Sayulita Entourage: Diving, Snorkeling, & More in Sayulita
Sayulita Entourage was born several years ago under the name Sayulita Diving School. A business originally focused on offering diving, has now expanded to offer a wide range of at-sea adventures to its clients. With a fully licensed and fully equipped twenty-two foot panga, Sayulita Entourage is perfect for smaller groups of family or friends wanting a more detail oriented tour or to avoid a crowded excursion. Owner Roberta tells us more about Sayulita Entourage and the types of tours they offer in the Sayulita area.
Tell readers about Sayulita Entourage’s beginnings.
Sayulita Entourage as we know it is about ten years old. Way before then, the other owner, Stephane, (who moved to the Punta de Mita area in 1998), was a freelance dive instructor working under the name of Sayulita Diving School. Little by little, we evolved from just one single person offering diving lessons to a legitimate company. It all started with Stephane owning his instructor certifications, his own diving equipment, and his passion to create a family-run company with our own boat, equipment, compressor, and all of the other necessary equipment for the business. Stephane started driving to Vallarta every time we had a client to try to rent every single piece of equipment; a couple of times he even went by bus! He had the dream, and I had the pragmatism to make this project take from, little by little. The first major task was securing the boat so we didn’t have to rent one every time we had an excursion, and then it was finding the first four sets of full equipment. I remember when we first got those! We didn’t even have an office or a business location, so everything was washed in our home-storage with water running all over the place! We went through a lot when first starting out, and sometimes it was frustrating, but look at us now! The four sets of equipment we started with are now twenty sets, and we have our own tanks and compressor, so we are done with the driving to PV! Furthermore, we have our own boat to run excursions, and we have an office to receive guests instead of meeting them in the plaza. We’ve come a long way.
What sort of tours do you offer and what is included?
We offer scuba diving trips, PADI certifications, diving classes, whale watching, and snorkeling trips. Our trips include pretty much everything: transportation to and from Punta de Mita using the local taxi company, all of the equipment needed, and food at the end of the excursion in partnership with the restaurant El Purrillo here in Sayulita.
What is the most popular tour and why?
Scuba diving and snorkeling at Marietas are the most often booked tours; the Marietas is the most popular spot in the bay.
What is the panga boat like?
Our boat is just over twenty feet long. We re-did the inside last year so it could be easier for people to move around; we removed the middle seats and placed them on the side and added a flat floor to the boat. We can fit up to nine passengers along with two crew members, so our trips are great for small groups, and decently comfortable and all equipped for diving. We also bought a new 150 HP engine last year right before the pandemic hit us.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about Sayulita Entourage?
Our office is open until 2:00 p.m. only, so make sure you stop by before afternoon time! Sayulita Entourage is our baby, so I am super protective about it. I like to be the one dealing first-person with our clients, and I want to be the face of the company that people can come back to if they need to. I like the continuity and the reliability of having the same face behind a desk. I am also very responsive through email!
To view a menu of tours and services, for more information, or to book, please visit Sayulita Entourage’s Sayulita Life webpage.
Written by: Aanya Sheikh-Taheri
