The Punta Sayulita Long board and Stand up Paddle, (or SUP), competition is a prestigious invite only competition. Punta Sayulita is only twenty miles from our current home of La Cruz and the idea of watching some great surfing and great wipe outs was too tempting to resist. So, we packed up some stuff, met our friendly marina taxi driver, Ezekiel, and headed to the beach!


Spectators gearing up to watch the competition...


The judges stand


Huichol Indian shaman giving traditional blessing at opening ceremonies


There were forty-two competitors from all over the western hemisphere, predominately the US and Mexico. There were five events, men and women's long board, men and women's SUP surf and the SUP races, not to mention the different SUP classes. We watched the first day's events, which were men's SUP surfing, women's longboard and the elite SUP race. My favorite was the men's SUP surfing. I saw one man who could turn his surfboard around in a complete three sixty! Then there was Sayulita local, (and mom's crush shhhh!), Ferrrrnandooo! He is a national competitor in SUP competitions around the world. But wait there's more, the most impressive event, I believe, was the elite class stand up paddle races.


Sayulita's own Fernando Stalla


Women's long board


The race begins!

In the elite class, these people go six miles in an hour and a half. I know that may not seem like much, but just watching these guys made my arms want to fall off! They paddled full speed non-stop!! It was impressive to say the least. Afterwards, we ate lunch then went shopping (Blaaaa!). Eventually, we meandered our way home with images of surfers dancing in our head.




Proceeds raised from the Punta Sayulita Classic will go to this non-profit organization supporting various community initiatives for Sayulita and the Banderas Bay area.