Barra de Navidad is a small port located on the so-called happy coast of Jalisco. The perfect destination for you!
Historical background of Barra de Navidad
On December 25, 1540, Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza disembarked in this port, accompanied by a group of soldiers with whom he tried to quell a rebellion in the old kingdom of Nueva Galicia, in what is currently part of the state of Jalisco. It was due to the date of this landing that the town took the name of Puerto de Navidad, its formal founder being Captain Francisco de Híjar. On the other hand, there is also data that confirms that some of the boats used during the explorations of the Baja California Peninsula during the Spanish colony, when this port functioned as a starting point for the Philippine Islands, were manufactured at this site. . Being for that same reason, as happened to other ports of the time, that Barra de Navidad also became the target of constant attacks by pirates. Later and over the years, the importance of Barra de Navidad was displaced when Acapulco became more important as a strategic port, due to the greater proximity that this port had with the capital of New Spain.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the mouth of the Cihuatlán-Marabasco River was one of the few coastal settlements founded by the colonizers. Its main point, a shipyard where boats were built with precious woods, which are still produced in the mountains of Jalisco and Colima. From there sailors would set sail on expeditions to the Philippines such as those of Legazpi and Urdaneta, who managed to make the turn by opening the route for the famous Manila Galleon (Nao de China).
How far those first visitors from the western coast were to imagine that a couple of centuries later that same region would be a great promise for tourism.
Barra de Navidad, the tourist destination
The weather in Barra de Navidad is one of its best gifts. In addition to its quiet and rarely visited beaches, it offers the lagoon of the same name where you can dive and fish. It is fair to say that the Spanish shipyard was where the town of San Patricio Melaque now sits. This site, whose beach is open to recreation, has good services. According to the locals, it is so named because during the Porfiriato there was a sawmill run by an Irishman devoted to Saint Patrick and whose company was called Melaque.
Barra de Navidad welcomes tourists to its coast characterized by a succession of bays where mountains and plains merge with geographical features of great beauty, showing us a unique landscape of great admiration, where we can find countless small rivers and streams, which Born in the mountains, they feed on the abundant rains and then flow into the estuaries of the Pacific Sea. The palms, mangroves, jacarandas, ceibas, capomos and tamarinds of the place, have become the habitat of curlews, nightingales, blackbirds, toucans, primroses and guacos, among other birds of the region, also generating sufficient conditions for the life of animals like the crocodile, leopard, snow leopard and wolves.
On the other hand, the towns near Barra de Navidad have a very peculiar architecture where red tile houses predominate, always accompanied by fruit trees or colorful ones, such as jacarandas, mango, and soursop to name a few. All this natural and cultural context, together with local traditions and customs, generate a unique experience for the visitor. Thus, diving, walking, biking, interacting with the community, or riding a horse and contemplating nature, make Barra de Navidad, the best place for rest and recreation that you can imagine.
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