City Manzanillo, Colima Municipality of Manzanillo Colima coast
Mexico's busiest container port and Colima's beach resort, spread around the Manzanillo and Santiago bays, with a giant blue sailfish in its old centre.
From Tecomán: 45 min by car (58 km by road) How to get there ↓
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Plan your visit to Manzanillo
Where to stay near Manzanillo
Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Manzanillo.
Tours to Manzanillo
Day trips and guided outings from Comala often include Manzanillo; with a local guide you can get there without a car.
Manzanillo Tour with Transportation and Face-to-face Guide
★ 4.6 (29) · From US$49
How to get to Manzanillo
- From Tecomán: about 45 min by road (~58 km)
- Nearest airport: Colima (CLQ), 32 min by car to Comala
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Popular tours to Manzanillo
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About Manzanillo
Manzanillo is the port city on Colima's Pacific coast and, with 159,853 people at the 2020 census (191,031 in the municipality), the largest city in the state. It wraps around two crescent bays, each roughly 6 km long, separated by the Santiago Peninsula: the Bahía de Manzanillo, with the old centre and the docks at its southeastern end, and the Bahía de Santiago to the west, the newer resort side. It is also Mexico's busiest port: in 2025 it handled 3,893,357 containers (TEUs), just below its record of 3,924,501 in 2024, and it is home to the Mexican Navy's Pacific force.
In 1522 Gonzalo de Sandoval, sent by Hernán Cortés, anchored in the bay of Salagua in search of a harbour and shipyards; the cove where he is said to have received local chiefs is still called Playa La Audiencia, and ships for Pacific expeditions were built at Salagua. The port was opened in 1825, in newly independent Mexico, and took its name from the manzanillo (manchineel) trees that grew here and were used in early shipbuilding. Manzanillo became a city on 15 June 1873, the railway to Colima was completed in 1889, and in 1915 the town briefly served as the state capital while Pancho Villa's troops threatened Colima. In October 2015 Hurricane Patricia, the strongest ever measured in the Western Hemisphere, made landfall just north of the city.
Manzanillo calls itself the sailfish capital of the world and has held national and international fishing tournaments since 1957. The symbol of that claim is the Monumento al Pez Vela, a blue metal sculpture of a leaping sailfish about 25 m tall by the Chihuahua sculptor Sebastián, on the main square of the historic centre near the port and the seafront. Along the bays are beaches for every taste: the small palm-ringed cove of La Audiencia, busy La Boquita at the end of Santiago Bay, Playa Miramar, and the open-sea surf of Olas Altas. The Las Hadas resort on the peninsula appeared in the 1979 film 10, the bay is known for diving over a cargo ship that sank in 1959, and the mangroves of the Laguna de las Garzas, north of the bay, shelter pelicans, ibises and herons.
How to get to Manzanillo
Drive from Tecomán: 45 min, 58 km
Manzanillo is about 104 km from the city of Colima by highway (around 1 hour 20 minutes by car) and about 280 km from Guadalajara. Long-distance buses (ETN, Primera Plus, Estrella Blanca and others) arrive at the Terminal de Autobuses de Manzanillo, from where city buses on routes 7 and 7-A run to the centre. Playa de Oro International Airport (ZLO) is off Highway 200 about 32 km west of town, with flights from Mexico City and seasonal and year-round flights from the United States and Canada; there is no public transport from the airport, only taxis, shuttles and rental cars.
Directions to Manzanillo on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
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From the nearest cities to Manzanillo
- Tecomán · 58 km by road, 45 min
- Colima · 96 km by road, 1 h 20 min
- Ciudad Guzmán · 168 km by road, 2 h 10 min
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
What to see in Manzanillo 4
Sights with their own page, closest to the centre first.
Beaches
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Playa La Audiencia · Beach · 7 km from the centre
Small, sheltered cove on the Santiago peninsula in Manzanillo, with calm water for swimming and snorkelling and boats for hire. -
La Boquita · Beach · 10 km from the centre
Calm beach at the far end of Santiago Bay where the Juluapan lagoon meets the sea, known for snorkelling over a sunken cargo ship. -
Playa Miramar · Beach · 10 km from the centre
The long golden-sand beach of Santiago Bay, about 16 km from central Manzanillo, with beginner surf, board rentals, a malecón and beach restaurants.
Lagoons
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Laguna de Cuyutlán · Lagoon · 5 km from the centre
Colima's largest lagoon, 35 km long between Manzanillo and Cuyutlán: salt flats worked since before the conquest, mangroves, birds and a contested port plan.
Map of Manzanillo
Day trips and tours from Manzanillo
The closest Pueblos Mágicos and places to visit, with the drive from Manzanillo and tours that leave from it.
All 7 Pueblos Mágicos within a weekend of Manzanillo →
Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance. Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Before you go: getting to and around Manzanillo
- The nearest airport is Colima (CLQ).
- The best months to go are January, February, November, and December.
- 4 of the places on this page are more than 3 km from the centre: take a taxi, a ride-hailing app or a local bus.
- For day trips a rental car gives the most freedom; the tours above leave from Manzanillo.
Before you go to Manzanillo: hours, prices and tips
- Best season
- International sport-fishing tournament in late November (the 72nd edition ran 27–29 November 2025); Fiestas de Mayo on 1 and 8 May mark the port's and city's anniversaries; dry season November to May. Milenio · checked Oct 2026
Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.
Visiting Manzanillo: what to see and do
See the blue Monumento al Pez Vela by Sebastián on the main square of the historic centre.
Watch container ships and cranes from the waterfront of the old centre.
Swim at La Audiencia cove on the Santiago Peninsula or at La Boquita at the end of Santiago Bay.
Snorkel or dive in Santiago Bay over the cargo ship wreck sunk in 1959.
Look for herons, ibises and pelicans in the mangroves of the Laguna de las Garzas.
Come for the international sport-fishing tournament in late November.
Plan your trip
Places to stay in Manzanillo
Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Manzanillo.
Tours & activities
Day trips and guided outings from Comala often include Manzanillo; with a local guide you can get there without a car.
Rental cars
Pick up a car at CLQ (Colima): about 32 min by road to Comala, then 66 km more to Manzanillo, on your own schedule.
Flights
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Colima (CLQ), about 32 min by road from Comala, the base for Manzanillo.
Mobile data
Signal can drop away from Comala: download a map of the way to Manzanillo before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.
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When to go to Manzanillo warm
Manzanillo shares the climate of Comala, 66 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, November, and December.
See the month-by-month climate of Comala
Weather in Manzanillo now and the next 7 days
Live forecast from Open-Meteo. Chance of rain is the day's highest.
The closest Pueblo Mágico: Comala
Comala is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Manzanillo, with places to stay, food, and more to see.
Near Manzanillo
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.