Places We’ve Been: La Manzanilla, Jalisco MX

Let’s get this out of the way first:  Use this post for information or entertainment only, please do not use this post for navigation.

Sitting in Tenacatita, we decided to see how the snorkeling was at the famous “Aquarium” near Punta Hermanos in the first bay at Tenacatita.  So Tulum and two of our buddy boats moved around the bay to anchor near the “Pacific Mexico, A Cruisers Guidebook” waypoint JAL 102 in the first bay, between the rocks at the Aquarium and the beach.

Our intent was to snorkel and see the famous Aquarium area near the rocks coming off the bay.  We all anchored over sand off the beach near JAL 102, noting the incoming swell as we prepped to snorkel.  On Tulum, the swell wasn’t that bad, but we already had a clue that perhaps we were there for a day hook.  We had agreed with our buddy boats that if things got too rolly, we’d bail.  The snorkeling was “meh” and visibility wasn’t good.  So we called an audible and instead took the boogie boards to shore for some surf fun, deciding that we were not going to stay.

Out of the water, we dried off and decided that since we had already started to roll, we were going across the bay to La Manzanilla (not to be confused with Manzanillo Bay).  We would head across the bay to spend the night, provision in the morning and then head back to the second bay at Tenacatita.  Here’s where we went:

Finding spots off the beach at La Manzanilla, there was swells and some rolling, but we were taking it all right on the nose, so it really wasn’t that bad.  We deployed our “genuine” FlopStopper off our main boom and settled down for a gorgeous sunset and easy night at anchor.

The next morning dawned bright and early and we headed straight for the beach to provision.  We had also heard that there was a zoo in town, but we were not at all prepared for the full Cocodrilo experience.  La Manzanilla has good provisioning which we took advantage of….getting what we needed and hauling it back to the beached dinghy’s….where we left it waiting on us while we went and checked out the Crocodile Museum and Rescue.  Wow, it’s an experience you should not miss if you have a chance to go here.  

I think my pictures can say more than my words, so check out my pictures and slide show:

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Provisioning and Crocodile Museum/Hatchery complete, we headed back to the dinghy’s…but not without further challenge.  While we were gone visiting the attractions, the surf had picked up and now there was more excitement getting the dinghies back offshore to get back to the big boats.  But, at that point it was our job to entertain the folks watching and cheering from the beach, so through the surfline we went, emerging wet but still upright, getting our food back to the big boats, hauling anchor and heading back to Tenacatita.  

Here’s more info:

Ease of anchoring:  We anchored over a sand in 32 feet of water, with 150 feet of chain out.  While we wanted to be near the town, we were anchored a bit farther out than other boats.   

Noise at anchor:  Not much…some town noise.    

Provisioning:  Yes.  You can take the dinghy in for great provisioning.  

Cellular reception at anchor:  Yes.

Wifi in the anchorage:  None

Water Clarity:  Not much until you are closer to shore. 

Protection:  Protection from the south and east.  I wouldn’t stay here during a blow, I would move to Tenacatita, where you might not know it’s going on. 

Bugs:  Not at anchor, but in the Crocodile Hatchery….yes.  

Beach:  Yes, long white sand beaches.   

Would We Go Back:  Yes.

These weekly posts about places we’ve been are written by me; using Pacific Mexico, A Cruisers Guidebook, Tulum’s Logbooks and my crack memory for details as the references I need to construct accurate writing about some of these out of the way places.  Obviously these writings are not for navigation but if they spark some ember in you to go to far off places, then I’ve succeeded.  

Keep reading, keep following my posts….I’m gonna continue to write and travel. 

Here’s other recent posts about places we’ve been: 

Places We’ve Been: Bahia Tenacatita, Jalisco MX

Places We’ve Been: Bahia Chamela, Jalisco MX

Places We’ve Been: Punta Ipala (Tehuamixtle)

Places We’ve Been: Major Stops Along Mexico’s West Coast