Cycling from Sayulita to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico

By Dave Briggs · Published 2010-01-09 · Last updated 2026-07-18

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Cycling out of Sayulita, I followed the coast along toward Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. Bike Touring blog update from cycling Alaska to Argentina.

Leaving Sayulita

(Blog post written Jan 9th 2010)

It felt a shame to leave Sayulita, but I guess its always there for next time! The clouds had cleared overnight, and there was a bright blue sky in the morning as I set off.

There was a fair amount of climbing to do early on, which meant that I was soon soaking, although the positive side to it was, that when the downhill started, I didn't have to pedal for 5 kms.

Puerto Vallarta

Approaching Puerto Vallarta, I could already tell I wasn't going to like it, from the billboards showing high rise hotels, and American chain stores.

It's by far the biggest city I have come across since leaving San Diego, and the American influence is huge. I negotiated my way through the city, leaving the main road to follow cobbled streets, until I eventually reached the Zona Romantica where the cheaper hotels are located.

However, if these are the cheap ones, I dread to think what the expensive ones are like! Anyhow, its only one night, and tomorrow I continue the journey southwards.

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Dave Briggs
Dave is a UK travel writer living in Athens since 2015. With 20 years of firsthand travel experience and over 80,000 km of bicycle touring across six continents, he's been blogging at Dave's Travel Pages since 2005. Every guide is based on places he's actually been.

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