recent experience in Rincon de Guayabitos?
Apr 13th, 2006, 07:48 AM
#1
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recent experience in Rincon de Guayabitos?
Has anyone recently visited and stayed in this town? I did a Fodors search and can't find any threads since 2003. It sounds like our kind of place for a laid back vacation. DH and I spent two days in Puerto Vallarta and a week in Yelapa last spring. Thoroughly enjoyed both and are now looking for a different experience; not as busy as PV but not as rustic as Yelapa.
Our main desire is for peaceful, self-catering accomodation close to the beach; around $100 Cdn a night. We like to hike, bird watch and explore off-the-beaten track places; do not want to rent a car; will get around by bus.
Thank you for any assistance or web-links you may be able to provide.
Our main desire is for peaceful, self-catering accomodation close to the beach; around $100 Cdn a night. We like to hike, bird watch and explore off-the-beaten track places; do not want to rent a car; will get around by bus.
Thank you for any assistance or web-links you may be able to provide.
Apr 13th, 2006, 03:16 PM
#2
You might also consider San Pancho (San Francisco) nearby. There are a couple active posters over on The Thorn Tree (www.lonelyplanet.com) Mexico Branch from that area.
Apr 14th, 2006, 07:36 AM
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I stayed in Guayabitos for christmas a few years ago so I don't have super recent experience but I didn't love it. I have been trying to pinpoint what I didn't like but I am not sure. The only thing I can come up with is, when comparing it to San Francisco or Sayulita, it was more of a little "cement" town if that makes ANY sense. Not especially charming or rustic.
I went back to the area for a month and stayed in Sayulita which I loved. Traveled most of the area and, for me, my preference would be San Pancho or Sayulita. La Penita is a town a bit larger than Guayabitos. I don't remember Las Ayala. If I remember correctly, La Penita had larger grocery stores, a fish market, etc.
Guayabitos and La Penita were definitely more "authentic" IMO, with S. Francisco and Sayulita having more tourists. Guayabitos is one of the only times I can remember being at a beach in Mexico surrounded almost entirely by vacationing Mexicans, which was cool. They have really interesting (good) beach snack vendors. When was the last time you got a mango on a stick cut to look like a flower or homemade banana bread in Cancun?
I went back to the area for a month and stayed in Sayulita which I loved. Traveled most of the area and, for me, my preference would be San Pancho or Sayulita. La Penita is a town a bit larger than Guayabitos. I don't remember Las Ayala. If I remember correctly, La Penita had larger grocery stores, a fish market, etc.
Guayabitos and La Penita were definitely more "authentic" IMO, with S. Francisco and Sayulita having more tourists. Guayabitos is one of the only times I can remember being at a beach in Mexico surrounded almost entirely by vacationing Mexicans, which was cool. They have really interesting (good) beach snack vendors. When was the last time you got a mango on a stick cut to look like a flower or homemade banana bread in Cancun?
Apr 14th, 2006, 09:01 AM
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Thank you for taking the time to respond kwil. This is exactly the kind of information I am looking for and will definitely help in our decision.
Funny you should mention home-made banana bread.... We spent a week in Yelapa last spring and during one of our daily forays through the town, we came across a rustic home-made sign for a bakery. We entered a small private home and were treated to the wonderful aroma of banana bread just out of the oven. We were going to take it down to the beach to savor, but we were too busy 'sampling' to make it that far!
Funny you should mention home-made banana bread.... We spent a week in Yelapa last spring and during one of our daily forays through the town, we came across a rustic home-made sign for a bakery. We entered a small private home and were treated to the wonderful aroma of banana bread just out of the oven. We were going to take it down to the beach to savor, but we were too busy 'sampling' to make it that far!
Apr 14th, 2006, 08:36 PM
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I was in Guayabitos and La Penita Last February (2006). Loved Both. For swimming, Guayabitos is perfect, very calm it seems to be protected somewhat by the small islands you can see from the beach. The town is much cleaner than my favorite Puerto Vallarta. Also its not as noisy as PV. You can walk from Guayabitos along the beach to La Penita (over some rocks). A quaint place to stay in La Penita is Casa de los Amigos which is at the northern end of La Penita. Sort of away from the main town. It overlooks an old very interesting cemetary where years of rough water has pulled some of the crypts down to the beach (no bodies). I would definitely go back to Guayabitos for the beauty of the beach. I want to go back to La Penita to explore from the northern end to the southern end. Sayulita is a wonderful little town but heavily a youth tourist trade. In Sayulita a quaint bungalow for lodging is AURINKO Bungalows.
Apr 15th, 2006, 06:45 AM
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Hi blondlady. I always find your posts very informative. We've pretty much decided to stay in San Pancho, but will definitely spend some time exploring Guayabitos and La Penita. Thank you so much for posting and the recommendations.
Apr 15th, 2006, 08:12 AM
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I agree with blondlady regarding the swimming. While in Sayulita, over a month-long time span, we saw 3 people rescued by surfers in the water. Scared the #%!* out of me!
A favorite from our trip...sitting on the patio of our casita, we could see the next beach over was a completely deserted beach so we decided to go there. We ended up randomly picking a place to park the car and walking down a path/road to the beach. There is a huge gorgeous beach where we were the only people as far as you could see. So imagine our surprise when around 1pm, safari trucks bring in dozens of people from PV for a cookout/ deserted beach tour. Stayed about 2 hours, packed up, and then the beach was ours again. It is called Playa Secreto and is between Sayulita and San Pancho. Absolutely, worth going to. I would assume that the bus would drop you off and you could hike down. Great place to pack a picnic and a couple of Pacificos and watch the sunset on a deserted beach.
I hope you have a great trip!
A favorite from our trip...sitting on the patio of our casita, we could see the next beach over was a completely deserted beach so we decided to go there. We ended up randomly picking a place to park the car and walking down a path/road to the beach. There is a huge gorgeous beach where we were the only people as far as you could see. So imagine our surprise when around 1pm, safari trucks bring in dozens of people from PV for a cookout/ deserted beach tour. Stayed about 2 hours, packed up, and then the beach was ours again. It is called Playa Secreto and is between Sayulita and San Pancho. Absolutely, worth going to. I would assume that the bus would drop you off and you could hike down. Great place to pack a picnic and a couple of Pacificos and watch the sunset on a deserted beach.
I hope you have a great trip!
Apr 15th, 2006, 10:26 AM
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Wow kwil; that sounds like a must-do experience! Would you mind sharing the name and location of your casita? Wondering how quiet and private it was as those are important issues for us.
Thank you again.
Thank you again.
Jun 30th, 2007, 02:55 PM
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Hola again, I wonder if you have taken your trip to San Pancho. I had a VERY interesting experience in early JUNE, 2006 in San Pancho. We were in a car driving along roads close to the beach area and it started to rain. LITERALLY hundreds of crabs were on the street, they were being crushed by our tires. It was amazing. We drove up the hills and the crabs (about the size of a small hand) were everywhere. IT seems they take off for higher ground when it rains because they will drown during heavy rains if they stayed in their sand holes. INCREDIBLE experience and I would NEVER stay during rainy season in San Pancho. I hear this happens in Yelapa as well. I hear San Pancho is not a good swimming area because of undertows. Maybe someone can comment on that. I would stick with Sayulita, Guayabitos and La Penita for swimming. Also of interest to you might be the Petroglyphs about 4 miles north of La Penita. A really nice hike once you get there.
