Barra de Navidad is a small town located on the western coastline of the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate en ...

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...

. It belongs to the municipality of Cihuatlán. The town of Barra de Navidad (Christmas Sandbar) with a population of 7000+ is a small farming and fishing community located on the east end of the Bahía de Navidad, 60 km north of Manzanillo. In recent years, the Jalisco state government has promoted Barra as a tourist attraction of the Costalegre. The beachfront fronting the sandbar arks toward San Patricio, Jalisco 4.5 kilometers to the west. The history of "modern" Barra de Navidad dates back to the mid-16th century when the Spanish used it for ship building, repairs and a jumping off point to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. A monument has been erected as a memory to these journeys at the end of the jetty.

Ruy López de Villalobos Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal a ...

(1500–1544) fleet of six galleon ships, the Santiago, Jorge, San Antonio, San Cristobal, San Martin, and San Juan, left Barra de Navidad,

, Mexico with 370 to 400 men on November 1, 1542. On the early morning of November 21, 1564, armed with five ships and 500 soldiers,

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, ...

, Lope Martín and sail-captain

Andrés de Urdaneta Andrés de Urdaneta (1508 – June 3, 1568) was a maritime explorer for the Spanish Empire of Basque heritage, who became an Augustinian friar. At the age of seventeen, he accompanied the Loaísa expedition to the Spice Islands where he sp ...

sailed from the port of Barra de Navidad, New Spain, in what is now

state, Mexico. The large lagoon behind Barra de Navidad is criss-crossed by small fishing boats gathering

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

s and transporting visitors and locals from Barra to Isla Navidad and the Grand Bay Hotel, recently voted the Number One hotel/resort in Mexico by the Travel Channel. These boats (panga taxies) also carry passengers to and from the small Colima community of Colimilla where restaurants line the shore. In 2012 many of Barra de Navidad's seaside businesses were left in ruins after Hurricane Jova. The businesses recovered despite the damage and high tide. However, the number of visiting tourists has decreased substantially ever since.

External links

Barra de Navidad (official site) Cruiser's Guide to Barra de Navidad (for visitors by sailboat)
Populated places in Jalisco {{Jalisco-geo-stub