Barra de Navidad is a small town located on the western coastline of the
Mexican state of
Jalisco
Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
. It belongs to the municipality of
Cihuatlán. The town population was 4,266 according to the 2020 census.
Barra de Navidad ("Christmas Sandbar") is a small farming and fishing community located on the east end of the Bahía de Navidad, 60 km north of
Manzanillo, Colima. 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, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. A monument has been erected as a memory to these journeys at the end of the jetty.
Ruy López de Villalobos (1500–1544) fleet of six galleon ships, the ''Santiago'', ''Jorge'', ''San Antonio'', ''San Cristóbal'', ''San Martín'', and ''San Juan'', left Barra de Navidad 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 ''Adelantado, El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spanish conquistador who financed and led an expedition to conquer the Philippines, Philippine islan ...
,
Lope Martín and sail-captain
Andrés de Urdaneta
Andres or Andrés may refer to:
* Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US
* Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France
*Andres (name)
Andres or Andrés is a male given name. It can also be a ...
also sailed from the port of Barra de Navidad.
The large lagoon behind Barra de Navidad is criss-crossed by small fishing boats gathering
scallops 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.
References
External links Cruiser's Guide to Barra de Navidad (for visitors by sailboat)
Populated places in Jalisco
{{Jalisco-geo-stub