Stay fit on the road: Stand Up Paddleboarding

This post is part of the Stay Fit on the Road series.

After eating out every day for two weeks, it was time to take control over our health again. We had been filling ourselves on street tacos and cemitas, which didn’t have that many vegetables in them.

Once we arrived in Sayulita, we were so happy to be back close to the water. The ocean is the best gym you can have, since it works all of your muscles and give your joints some rest. But this time, we decided to try something new. On our first day at the beach, we noticed so many people on boards, paddling to wherever they wanted on the ocean. We quickly became jealous.

Being here for three months meant that we couldn’t afford renting a board for a day at $40. That would get crazy expensive really fast. So we started asking around and thought about buying paddleboards instead. Those babies aren’t cheap! After some research and asking the people at Stand Up Sayulita, we found two board in Sayulita Classified for around $750 each. We had never even been on a board before and we were going to spend that kind of money.

The great thing is that our money isn’t gone. Yes, we invested it in boards, but we won’t have any problem selling them back at the end of our three months here. SUP boards don’t lose that much value if you keep them in a good condition. That’s much better than losing $40 every second day.

Once we had the boards, in was time to get crazy! We absolutely fell in love with the sport. It works your arms and legs, as well as your abs: in other words, it’s a full body workout. The coolest thing is that you can paddle to the middle of nowhere, jump in the water and relax there. Or float on your board, hands in the water, enjoying the sun (like I love to do!). You can even do your yoga on it! Believe me, you’ll work those balance muscles a lot 🙂 You’re hot? Try diving from your board. You’re bored of paddling and getting nowhere? Go surf those waves!

Paddleboards give you so much freedom once you’re on the water. You can do what you want and go much further than you could by swimming. They’re also great if you want to see some wildlife. There are a few stingrays around the beaches of Sayulita and we witnessed a couple jumping out of the water. There are even schools of fish swimming bellow us at times. (Don’t worry; there are no sharks in Sayulita! According to what I read on the internet anyway…)

And if you don’t like paddling, there are still plenty of things you can do. You can surf, of course, as well as swim in the bay. It might get crowded at times, since Sayulita is a touristy place, but don’t worry. There’s enough space for everybody. You can also go fishing if you want to. There are tons of minnows in the shallow water.

As long as you stay active, that’s how you’ll lose all those tacos pounds.

You also have to watch out for rocks. Some spots are rockier than others, so just look where people are already swimming. It’s usually a good indication of where there’s sand. You don’t want to cut yourself as many times as we did! Especially if you’re going in the waves with a paddleboard for the first time, you don’t want to knock yourselves against a rock.

So walk the extra mile (or more like a few meters) if it means you’re going to be safe!