Nayarit
in Mexico

Just north of Puerto Vallarta, where the coast curves away from Jalisco and the jungle comes down closer to the water, Nayarit has been quietly accumulating a reputation among those who find the obvious Mexican Pacific resorts a little loud. The Riviera Nayarit runs from San Blas in the north to Punta de Mita in the south, taking in mangrove estuaries, serious surf breaks at Sayulita and San Pancho, and a string of small beach towns that have arrived at different points on the spectrum between undiscovered and fashionable. Sayulita has the cobblestones, the tacos, and the surf school crowds. San Pancho, ten minutes north, has the same qualities at a noticeably lower volume. The Marietas Islands offshore, accessible only by permit, shelter a hidden beach inside a collapsed volcanic crater that justifies every bureaucratic step required to reach it.