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Location
Manzanillo is located on the Pacific Ocean, also known as the Mexican Riviera, about 300 miles south of Puerto Vallarta. |
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Beaches
Playa Las Brisas, along the older tourist zone towards downtown Manzanillo. Swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, windsurfing. The name changes fro Playa Las Brisas to Playa Azul to Playa Salagua. In total it's about 4 miles of beach.
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Playa Azul, located in the centre of Bahía de Manzanillo.
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Playa Salagua, is the part of the beach on Bahía de Manzanillo close to Soriana's shopping mall.
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Playa Las Hadas, a small beach located on Santiago Peninsula in front of the famous Las Hadas hotel and Puerto Las Hadas Condominiums. This beach will be your view from condo La Vida Libre's patio.
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Playa La Audiencia, a small beach located on Santiago Peninsula. Swimming, diving, kayaks, windsurfing, water skiing, jet skis, snorkling tours, etc.
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Playa Santiago, a 5-mile long curving beach of Bahía Santiago. At the mouth of the Río Colorado creek it becomes Playa Olas Altas.
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Playa Olas Altas, popular with surfers because of the high waves, located just west of Santiago Peninsula in Bahía de Santiago. At some point the name changes to Playa Miramar. Boogie boarding, surfing, swimming.
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Playa Miramar, in Bahía de Santiago.
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| Playa La Boquita, located at the end of Bahía de Santiago. Seafood restaurant with palapas, fishing boats, snorkeling, scuba diving, (dive to a ship wreck) |
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Shopping
You will find shops located in the little mexican streets as well as in hotels and resorts. From jewelry to art and fashionable clothing. There are market places to look around where you can find woodwork and engravings made by local craftsmen. The Plaza Manzanillo, the new and the largest mall in town, has multiple shops if you're looking for jewelry, clothing, shoes, souvenirs, etc. Bargaining is a part of the shopping experience in Manzanillo, mostly among the vendors who you can find on street corners selling T-shirts, hats and clothing. Recently WalMart has opened a big store close to Plaza Manzanillo and there's a new Cinema Theatre. |
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Waterfun
There are more then enough water activities to keep you busy. For example: Surfing, boogie-boarding, snorkling, scuba diving, boating, canoeing, water biking, etc. You are able to rent the quipment necessary at either Puerto Las Hadas hotel or at one of the rental companies. |
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Fishing
Known as the 'Sailfish Capital of the World', Manzanillo has two sportfishing tournaments each year, a National and a International contest, the first in November and the other in January. It attracts a lot of people and it's an exciting contest. Depending on the season you can expect to catch sailfish, marlin, dorado, dolphin fish, rooster fish, and wahoo. You can book a trip which last about 5 hours at the fisherman’s cooperative or through a travel agency. |
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Day trips
If you're not the person to explore on your own then there are many tours to choose from. Explore Manzanillo itself or take a tour to Colima which is only about 75 minutes away. Explore the lagoons, pay a visit to the vulcano or go bird-watching. One of the available eco-tours can take you to the best spots. Even Guadalajara which is more or less a three hour drive or Puerto Vallarta, about 3.5. away, can be done in a day and are more then worth to pay a visit.
Manzanillo has it's own Museum of Archeology and History. Open since 1996, it has displays of historical spots and it shows contemporary Mexican art. Every Friday evening there are free cultural events staged.
One of the favourites, especially with children is a trip to the Turtle Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is working on fighting the poachers and getting the endangered turtles back into the wild. If you're happen to be there when turtles are being released you might be asked to help our by putting them back into the sea.
Just take a look in La Vida Libre's Information Folder for more Day Trip ideas. |
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Restaurants
There are a lot of restaurants to choose from. Along the Blvd. San Miguel de la Madrid you can find sea food restaurants, typical Mexican restaurants, Italian restaurants and many more. Along the beaches in Bahia Santiago are several nice restaurants to choose from as well as in downtown Santiago. For the junk food lovers among us, they've just opened a Burger King, a Kentucky Fried Chicken and there's a Pizza Hut. |
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Golf
If you you can't do without golf then you won't have any problems finding a course in Manzanillo. Next to Puerto Las Hadas you will find the 18-hole golf course La Mantarraya which was rated by Golf Digest in the world's top 100 best golf courses. Club Santiago, at the north end of Bahia Santiago has a 9-hole course.
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Scuba Diving / Snorkling
Just before the rocky part of the coast on the Juluapan Peninsula (north side of Bahia Santiago) there's a ship wreck which makes a great place for diving. You can book with a professional diving tour or take lessons. Explore the wonderful world below the surface with coral reefs, puffer fish, moray eels, and anything else you will see while diving. The spots along the rocky part of the coast are also great for snorkling. |
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Other Sports and Activities
If you're more the type who likes playing tennis, go hiking, exploring wildlife, whale watching, search for dolphins, eco-tourism, etc. then you won't be dissappointed. There's a lot to keep yourself busy if you prefer. |
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Health and Hospitals
Manzanillo has several health offices and a brand new hospital to go to when needed:
Hospital General B, Hospital Civil, Centro Medico Quirurgico, Clinica del Isste Manzanillo, Sanatorio San Jose Costero. |
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