Playa Carricitos or Playa Sayulita: a Sayulita verdict
Published 2026-10-12. Conditions described are typical and never guaranteed.
Here is the verdict before you scroll: these two beaches are not rivals so much as opposites, and the right one depends entirely on what you want from a day by the water. Choose Playa Carricitos if you are a walker or an experienced surfer who wants an empty wild strand, earned on foot through the jungle, with big sky, open ocean and often not another person in sight. Choose Playa Sayulita if you want a lively town beach where lunch, shade, a surf lesson and a cold drink are all a few steps from the sand, and where crowds, boats and a working panga launch are part of the deal rather than a disappointment.
Put simply, one beach is about absence and the other is about buzz. If that single line already told you which way you lean, you can stop reading and go. If you are torn, the rest of this guide walks through sand, water, facilities and crowd, and names the exact conditions that flip the answer from one to the other.
Who each beach is really for
Carricitos suits the self sufficient. It rewards people who like the idea that getting there is the whole point, who will happily spend twenty five to thirty minutes climbing a steep, rough trail to reach sand that stays empty precisely because almost nobody bothers. It suits surfers with real experience and a healthy respect for a powerful Pacific, and it suits anyone who treasures solitude, a wide horizon and a sunset shared with a handful of others at most.
Sayulita suits the sociable. It is the obvious pick for a family day, for a first surf lesson on a forgiving break, for a long lunch under a palapa with children playing within easy sight. It is for people who do not mind a crowd and actively enjoy the life of a working surf town spilling onto the sand. If your ideal beach day involves a menu and a toilet rather than a trail map and a full water bottle, this is your shore.
The honest split: Carricitos is a beach to walk and watch. Sayulita is a beach to live on for a day. Neither is better, they simply answer different questions.
Sand underfoot
Both beaches have good sand, but they feel nothing alike. Carricitos is a long wild strand of open sand backed entirely by jungle, with just a few palms at the back for shade and nothing else built behind it. It often runs empty in both directions, which is its glory and its whole character. The far end near those back beach palms is the spot to aim for, where you get a scrap of shade and a wide view of the emptiness, best reached in the cool of the morning and left before the midday heat builds.
Playa Sayulita is a wide band of soft golden sand, and it fills up. By mid morning it carries sunbeds, vendors and surfers, with palapa restaurants and the town pressing in right behind. It is golden and generous, but you share it, and the texture of the day is social rather than solitary. If the thought of claiming a lounger beside a busy restaurant appeals, that is a plus here. If it makes you wince, Carricitos is calling.
The water, told straight
This is where the two beaches part most sharply, and where we will not soften anything. Carricitos faces the open Pacific and the surf rolls in hard, with currents that can be strong. It is a beach to walk and to surf if you are experienced, not a safe place for a casual swim. There is no lifeguard, no phone signal to rely on and no quick help, so the only sensible approach is to keep well back from the shore break and never to swim alone. We describe conditions as typical only, and we make no promise about any day. Treat the sea here as something to admire from the sand.
Playa Sayulita is gentler and more forgiving, which is a large part of why beginners learn to surf there. The north end has a mellow beach break that the local surf schools use, and on a calm day the water is swimmable. It still has no lifeguards, the swell picks up in the wet season, pangas launch out in the middle of the bay, and after heavy rain the river mouth can cloud the water, so it pays to check conditions before you go in, swim to the sides away from the boats, and watch children closely. Calm conditions are typical in the dry season, not guaranteed. For a first standing wave on a soft board, though, Sayulita is clearly the more suitable of the two.
Facilities and crowd
The gap here is total, and it is the fastest way to decide. Carricitos has nothing: no vendors, no restrooms, no bar, no water and no shade beyond those few palms. You carry in everything you need and carry out all your rubbish. That emptiness is the appeal if you want wildness, and a genuine obstacle if you want comfort.
Sayulita, by contrast, is well served for a town beach. Restaurants, toilets, showers, surf hire and vendors all sit right on the sand. There is no separate beach club, so the sunbeds and umbrellas belong to the palapa restaurants, and you claim a bed by eating or drinking at the venue. Prices and any minimum spend vary by venue and are to be confirmed on the day, so ask before you settle in, or simply bring your own shade and sit on the free public sand. You can also skip the loungers entirely and still have a fine day, since the whole beach is public and free.
- Want food, shade and a toilet within reach: Sayulita wins without argument.
- Want emptiness and silence and will bring your own water and sun cover: Carricitos wins.
- Travelling with young children who need facilities close by: lean firmly to Sayulita.
When the other one wins
Defaults are useful, but the real skill is knowing when to switch. A few situations flip the answer cleanly.
If you had planned a Carricitos day but you are travelling with small children, carrying a lot of gear, or the heat is already brutal before you set off, switch to Sayulita. The steep jungle hike, the lack of shade and the powerful surf make Carricitos a poor fit for a tired or young group, and the town beach gives you shade and a lunch table instead.
If you had planned a Sayulita day but the main beach is heaving, the river mouth looks clouded after rain, or you simply want quiet, Carricitos is the escape valve, provided you are prepared for the walk and the water. For more options in that wilder vein, the coast around Sayulita hides several empty beaches reached on foot. The dark and gold sand of Playa Patzcuarito sits just over the rocks from Carricitos and shares its remote, surf heavy character, while the wide, secluded Playa Malpaso over the hill offers the same solitude with the same strong rips to respect. Snorkellers chasing clear water over reef should instead aim for the hidden cove at Playa Las Cuevas, on a calm day at low tide. Our guide on choosing between Carricitos and Patzcuarito is worth a read if the wild beaches tempt you most.
Getting there
Access is not a footnote here, it is half the decision. Carricitos has no road and no parking, and no taxi reaches the sand. From the plaza you walk west on Ninos Heroes to the end, climb the steep dirt road through the jungle, take the left fork away from Playa Los Muertos, and over one last rise the beach opens below. Allow twenty five to thirty minutes each way, wear real shoes, and tell someone your plan, since there is construction in places and the path can be rough.
Sayulita needs no hike at all. It is the town beach, a short stroll from the plaza. There is no beach car park, only busy street parking on the edge of town, so most people walk in. Arrive early or park on the outskirts and stroll down. If low effort access matters to your group, that alone may settle it.
Best time to go
For both, the dry season from November to April brings the most settled weather, the clearest sunsets and, at Sayulita, the smallest chance of a clouded river mouth, though it is also the busiest stretch. At Carricitos, go in the cool of the morning and leave before the midday heat, since there is almost no shade and the sun is unforgiving. Our seasonal notes for Sayulita go deeper if you are still pinning down dates, and families weighing the whole town will find the family focused overview useful for planning around little ones. Those chasing quiet above all should browse the guide to the area's quietest shores.
The bottom line
Carricitos is the connoisseur's empty beach, a reward for effort and self reliance, best treated as a place to walk, surf and watch the waves rather than to bathe. Sayulita is the town's beating heart on the sand, lively, serviced and forgiving, the natural home of a first surf lesson and a long family lunch. Pick by appetite, not by reputation, and keep the switch rules above in your back pocket for the day the weather or the mood changes. For the full lay of the land, our guide to Sayulita ties the beaches together.
Prefer a lounger and table sorted in advance
Neither of these beaches is a club, so if your ideal day leans toward a reserved sunbed, shade and service without the hike, start with our Sayulita beach club page to see your options and enquire about a club day before you travel.