Holidays on the Costalegre

We have been spending the Christmas and New Year holiday stretch on Mexico's "Costalegre". That's the tourism description for the stretch of sunny beaches that begins about a hundred miles south of Puerta Vallarta, and ends at Barra Navidad and the boarder between the states of Jalisco and Colima. We have split our time between a protected anchorage at Tenacatita Bay, and a posh marina at Barra Navidad, with just a three or four hour sail from one to the other.

We had a great trip south from Mazatlan with our old friend and crew member Doug Bayley, about eight days of traveling, much of it under sail. Just before Christmas, Doug's family flew down to join him, and they all stayed in a rented house in the wonderful small town of La Manzanilla. The photo above was taken from the house, and looks out over rooftops to the anchorage at Tenacatita, about five miles across the bay.

All of these locations got incredibly crowded the day after Christmas. It seems as if almost all of the 4.4 million people who live in and around Guadalajara come to the coast for a holiday break. Suddenly every inch of beach and every beach palapa was occupied. It was festive and made for great people watching. But it was also consistently very hot and muggy, so we were glad to be tied up in a marina that is attached to the Grand Bay Hotel, where we could retreat to swimming pools and palm shaded groves. Now we are temporarily cooled off after two days of gray skies and rain. The lethargy is lifting, and we are eager for new adventures in 2013. Happy New Year to all!