River Mouth - The Break That Built a Surf Town

A stop on Sayulita: Surf Town Walk, a free self-guided tour.

This is where the arroyo meets the Pacific, and just offshore is the wave that put Sayulita on the map. Surfers call it the right: a wave that peels to the right, as seen by the rider, off the sand and scattered rock near the river mouth. A second, less consistent wave, the left, breaks close by when the swell is bigger.

Winter is prime time. North swells arriving from about December into spring light up the point, and on a good day you can count dozens of surfers bobbing in the lineup, waiting their turn. The etiquette is strict even if the mood is relaxed: the surfer closest to where the wave breaks has the right of way.

Find a spot on the sand and watch a few sets come through. Notice how the riders paddle out along the edge of the break rather than through it, and how the wave changes with the tide.

Getting here: From the bridge, follow the arroyo downstream on foot toward the ocean, about a five-minute walk, and stop on the beach just short of the river mouth.

Did you know?: The highway between Las Varas and Puerto Vallarta, built in the 1960s, is what first brought traveling surfers within easy reach of this break.

Photo op: Stand on the sand facing the point and zoom in on surfers riding the right with the green headland behind them.

More on Wikipedia: Surf break · Surfing

River Mouth - The Break That Built a Surf Town

Stops on this tour