Places We’ve Been: Barra De Navidad Lagoon, Jalisco MX by

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.

We anchored here for one night.  The Barra De Navidad Lagoon….a shallow, slightly buggy anchorage area with a few derelict boats and surprisingly good holding.  Before we could get a slip in the gucci Barra De Navidad Marina….we anchored out in the lagoon to catch our breath.

Tulum-5 had been at anchor or on the move for the last 26 days straight, so the crew could taste (and smell) the delicate French pastries served to cruisers by the French Baker inside the Barra De Navidad Marina several mornings per week….from his panga directly to you on your own boat.  But first, we needed to thread the needle to get through the entrance channel into the lagoon, get a good hook in the anchorage area and then get into the marina by dinghy to get a slip….we had not preplanned as well as our buddy boats to get a reserved slip- woops.  Getting through the channel wasn’t difficult as we did it in the morning and no other boats were coming in or out.  There is little swell or fetch in the channel and the entrance is fairly straightforward, visible and well marked.   I think if we had tried in the afternoon with winds coming through it might have been more difficult, I recommend doing this channel in the morning and going into the Barra Marina in the mornings too.

After anchoring in that (11) feet of water and getting what we thought was a good hook in deep mud, we cleaned up the boat, knowing we wanted to get into a slip the next day.  That same morning, we got into the marina by dinghy and walked around the marina and hotel; making our reservation to get into the slip the next day.  When we returned to the boat by dinghy in the afternoon, the wind was blowing a stiff 20+ knots, the lagoon was full of wind waves and boats were hard on their anchors.  Thank goodness we had gotten a good set, put out our usual scope and had a monster anchor out.

Here’s more info:

Ease of anchoring:  We anchored over mud with great holding.    

Noise at anchor:  No, not much.   

Provisioning:  Yes, but we didn’t provision here.  We waited until we were in the marina then rented a car between three boats and drove into Barra to provision.  

Cellular reception at anchor:  Yes.

Wifi in the anchorage:  Not in the anchorage, but in the marina for sure. 

Water Clarity:  None. 

Protection:  Not much protection from wind while at anchor but with no fetch and good holding, I would stay in a blow.   

Bugs:  When the winds calmed down at sunset, there were some bugs.  

Beach:  Yes, at the hotel.  None along the lagoon shorelines.   

Would We Go Back:  Yes.

This is the last anchorage and marina in Jalisco State in Mexico, still on the Gold Coast of Mexico.  We loved our time here and would definitely come back here.  

Here’s other recent posts I’ve written about anchorages along the Gold Coast of Mexico and a post about our time in Barra De Navidad Marina:

Time to leave Disneyland: Barra de Navidad and Ensenada Carrizal

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

Places We’ve Been: Cuastecomate & Melaque, Jalisco MX

Places We’ve Been: La Manzanilla, Jalisco MX

Places We’ve Been: Bahia Tenacatita, Jalisco MX