Smaller Beaches of the Costa Alegre

Cuastecomate

Cuastecomate beach is accessible from Barra de Navidad or Melaque by leaving Highway 200 at Melaque's last exit to the north before reaching the Autlan/Puerto Vallarta junction.

A secondary road winds over the hillside and delivers you on the beach of Cuastecomate Bay, where the small village lies, and palapa-roofed seafood restaurants are seeded along the beach.

The waters in this area of the bay are generally calm, making for good, safe swimming even for children, and a good snorkeling spot.

El Tamarindo Golf Resort, KM 7.5 Carretera Melaque y Puerto Vallarta

La Manzanilla

La Manzanilla is a small village just off Highway 200 on Tenacatita Bay to the north of Barra de Navidad and Melaque. The beach is lined with palm thatched restaurants serving up a variety of fresh seafood. The waves are generally calm and make for good swimming.

Fishing here in La Manzanilla is excellent. Several small fishing boats are usually pulled up onto the shore and fishermen can be seen mending their nets, which they string out in the bay, pulling them in with their catch in the mornings and evenings. Fresh fish can often be bought straight off these small fishing boats.

La Manzanilla, with a population of only a couple of thousand residents, has several hotels. Amongst them are:

• Posada Tonalá - Maria Asuncion 75. Tel. (315) 351-5474.
• Villa Montaña - On hillside overlooking town.
• Posada del Cazador - Maria Asuncion 183. Tel. (315) 351-5000
• Hotel Puesta del Sol - Calle Playa Blanca 94. Tel. (315) 351-5033

Boca de Iguanas

Boca de Iguanas is on the same beach as La Manzanilla, at the opposite end. The long stretch of beach beckons to those looking for a long, deserted stretch of sand to beachcomb.

Camping is available here and the waves are generally a little rougher than at La Manzanilla.

Tenacatita

The small village of Tenacatita is accessible from Highway 200, north of the entrance to the Blue Bay (Los Angeles Locos) Resort.

The gentle curve of the town beach is strewn with a number of rustic seafood restaurants and on weekends visitors and the local residents from nearby towns come out to splash in the waves. Necklace and beach clothing vendors ply their wares along the strand. The rocky coves between the Blue Bay and Tenacatita, and on both sides of Tenacatita itself, provide excellent snorkeling.

• Los Angeles Locos Blue Bay Club Manzanillo,, KM 20 Carretera Federal 20,  Tenacatita, MX

Tenacatita Beach and town is also reachable via a fabulous boat ride from a campgrounds near the Blue Bay Hotel whence from small panga boats leave to tour a long channel that winds sinuously through the mangrove swamps. Here you can see crabs, egrets, herons, turtles and other water creatures between the dense tangle of vines and roots.

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El Tecuan

The turnoff to El Tecuan is several miles north of the Tenacatita turnoff from Highway 200. The road takes you through the hills toward the coast, passing through mango orchards over cattle guards and often through herds of cows.

There is a resort perched on a hilltop overlooking the flats and the open-ocean beach at El Tecuan. The strand is solitary and surfing can sometimes be good here. There are no restaurant or other facilities along this stretch of sand.