Barra de Navidad

Barra de Navidad is a fishing and beach town in the municipality of Cihuatlán, at the eastern end of Navidad Bay, right on the Colima border and about 60 km north of Manzanillo. It faces the sea with a large lagoon behind it, and the beach runs west for about 4.5 km to San Patricio Melaque. It had 4,266 people at the 2020 census, who live mainly from tourism and fishing: squid, clams, octopus, lobster, shrimp, dorado and sailfish are landed here, and scallops are gathered from small boats in the lagoon.

The name comes from 25 December 1540, when Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza landed at this port on his way to put down a rebellion in Nueva Galicia. In the 16th and 17th centuries a shipyard stood near the mouth of the Cihuatlán or Marabasco River, building ships from coastal timber to explore Baja California and cross the Pacific. Ruy López de Villalobos's fleet left Barra on 1 November 1542, and on 21 November 1564 Miguel López de Legazpi and Andrés de Urdaneta sailed with five ships and some 500 soldiers for the Philippines, and the Manila Galleon also sailed from the port. The main street is named after Legazpi, and a monument at the end of the jetty recalls those voyages. Once Acapulco became the key Pacific port, Barra faded in importance.

Today the town can be walked end to end in a few minutes. The malecón, renovated by the government, looks out over the bay and the lagoon and has the statue of Triton and Nereid and the monument to the fourth centenary of the Philippines expedition. The church of the Cristo del Ciclón holds a relic of the Santa Cruz del Astillero; local tradition says its image of Christ stopped the storm of Hurricane Lily in 1971, and some residents still pray to it when a hurricane approaches. The Barra de Navidad lagoon is a Ramsar site and a refuge for waterbirds and migrants. Facing it are the Isla Navidad resort and, over the line in Colima, the village of Colimilla, with restaurants along the lagoon shore. The beach has small, easy waves for learning to surf, and the town hosts marlin and sailfish tournaments.