Our "Kayak La Costa Alegre" trip combines outdoor adventure, natural history and cultural interaction along one of Mexico’s finest coastlines. If your tastes run to kayak surfing, birding, snorkeling, and fresh seafood, the "Happy Coast" will keep you smiling.
La Costa Alegre (costa=coast & alegre=happy) is located along the Central Pacific Coast of Mexico between Barra de Navidad and Playa Quémaro. Dense rolling hills of tropical dry forest are home to thousands of species of plants, animals, and birds. This diverse landscape joins the sea in natural perfection. White-sand beaches, volcanic pillars, and mangrove lagoons surround a succession of aquamarine bays. Traditional fishing villages dot the coastline, like La Manzanilla, our starting point.
You’ll get acquainted with the area, your kayak and equipment in the protected waters of Tenacatita Bay where we will spend the first two days paddling. The first two nights we will spend in a townhouse overlooking the bay in the village of La Manzanilla. While paddling in the bay, you’ll see many magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, brown pelicans and, if you’re lucky, maybe a blue-footed booby. Dolphins, sea turtles, and the endangered humpback whales may be sighted as well. You will have plenty of time for snorkeling in several different coral reefs, home to numerous tropical fish such as parrotfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, groupers, and damsels.
	On the third day we begin our trip north. At mid-day we will reach a friendly point-break where you can try kayak surfing in the one to three foot waves. The point is at the entrance to La Vena, a mangrove lagoon. Watch out for cormorants, ibises, great and snowy egrets, great blue, little blue, green, and yellow-crowned night herons as they stalk the estuary for fish & mates. At the far end of the lagoon we’ll reach the village of Tenacatita and the first of several stops that offer some of the best seafood in Mexico.
The second part of the trip takes us into open-ocean where the waves get big and the protected beach landings less frequent. There, we’ll camp on private beaches that are inaccessible to the public by land. This is the most adventurous and secluded section of the journey as we won’t pass any villages for about 20 miles. The body surfing can be incredible, but the waves are generally too big for surfing sea kayaks. Our night-four camp is located in the 32,461-acre Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve, which protects the largest area of tropical dry forest (the most endangered tropical ecosystem in the world) in Mexico. It is also one of the most species-rich areas in Mexico, and home to several endemic species like the Mexican bearded lizard and the Boat-billed Heron.
The final part of the trip takes us into Carreyes and Chamela bays, where we’ll once again paddle in protected waters. There we will do more snorkeling and camp in the quiet fishing village of Chamela. In the morning we’re off to the island of Isla Cocinas where we’ll land on a white-sand beach and snorkel in a coral reef. Then, we’ll head to the fishing village of Punta Perula where our journey ends. We will spend our final night at a bed and breakfast located on the grounds a former hacienda estate which borders the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve. The hacienda has been transformed into a large-scale organic farm which produces a variety of fruits and vegetables. Here we will sample the fresh, organic produce of the farm.

KAYAK LA COSTA ALEGRE – Trip Itinerary

Days 1 & 2 La Manzanilla & Cuastecomate

Arrive at Playa De Oro International Airport, Manzanillo, and travel the coast road through the towns of Barra De Navidad & Melaque. Check out the beach, swim in the warm water and relax in the village of La Manzanilla. Day two is a warm-up paddle day in Tenacatita Bay. We’ll start in the village of Cuastecomate and paddle to La Manzanilla, snorkeling along the way (8 miles.) Both nights are spent in a townhouse in La Manzanilla overlooking Tenacatita Bay.

Day 3 Tenacatita
The trip north begins. Paddle to Tenacatita by Tenacatita Bay and through a mangrove lagoon (5.5 Miles.) Enjoy bird watching, snorkeling and fresh seafood in the village of Tenacatita. Stay in a hotel in Tenacatita.

Day 4 & 5 Cuixmala & Lobos Beach

Open ocean paddling – first from Tenacatita to Cuixmala (10 miles) and the following day on to Lobos Beach (12 miles) through Carreyes Bay. Beach Camping.

Day 6 Chamela Bay
Paddle from Lobos Beach camp to Chamela (5 miles), a traditional fishing village in Chamela Bay. Beach camping.

Day 7 Punta Perula & Cuixmala