I’ve been in Sayulita for over three months now and I’m still not bored of the small town or of living in Mexico. It has hardly rained with an average temperature during the winter of around 80F/26C. My apartment is near the center of town and since I live on the third floor, sometimes I just sit out on my balcony watching the world go by. Life is pretty good here and best of all, it’s really inexpensive place to live.
I love this place but I was surprised how little information on the cost of living in Sayulita on the internet. Here’s a cost breakdown of Sayulita.
All prices will be listed in Mexican Pesos (MXN) with US Dollars alongside. The rate at the time of writing this article is $1USD to $13.245MXN.
Contents
Apartments
I wrote about how to find an apartment in Sayulita before with some prices. Here’s a summary of what we got. For $8,500 MXN ($641USD) a month, we have a full apartment that includes a large bedroom, an enormous bathroom, small kitchen, balcony, a maid that comes twice a week, internet, and free water delivery. Other apartments in Sayulita seem to be going around this price and this seems to be the average. Minimum for a one bedroom seems to be going for $8,000 MXN ($600USD). Obviously the longer you book, the cheaper it gets. The biggest factor however is when. High season is significantly more expensive than low season especially depending on where you plan on living in Mexico.
Food
We go out to eat for most meals and the cost is relatively low which is a big plus for living in Mexico. Although we’ve gotten better about cooking food ourselves, the savings is not that much. We cook not to save but to eat something different than what the town has to offer. Here’s a price breakdown of some of my favorite restaurants.
Budget – between $10 ($.75USD) to $50 MXN ($3.77USD)
- Ivans Tacos el Pastor: $10 MXN a taco. I usually get about four of these.
- Barbacoa street tacos: $10 MXN each. Two or three.
Mid-range – between $50 to $100 MXN ($7.55USD)
- SayuliTacos: My favorite chicken or beef quesadilla costs $85 MXN.
- Burrito Revolution: $70 MXN for a HUGE burrito.
Luxury – between $100 to $250 MXN ($18.87USD)
- It’s rare that we spend more than a $100 MXN on a meal but it’s also pretty easy. There are plenty of fancy restaurants around that can give you a beautiful cut of steak for $200 MXN.
As for cooking your own meals in such a small town, there is a surprising number of small grocery stores that have nearly everything you’d ever need. While some of the more rare items like sriracha sauce can be pricey, fruits and vegetables are in abundance and are inexpensive. A bag of strawberries that I tend to buy weekly costs $15 MXN ($1.13USD). There are two main butcher shops in town as well but I have found that meat is not as budget-friendly and can often be cheaper to eat out than buy meat to cook yourself. The savings are probably more for a larger family than just two people.
For anything the town doesn’t have, Wal-mart and Mega are about 30 to 45 minutes away which has EVERYTHING.
Drinks
I love being able to buy a case of Bohemia beer for less than $100 MXN ($7.55USD) at the local grocery store and just sitting at the square people watching, the perks of living in Mexico. Or if you really want to drink and get local, you can get a whole 940ml bottle of Pacifico, otherwise known as caguamas in Mexico for incredibly cheap.
At the bars, it’s all about the happy hour. Happy hour beers usually cost between $15 MXN to $20 MXN for let’s say a Corona or Modelo. Typical price for a beer is $25 to $40 depending on where you go. I’m not much of a cocktail drinker but they seem to be around $40 MXN. Some of the bars along the square even give you a free welcome shot to try to entice you to go in.
At the grocery stores, a bottle of water or can/bottle of Coca-Cola is $9 ($.67USD), Redbull is $30, a bottle of decent tequila is around $100 MXN ($7.55USD) to $200 MXN ($18.87USD) depending on the brand.
Misc
- Since the electricity bill is included with our rent, we don’t know how much that costs. We do know that having an air conditioner can be very expensive. If you’re here during the winter, don’t bother with an air conditioner since it’s cool enough to not really need one. You’ll save a lot of money. However, if you’re here in the summer, you definitely need one.
- Cell phone plans are inexpensive. A SIM card from Telcel costs $150 MXN which comes with a few free minutes. 1 gig of data is $300 MXN ($22.65USD) for 30 days and 500megs is $200. See the guide to using your iPhone abroad to learn more.
- Internet for your apartment or home I’m not sure since it came included with our apartment. Most apartment rentals seem to come with internet and wifi.
- Surfboards are going for around $200USD to buy one. Renting a surfboard costs $50 MXN ($3.77USD) an hour and paddle-boards costs $100 MXN ($7.55USD) an hour.
- Bus to Puerto Vallarta is $30 MXN one way.
We don’t know exactly how much we spend between the both of us but we think we’re averaging around $1,000 to $1,250 USD per month for two people, maybe less. We could probably cut down a lot of things like drinks, eating in more, and not buying things like a blender and coffee machine but we like our lifestyle and like to live comfortably. We’ll be living in Mexico for a total of 7 months so we’re getting comfortable. We don’t have a budget but feel like we don’t really have to since we’re not really spending that much, to begin with.
Overall the cost of living in Mexico, especially in Sayulita is very reasonable for beach life!
Want to Stay in Sayulita? Try These Places!
Sayulita Beach House is just a minute walk away from the beach and is a cozy, rustic apartment for your stay. There are several apartments which you can rent and there is a patio, terrace, and BBQ that you can use.
Andrei Sayulita Apartment is a lovely one-bedroom apartment situated just a few blocks away from Sayulita Plaza. This adorable apartment is equipped with a kitchenette and a terrace with mountain views.
The Amazing Hostel Sayulita is a wonderfully social hostel located just a three-minute walk from the beach. Take advantage of the pool and the rock wall while you are here too!
