Barra de Navidad is a small town located about 50 miles north of the city of Manzanillo. The town itself is built around a large shallow lagoon that forms part of the border between the states of Colima and Jalisco. This lagoon is a rarity on the Mexican coast, and it forms an anchorage that is completely sheltered from the persistent northwest wind waves on the open ocean.
Madrone at anchor in the glassy calm Barra de Navidad Lagoon
The combination of the protected anchorage of the lagoon and the well-maintained marina attached to the Isla Navidad resort makes Barra a popular stop for folks with boats. There’s a fuel dock for convenient access to diesel for the boat and gasoline for the dinghy. The calm waters of the lagoon are a welcome respite from often rolly anchorages elsewhere on the Mexican coast. And many folks prefer to keep their boat in a marina instead of dropping an anchor, so the resort is also a draw.
A view of the surf break off of the jetty at the entrance to Barra
For us, the draw of Barra is amplified by the surf break just off the town front. A small rock reef grooms even a small swell into a soft but rideable right-hand break. We surfed four days in a row, taking the dinghy out of the lagoon and dropping anchor just at the end of the breakwater before paddling over to the surf.
The water taxi arriving at Madrone- we step off onto the panga and are whisked to shore
Since the resort complex is located across the lagoon from the town itself, there’s a popular water taxi service to ferry resort guests back and forth to town. The water taxi will also pick up and drop off right at an anchored boat – a quick VHF radio call results in a panga zipping out to the boat, and 30 pesos ($1.50) per person buys a round trip to town without having to worry about where to tie up the dinghy or how to stow the multiple bags of groceries.
Both Madrone and her crew enjoyed some calm nights anchored in the mirror-smooth waters of Barra’s lagoon.
