Barra de Navidad

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Barra de Navidad beach from Jetty

Barra de Navidad is a small town located on the western coast-line of the Mexican state of Jalisco.

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-1500's when the Spanish used it for ship building, repairs and a jumping off point to the Philippines.

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.