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.

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

Unreal sunsets every night

Settling into our villa

Starting things off right with tequila, duh

Walk into town

Estrellas at 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.

To the beach!

first margarita

sandcastles

boys being boys

beach dance class

Heather killing it on the SUP

Beach Walks

My beach bae

Catching waves
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!

Pedro’s Fish Tacos

Delicious margs all day long

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

Street Tacos

Street Enchiladas hitting it out of the park

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.

Our crew at brunch

The hotel

Gimme all the chilaquiles

Beach Walk

Love Birds

Therapy Hotel
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.

I love this street on the way to the cocodrilos

WE ARE NOT SCARED

tiny guy

one of many sketchy suspension bridges

baby croc

so many babies!
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!

Really tough to grab a drink here

My fav Mexico drink. Also the most dangerous.

Birthday Dinner

Sunset bar delivers an amazing sunset

sew kewt

The two lovebird & their wives

Yum!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!

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.

Pups on a roof

main street

great breakfast spot

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
Thanks for the best winter getaway a girl could ask for friends! (& if you made it to the end of this post, congrats! 😉 )
Heather
Ahh the best. So many beautiful photos! I ? that little town.
whoalansi
Me too! It’s so gorgeous there. I want to go back every year!!