This year they expect between 35 and 40 boats to compete for big prizes including cars, professional fishing equipment, cash money and other awards in kind.

• For four days some 900 members of the Semarnat and its decentralized agencies will be competing against each other while they enjoy Mexico’s Pacific Treasure.

The XXI edition of the National Sports and Cultural Games of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat by its acronym in Spanish) will take place from July 5-8, 2016 in the Riviera Nayarit.

Around 900 members of Semarnat’s decentralized agencies will participate, including people from Profepa, Conagua, Conanp, IMTA, Conafor, Conabio, INEC and ASEA. The participating states include Aguascalientes, Colima, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Guanajuato and Nayarit.

The participants will stay at the RIU and Marival Resort hotels, which will also host the cultural activities: chess, singing, theater, folk dancing, public speaking, recitals and comedy presentations. The inauguration will be held at the Paradise Village hotel.

There are several sports activities as well: soccer, soccer 7s, basketball, volleyball, a biathlon, a marathon, softball and baseball. The former will take place at the facilities of the San José Sports Complex, the Bucerías Sports Complex and the El Tigre Clubhouse.

The Groups and Events department of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau will work hard before and during the event to ensure everything is accessible for the organizers.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.- With the “Chase to Copacabana” over, it is now the “fight for finals” for the men’s players on the international Beach Volleyball circuit as the leaderboard is taking shape to determine which teams will qualify for the mid-September SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals.

The SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals, which offers the richest first-place purses in international history with $100,000 awarded to the men’s and women’s winners, will be played September 8-13 at a site to be announced in the coming weeks. The top eight-ranked pairs per gender from the international circuit plus two “wild cards” will advance to the event with a maximum of two teams per country.

With three-plus events left before the September finale, excluding the Rio 2016 Olympic Games where points are not rewarded, the $800,000 Porec Major is the 18th of 21 men’s event on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour schedule with the final three stops featuring “big-point” tournaments in Switzerland (Gstaad, July 5-10), Austria (Klagenfurt, July 26-31) and the United States (Long Beach, August 23-28).

Entering play here Friday at the Porec Major, only one of the 10 teams that participated in the 2015 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals in the United States on Fort Lauderdale beach ln south Florida is ranked among the top eight pairs on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour ranking list. Points to determine the 2016 field began last October with the Puerto Vallarta Open in Mexico where Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena topped the men’s podium.

As a “wild card” entry in Fort Lauderdale, Dalhausser and Lucena are the only team from the 2015 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals men’s field ranked among the top-eight teams on the 2015-2016 international points list with 4,110 points. The Americans trail Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (4,640 points) and Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri of Italy (4,580). All three teams are competing this week in the Porec Major and started pool play Thursday by winning their first two matches each.

Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil, who defeated Dalhausser and Lucena in two sets last October in Fort Lauderdale to win the $100,000 first-place prize, are currently 14th on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour ranking list with 3,140. The Brazilians are within striking distance of moving into the top eight as the No. 7 (Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany, 3,450 points) and No. 8 (Youssef Krou/Edouard Rowlandson, France, 3,290) are not competing this week in the Porec Major.

Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel of Poland (3,280 points), Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera of Spain (3,160), Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands (3,150), Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk of Canada (3,000) and Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg of Brazil (2,850) are also competing in the Porec Major and in position to move into the top eight spots on the 2015-2016 FIVB World Tour ranking list.

All, except for Fijalek and Prudel, competed in the 2015 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals. Evandro and Pedro defeated Brouwer and Meeuwsen for the Fort Lauderdale bronze medal. After Fort Lauderdale last October in Puerto Vallarta, Brouwer and Meeuwsen started their 2015-2016 international campaign by placing second to Dalhausser and Lucena in the Mexican event.

With the men’s Porec Major reaching it half-way point here Friday with the completion of the pool play matches, here is a “real-time” look at the standings for the SWATCH finale that includes points already earned this week at the FIVB World Tour event.

Rank, Team, Country, Points (*2015 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals participant as a team)
1, Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland, 4,640
2, Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Italy, 4,580
3, Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States, 4,110*
4, Tri Bourne/John Hyden, United States, 3,910
5, Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico, 3,870
6, Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 3,510
7, Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany, 3,450
8, Youssef Krou/Edouard Rowlandson, France, 3,290

Rank, Team, Country, Points (*2015 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals participant as a team)
9, Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland, 3,280
10, Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza, Latvia, 3,220
11, Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 3,160*
11, Grant O'Gorman/Sam Pedlow, Canada, 3,160
13, Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands, 3,150*
14, Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 3140*
15, Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada, 3,000*
16, Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg, Brazil, 2,850*
17, Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov, Russia, 2,820
18, Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 2,760*
19, Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, 2,540*
20, Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt, Chile, 2,460
21, Jonathan Erdmann/Kay Matysik, Germany, 2,190
22, Christoph Dressler/Thomas Kunert, Austria, 2,170
23, Murat Giginoglu/Volkan Gogtepe, Turkey, 2,140
24, Dries Koekelkoren/Tom van Walle, Belgium, 2,080
25, Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl, Austria, 2,070
26, Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin, Russia, 1,790
27, Oivind Hordvik/Bjarte Usken, Norway, 1,540
28, Nico Beeler/Alexei Strasser, Switzerland, 1,440
29, Jackson Henriquez/Jesus Villafane, Venezuela, 1,420
30, Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousse, Qatar, 1,380
31, Christian Garcia/Francisco Alfredo Marco, Spain, 1,260
31, Morten Kvamsdal/Christian Sorum, Norway, 1,260
33, Sean Faiga/Ariel Hilman, Israel, 1,210
34, Isaac Kapa/Christopher McHugh, Australia, 1,200
35, Philip Gabathuler/Mirco Gerson, Switzerland, 1,140
36, Georgios Kotsilianos/Nikos Zoupanis, Greece, 1,130

Here are other top-ranked team that are on the “outside looking in” due to the country quota limit.

Rank, Team, Country, Points (*2015 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals participant as a team)
CQ, Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson, United States, 3,580*
CQ, Josh Binstock/Sam Schachter, Canada, 2,850
CQ, Saymon Barbosa/Gustavo Carvalhaes, Brazil, 2,720
CQ, Matteo Ingrosso/Paolo Ingrosso, Italy, 2,540
CQ, Michal Kadziola/Jakub Szalankiewicz, Poland, 2,430
CQ, Vitor Felipe/Alvaro Filho, Brazil, 2,310
CQ, Maciej Kosiak/Maciej Rudol, Poland, 1,880
CQ, Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria, 1,780*
CQ, Michal Bryl/Kacper Kujawiak, Poland, 1,680
CQ, Dmitri Barsouk/Nikita Liamin, Russia, 1,570
CQ, Rihards Finsters/Edgars Tocs, Latvia, 1,530
CQ, Oscar Brandao/Andre Loyola, Brazil, 1,160
CQ, Sebastian Fuchs/Stefan Windscheif, Germany, 1,16

About 50 kids in Sayulita are being trained in SUP and Paddleboard, in fact, they already have an invitation to participate in the 2017 World SUP Junior Championships.

National SUP “pick” Javier “Bicho” Jiménez and professional paddler and surfer Shelby de la Rosa Taylor founded the Sayulita Jr. SUP Team, a program for children and youths in the Riviera Nayarit’s Capital of Surf in order to encourage new champions in Mexico.

“We began this program because we saw a need to help active, healthy, productive youngsters,” said US trainer Shelby del Rosa Taylor. “SUP changed our lives and we decided to teach them everything we learned as professional athletes so they can become champions.”

The program includes physical training in the water and on the beach, plus lessons in technique, yoga, nutrition and everyday values such as respect, dedication, perseverance, fellowship, sacrifice and love, among others. The kids must maintain high academic grades in order to be part of the team.

“We also teach them how to read the ocean, to swim, and surf so they can be smart and sure of themselves, as well as help others when they’re in the water,” said Javier “Bicho” Jiménez, Mexico’s SUP sub-champion of the world, who will be training the kids and youths as he prepares for the 2017 World SUP Championship, where he has already secured his place.

And even though the Sayulita Jr. SUP Team is very new, they have already been invited to participate in the 2017 World Junior SUP Championship.

Click here for the team’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JRstandupmex/?fref=ts.

Shelby and “Bicho” are training around 50 kids between the ages of 6 and 16. The co-pay for each child is one thousand pesos per month and they train three times a week. There’s a sponsorship fund created by local businesses and companies in order to help talented kids with limited resources.

There’s also an Internet fund established to help these promising SUP athletes in Mexico. If you’d like to learn more about this, please visit: Www.gofundme.com/sayulitajrsupteam.

Surfing and Stand Up Paddle are the favored activities on these waters, where thousands of people each year get up on a board to ride a wave for the first time in their lives.

This is the coolest microdestination in the Riviera Nayarit thanks to its colorful, cosmopolitan, hippie chic style, so very inclusive and full of life. It was thanks to these unique qualities that it received the designation of Pueblo Mágico (Magical Village) on behalf of the Federal Government.

If you come to Sayulita you’re going to have to leave your diet behind, because you won’t want to miss out on the local cuisine. The most interesting meal has to be the chocobanas at the Chocobana Breakfast and the frozen fruit treats and tropical fruit drinks at Wakika are refreshing, but if you’re looking for something elegant in the dinner department, head to Don Pedros, right on the beachfront. Paninos is the place to go for the tastiest bread and you can find a great bottle of wine at the Sayulita Wine Shop. Oh, and don’t forget the shrimp tacos!

The good thing is, you can burn off the calories by renting an SUP board at Stand Up Paddle Mexico or a surfboard at Luna Azul Surf and taking a class. By the way, did you know the very best SUP surfers in Mexico are from around here?

And as for accommodations, you’ll find awesome villas and small hotels in the mountains, although camping out for a night (or several) is a total hit.

Here the local artists will surprise you with their unique creations, where they mix the traditional with the contemporary. Musts include shopping at Esto Es México and Revolución del Sueño. Or, if you’re looking for some amazing Huichol traditional art, you’ll find the best at the Galería Tanana.

It’s always a party!

This is the most happening beach village in all of the Riviera Nayarit. The electrocumbia on Fridays at El Camarón is off the hook. And the bar at Don Pato across from the main plaza is tops for live music… And there’s more!

The Vallarta Yacht Club will be conducting three sailing camp sessions this summer beginning July 18, 2016.

Each week will take the sailor to a new level.

The summer camps will run from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm and are open to children and young adults ages 7 – 21.

The dates of the classes are:

July 18-22 - Beginners
August 8-12 - Intermediate
August 15-19 - Advanced

The cost for each week is 2,800 pesos and includes lunch and bottled water as well as all equipment. Your child needs to bring only a life jacket and sunscreen!

These summer camps are a great way to introduce your child to the sport of sailing. The classes are conducted by highly trained, skilled and experienced coaches in a bi-lingual, safe and fun environment. Do not miss out on this great opportunity to expose your child to this amazing sport and the environment of Banderas Bay.

To sign up, or for more information, contact the Vallarta Yacht Club, (322) 297-2222, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit Vallarta Yacht Club on Facebook.

Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico (May 8, 2016) – The Laser Standard Men’s World Championship will take place this week, May 10-18, 2016 in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico, on the waters of Banderas Bay. The bay is open to the west and is approximately 15 miles wide by 30 miles deep, with a mild climate with extremely reliable wind and sea conditions.

Sailing will be less than one kilometer off the beaches and will be based at the Vallarta Yacht Club (VYC); the course is a relatively short 20 minute sail from the club’s launch area.

Registration and measurement activities will be May 10 and 11, with racing starting May 12, concluding on May 18, two races back to back each day. The total number of entries was reduced by amendment to the Notice of Race from 140 to 120.

The entries will be split into fleets and will sail a qualifying series followed by a final series. If four races have not been completed by the end of the fourth scheduled racing day the qualifying series will continue until the end of the racing day in which a fourth qualifying race is completed. A qualifying series race will not count until all qualifying series fleets have completed that race. A trapezoid course will be used with inner and outer loops and an upwind finish. The target time for the first boat in each race will be 60 minutes.

The top 20 competitors from the ISAF World Cup in Hyeres, France will be in Nuevo Vallarta competing against each other for the second time in 2 weeks.

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.- There are over 8 thousand pesos in prizes in kind for the first three places in the tournament’s Freestyle Category; there will also be gifts and plenty of fun for the kids.

Puerto Vallarta.- The surfers and paddlers either from Riviera Nayarit’s microdestinations or living there took nearly all the spots on the national team and will be present at the next world championships to be held in Fiji in 2016.

Registration has reached its 700-athlete limit with participants streaming in from the central and western portions of the country; this year, however, other regions are also being represented, proof of the event’s growth and expansion.

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