos when the tide allows.
Its real claim, though, is the sunset. In the dry season this is one of the best quiet places near town to watch the light drop over an open Pacific horizon with only a handful of others on the sand. The move is to walk in during the late afternoon, let the sky do its work, and then leave enough daylight to get back along the trail, because there is no lighting on the path and no signal to fall back on. That single rule matters more here than anywhere: plan the walk out before you go in.
Who should pick Patzcuarito
- Couples and photographers after a bare, uncrowded sunset, a plan the couples guide leans into.
- Walkers who want striking black and gold sand underfoot.
- Surfers happy with a strong shore break and no crowd.
- Anyone linking the two beaches in one trip over the rocks.
The conditions that flip the answer
Here is where the decision actually gets made, because on paper these beaches read almost the same. Let me be specific about the moments each one wins.
If you are going at midday, pick Carricitos. The few palms at its far end are the only shade named on either beach, and on exposed Pacific sand that is not a small thing. Patzcuarito has no shade at all, so a bright noon visit there is punishing.
If you are going for the last light, pick Patzcuarito. It is specifically called out as one of the best quiet sunset spots near Sayulita, with that open horizon and very few people. Carricitos has big sky and clear sunsets too, but Patzcuarito is the sunset beach of the pair.
If you want the simplest, most walked route, lean Carricitos. The path from the plaza is well described and steep but clear. Patzcuarito's trail leaves from the north side of town and can turn muddy after rain, so wear proper footwear and give yourself daylight.
If you want the more unusual beach to look at, pick Patzcuarito. The three tone sand is the visual signature. Carricitos is a classic golden wild strand, longer and emptier, but more familiar in feel.
If you want to see both, do it in one push. They neighbour each other, and you can scramble over the rocks from Carricitos to Patzcuarito when the tide is low and the sea is calm. Read the swell first, and treat a rough day as a reason to stay put rather than a challenge.
When neither is the right call
Be honest with yourself about what you actually want from a beach day. If you need to swim, want a lounger and a lunch, or are travelling with small children who will not tolerate a rough trail, both of these are the wrong pick, and that is not a criticism of either. The lively town beach has food, shade and surf schools on the sand, and the practical route for families is set out in the family focused guide.
If your priority is clear water over reef rather than open surf, the sheltered cove at Playa Las Cuevas is built for snorkelling on a calm day. And if you simply want another wide, wild walking beach to compare, the long sweep at Playa Malpaso covers similar ground on the other side of town. For a straight comparison of the wild beaches against each other, the Carricitos versus Malpaso head to head and the Carricitos versus Las Cuevas piece pick this up in detail. A wider list of quiet options sits on the secluded beaches page.
Want a lounger and a lunch instead
Neither Carricitos nor Patzcuarito has a beach club, and that emptiness is the whole point of both. If what you really want is a bed, shade and service for the day, that is a different plan entirely. Browse the Sayulita beach clubs to see what is on offer and to enquire about a club day, then save these two wild beaches for the walk, the surf and the sunset. For the full picture of the town and its shore, start at the Sayulita hub.