In 2006, I got wind of a new mega-development planned for the coast in Nayarit state, designed by the Mexico tourism development agency FONATUR, and pointed my compass south in a panic. Several years earlier, I had spent an idyllic five days in San Blas and always wanted to return to explore more of Nayarit's coastline. With nightmarish visions of Cancun dancing in my head, I figured it was time to get on my pony.
With my sister, on her first trip to Mexico, I basked in the peace and quiet of fishing villages towns notched into the edge of the jungle that creeps right up to the shoreline — places where cars respectfully shared the roads with horses and burros, and everyone we met was honored to help us exercise our Spanish skills. We also visited the FONATUR site, called Litibu, which was no more than a grand, block-long entrance gate, a golf course, several paved roads through the jungle and a sweep of profoundly beautiful beach. The uber-luxurious Punta Mita development just south of there was already in full regalia. It was a sometimes surreal juxtaposition of Nayarit's past and its future in one trip. Coming home brought the sadness that comes with knowing you've seen something wonderful for the last time — a feeling intensified by receiving a press release a few months later announcing a "new destination" called Riviera Nayarit.
But during a recent business trip to Puerto Vallarta, I couldn't resist the call of that coast and those villages, however they may have changed. What I found is that parts of the Nayarit coast have changed little, if at all. Yes, the planned residential-resort of Nuevo Vallarta squats between Puerto Vallarta and the village of Bucerias to the north, and Litibu is rapidly filling with hotels and vacation homes. The once-scruffy surfing haven of Sayulita has acquired condos, a large contingent of expats and abundant traffic that recently inspired a downtown makeover. All that was expected. The surprise was that much of the coast is still a trove of history, culture and tradition, where Margaritaville is alive and well.
Here are a few suggestions for getting lost in Margaritaville; the rest I leave for you to discover on your own. The local visitors bureau is chock-full of ideas.
Bucerias: By some miracle, the closest village to all the new development has morphed from a tiny fishing community into a vacation spot of about 17,000. Despite an influx of expatriates, residents are mostly Spanish-speaking Mexicans, and it retains its slow pace and traditional ways, right down to the hand-made cobblestone streets brightly painted buildings and enormous wooden doors. Its 5-mile stretch of soft yellow sand, one of the cleanest in Mexico, accommodates sailboats, kayaks, jet skis and palapa restaurants without crowding, while the Main Plaza buzzes with locals going about their day-to-day business. Serenity reigns in an abundance of excellent restaurants and bars along the main streets. Art is important in Bucerias. An artisan market winds through its narrow streets six days a week, and a cultural center called Crearte was recently established to teach creative arts to all residents. For a closer look at what the town has to offer, take a look at the expat-run Best of Bucerias website.