Experience the best of Manzanillo

Manzanillo lies on the Pacific coast of the small state of Colima, a working port, the busiest container port in Mexico, wrapped around two bays: Manzanillo Bay and Santiago Bay to the north-west, divided by a rocky peninsula. A monumental sailfish statue at the entrance to the city marks its fame for sport fishing.

Playa La Audiencia, a sheltered cove on the Santiago peninsula, is the best known of the swimming beaches. To the south-east, Cuyutlán has a black-sand beach where large waves known as the green wave roll in during spring, and beside it a lagoon with traditional salt pans. The Colima volcano, one of the most active in Mexico, rises inland, and the beach town of Barra de Navidad lies up the coast to the north-west.

Fish ceviche, fish tacos and coconut sweets are everyday food, and street sellers on bicycles carry tuba, a fresh palm drink that Colima is known for. The weather is hot and humid, with the rain and the storm risk concentrated in the early autumn, and the best days on the water fall in the dry months of winter and spring.