Got back from 4 nights at Playa Escondida just outside of Sayulita. We were 2 of 8 people in the entire place, so it was incredibly quiet (except for the very intense t-storms at night). This is considered the offseason, which I would highly recommend. The first day we hung out at the beach and drank fruity beach drinks for a few hours, and then made our way into Sayulita. We had surf lessons the next day so we tried get a lay of the land.
Sayulita was a sleepy town when we were there (Fri-Tues). Obviously the weekend had more people, but we are accustomed to Cancun and other major tourist towns. For surfing, we took a bus to La Lancha, a beach just south of Punta Mita, and had a blast. We were pretty bruised up the next day from the actual board, but it was not intense whatsoever.
I got Montezumas Revenge that night, so my food and booze intake for the remainder of the trip was limited. I blame it on some random street tacos, but I have no regerts.
I highly recommend the place we stayed. It has AMAZING snorkeling, and the food was much better than average. There are several options for rooms, but AC was at the top of our list. They had just wrapped up filming the Bachelor in Paradise, so the grounds were fantastic.
https://playa-escondida.com/