La Boquita

La Boquita is the beach at the far western end of Santiago Bay in Manzanillo, about 2 km beyond the main stretch of Playa Miramar, where the long sweep of sand ends below the green hill of Xoloapan. Its name means the little mouth, and it sits beside the channel that links the bay with the Laguna de Juluapan behind it; the lagoon reaches the sea through an artificial cut, and its shallow, sheltered water is popular with families with small children. The bay itself is calm here, with golden sand and a moderate slope, and by day fishermen lay out their nets to dry on the beach before heading out at night.

The beach is best known for the wreck of a cargo ship that lies just offshore in about 9 m of water, so close to the surface that it can be seen from above. Accounts disagree on its history: it is commonly identified as the San Luciano, a 1950s freighter, and is said either to have been lost in the hurricane of 27 October 1959, which came ashore just northwest of Manzanillo and killed about 1,800 people, or to have run aground on the rocks in 1965. Coral and algae now cover the hull, which shelters reef fish, turtles, octopuses and seahorses.

The Laguna de Juluapan is a mangrove wetland important for water birds: a year of monthly counts from June 2017 to May 2018 recorded 53 species and more than 5,700 individuals, mostly shorebirds and waders. Profepa, the federal environmental agency, has stepped in to halt the clearing of mangrove at La Boquita that was meant to make room for a car park. On the beach, enramadas such as La Eureka, Tanilos and Silvestre rent shade, tables and chairs and serve pescado zarandeado, seafood cocktails and Colima-style ceviche, while vendors sell mango with chile, ice cream and, in the evening, sweet bread.