Outside the fence, you’ll find Anclote Beach, a lively mix of funky and fancy, with cheap hotels and million dollar condos comfortably resting side by side, and an inspired selection of restaurants offering great seafood at prices ranging from economical to astronomical—a feast for every budget. Here you can learn to surf, surf a paddleboard, or hop on a boat and head out to the Marietas Islands to view the rare blue-footed boobies and a million other birds, watch whales frolicking (in season), and snorkel in marine preserve waters swarming with brilliantly-hued fish.
Forming the northwesternmost tip of Bahia Banderas and just a few miles south of Sayulita on the beach, Punta Mita is a world unto itself—or two worlds, rather, one on each side of the fence. Inside the fence, you’ll find a pair of high end, ultra-chic, and very pricey hotels, along with a couple of world-class golf courses. One of them, designed by Jack Nicklaus, ranks among the top ten most beautiful courses in the world; they are both open to the public in the off-season.
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