La Manzanilla

A couple years ago, a big group of us headed down to a small town in Mexico for one of the best week-long beach vacations I’ve ever had. We came home vowing it wouldn’t be the last time we spent time in La Manzanilla. & this winter, we made good on that promise.

Despite being hit by Hurricane Patricia in the fall, the town was almost exactly how I remembered it – that is to say, perfect. I didn’t think we would ever top our 2014 trip, but an extra couple days in paradise certainly didn’t hurt. This time, we stayed for 9 days instead of 7 & the extra couple of days were really lovely.

La Manzanilla

First photo always has to be of the view. I mean, can you blame me?

La Manzanilla

Unreal sunsets every night

Unreal sunsets every night

Settling into our villa

Settling into our villa

Starting things off right with tequila, duh

Starting things off right with tequila, duh

Walk into town

Walk into town

Estrella

Estrellas at Palapa Joe’s

Palapa Joe's

We had a slightly different group this time, but the key players were the same. We had a full house, but everyone got along really well again. Most of us are pretty low key & everyone felt comfortable either joining the majority or opting out to do their own thing. It worked out really well, & we usually met up at one of the palapas on the beach at some point in the day.

mexico

To the beach!

margarita

first margarita

sandcastles

sandcastles

mexico chill

dutch boy in mexico

boys being boys

beach

beach

beach dance class

mexican town

beach days

SUP

Heather killing it on the SUP

mexico

Beach Walks

beach

beach

beach

My beach bae

 

beach

beach

Catching waves

beach

beach

Most of our days consisted of sitting on the beach, eating, drinking, reading, & catching some sun. I rarely go more than five minutes without thinking about food, & La Manzanilla certainly doesn’t disappoint here. From the spicy garlic pulpo (octopus) to the incredibly addictive Breakfast BLTs to the street-side tacos, everything we ate was incredible. Most of it wasn’t fancy, but the fresh components of every dish really made our meals shine. My favourite meal was probably the pulpo at Azul – it was the most tender octopus I’ve ever eaten. I loved it so much, I ate it twice & am now wishing I’d had it a couple more times. There was just so much great food to try!

Tacos

Pedro’s Fish Tacos

margaritas

Delicious margs all day long

Pulpo

Azul’s pulpo is the stuff dreams are made of. Serioiusly.

Street Tacos

Street Tacos

Street Tacos

Enchiladas

Street Enchiladas hitting it out of the park

Street Meat

N waiting on his street meat

While most of our days were spent relaxing, we did have a couple different activities planned during our stay. The first was brunch with D’s family at the cutest spot down the beach. We did the same a couple years ago. Once again, the food was fantastic & the atmosphere was amazing. I mean, does it get any better than brunch with an ocean view? Afterwards, we opted to walk back to town along the beach, the same as last year. It’s a trek, but we enjoyed it once again.

brunch crew

Our crew at brunch

boutique hotel

The hotel

chilequiles

Gimme all the chilaquiles

beach walk

Beach Walk

beach walk

beach walk

Love Birds

beach walk

Therapy Hotel

beach walk

The town also has a crocodile sanctuary, so this year we decided to brave the walk through it. For a few dollars, we got to walk along a boardwalk for some  jawdropping  croc sightings. Most of these guys were HUGE. I have to admit, it felt a little sketchy. At the end of our little walk, we were treated to an opportunity to hold a baby croc. It was totally unexpected in a few ways, but namely that he was SO soft.

mexican streets

I love this street on the way to the cocodrilos

cocodrillos

cocodrillos

cocodrillos

WE ARE NOT SCARED

cocodrillos

cocodrillos

tiny guy

cocodrillos

one of many sketchy suspension bridges

cocodrillos

baby croc

cocodrillos

cocodrillos

so many babies!

cocodrillos

One of our friends also celebrated his thirtieth birthday. We rang in his birthday with a lovely sunset bar dinner followed by drinks & games (& way too many tequila shots). Not a bad way to spend your birthday, if you ask me!

sunset bar

Really tough to grab a drink here

margarita

My fav Mexico drink. Also the most dangerous.

sunset bar

Birthday Dinner

sunset bar

sunset bar

Sunset bar delivers an amazing sunset

sunset bar

sew kewt

sunset bar

sunset bar

The two lovebird & their wives

sunset bar

Yum!

sunset bar

sunset bar

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!

beer fridge

How we roll on vacation.

Overall, it was an incredible vacation with great company. This little town is the perfect beach vacation! The incredible food & beautiful accommodations keep me daydreaming about our next trip down even months later. I can’t imagine going to an all inclusive again now after the two incredible experiences we’ve had in La Manzanilla.

mexico dogs

Pups on a roof

mexico streets

main street

la manzanilla

la manzanilla

great breakfast spot

old truck

la manzanilla

end tan

final tans

It was pretty hard to limit this post in terms of photos – this place is so photogenic, & we had a fantastic time. It would’t have been the same without this crew though. #squadgoals

squad goals

squad goals

squad goals

Thanks for the best winter getaway a girl could ask for friends! (& if you made it to the end of this post, congrats! 😉 )