Costa Nayarit
Costa Nayarit begin at the northerly point of Banderas Bay at Punta Mita and follows the coastline northward all the way to San Blas. By road, you can access this coastline by following highway #200 out of Bucerias, or by taking the North Shore route through La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, out to Punta de Mita (#200a) on a mostly double-lane highway. From there, a secondary highway leads to Sayulita before hooking up once again with highway #200.
Opportunities in real estate in Costa Nayarit are for the most part, not for the feint of heart. Owning or living here should be seen as more of an adventure, with twists and turns along the way. The region is a long ways away from city life, for the most part it is rural, interspersed with a few small beach towns. There are a number of larger, master-planned developments here, but for the most part they are in the early stages of development. Highway #200 is not in the best condition, and that is really the only way to get to Costa Nayarit. But a new, four-lane highway is in development stretching from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta and this will certainly improve access to this region.
Along highway #200a, north of Punta Mita, is the new FONATUR planned real estate development of Litibú, which is anchored by an 18-hole golf course by Greg Norman and a spectacular long beach. Regarding real estate opportunities, Litibu currently offers primarily condominium living, with room for single family home expansion in the future. The golf course is complete and open to the public.
Continuing along #200a toward Sayulita, just past Litibú is the small town of Higuera Blanca, with beach access to where a number of homes have been built on or overlooking the beach. Next door is the new development of Imanta, accessible through Higuera Blanca, with a boutique hotel and estate, hillside lots available, built into the rugged hillside.
Sayulita is a funky surf town with low- to mid-range real estate pricing, a surf destination that is becoming a little more stylish and chic as more development opens up. Sayulita has few condominium projects, real estate opportunities for sale are mostly limited to homes built by independent owners. Most recently, Punta Sayulita has been launched, a medium-sized development that offers, for the first time in Sayulita, luxury homes for sale inside a gated community, built on the point on the southerly-side of Sayulita. Highway #200a meets up with the main highway #200 here in Sayulita and continues northward.
Next on the coast is San Pancho (San Francisco), where not only will you find gourmet dining but also polo, beaches, and boutique hotels. San Pancho is perhaps a little more conservative than neighboring Sayulita, a little more of a typical Mexican town —it's a nice contrast. On the northside of San Pancho, there are some incredible luxury homes built on the cliffs of Costa Nayarit's spectacular coastline. At the entrance of San Pancho off the highway is the San Pancho cultural center with town homes available built around it.
Further along, the highway and coastline is Lo de Marcos, which (so far) has not experienced the same tourism real estate growth as the others, but it's most certainly on its way. There are homes situated on the beach and behind on the south side of the town, with new, small condominiums becoming more available in town.
Next is Guayabitos, which is popular with Canadians and people from Guadalajara and is the largest town along Costa Nayarit. It is actually made up of three towns: Los Ayala, Rincon de Guayabitos and La Penita de Jaltemba. Inside the bay of Jaltemba, Guayabitos and La Penita have grown together and there is not much left to actually separate them, both situated on a long sandy beach inside the bay of Guayabitos. Over the hill to the south is the smaller town of Los Ayala, situated in a small picturesque bay that looks out over the uninhabited islands of Isla Coral and Isla Cangrejo. They make up a lively weekend destination for nationals, with some small condo developments but mostly single-family homes. There are both homes and condominiums, low-to-mid priced. To the north and south and north of Guayabitos, however, there are three major mega-developments currently in various stages of progress.
Punta Raza is just south of Los Ayala on a magnificent piece of land with a long spectacular beach. Development here is currently on hold. South of Punta Raza is La Mandarina, situated both on the beach and on a rocky hillside looking out over the ocean. Both feature long stretches of beach with hillside overlooking the Pacific, offering home and condominium development sites. La Mandarina will also feature an 18-hole golf course. Both developments are featured in the photo above - Punta Raza to the left, La Mandarina to the far right.
A further 20 km along highway #200 and about 10 km off the highway to the ocean is Chacala, located within the region known as Costa Tortugas. Situated inside a picturesque small bay, Chacala itself is mostly a beach resort destination tucked into one end of the bay where it lines the beach with hotels and rental bungalows. On the northern point of the bay is a gated community where large single family homes and lots are available, with a new small marina further to the north.