Blue Bay and La Vena Beach

I'd heard of this beach before and pictured it as being much more difficult to access and more primitive than it is. You turn into the Blue Bay road and the first guard is right there near the highway. He only wants to see the drivers ID so he can take your name and know that you are going to La Vena restaurant. A second guard is near the hotel and you tell him you are going to La Vena. Drive past the hotel and along the beach, around the hill and you'll come out at the river mouth. Park anywhere from there to the restaurant.

About 20 of us went last Sunday in 4 cars. Brought our own food, drinks, a tent and tarps for shade and beach toys for us and the kids. Not only is this a beach much like Tenacatita but it's also a river mouth. The river is cross-able near the ocean and swimmable upstream. Someone said snorkeling was pretty good but there were a bunch of 'rays' in one area. One woman walked around the point and came back with a good sized bag of oysters. A really great day with lots of fun.   Nice restaurant for beer and food, 2 public bathrooms with showers and places for your garbage.  Great place to spend a day.

After we got back I wondered what the source of that river was because it is no small stream, at least at this time of year. There are no rivers that cross the highway anywhere near this area. To the south is Boca de Iguanas and to the north is Tenacatita. I asked on a few message boards but nobody knew. I eventually found on a Tomatlan site a reference to "La Vena" being an arm of Rio Purificacion but how did it get so far south. Then I found a .PDF file on a study of the area from the University of Colima and embedded in the study was the map below. It turns out that Rio Purificacion turns south just south of Tecuan and north of Tenacatita, forms the Tenacatita lagoons, and then continues south to come out at the north end of the beach by Blue Bay. That was my detective work for the week.

Blue Bay Hotel

Blue Bay beach

La Vena - Rio Purificacion

Setting up camp

The map showing the river course

Privatization of Jalisco beaches

Despite federal regulations against privatization of beaches in Mexico more and more are being closed for private resort developments. This is not only happening in Jalisco but all up and down the west coast.

Here is one persons response to a private property sign posted in El Tecuan

The old Hotel Tecuan

Another Mexican dream resort that never made it. It lasted about 10 years and when the owner died (General Garcia Barragan), his family lost interest until it was finally abandoned in the late 1990's. The Costalegre is lined with dream projects, some of which are very large scale. Some damaged by earthquakes, some ran out of money and many no one remembers. You wonder where all that throw away money comes from but I assume it's part of the imbalance between rich and poor in Mexico.

Anyway ... interesting to visit although it looks nothing like the fotos. The beach is beautiful and very isolated. Good for fishing and beach combing

I always watch movies made in Mexico just to get glimpses of what was there years ago, but the other night I watched this god-awful 1997 horror flick “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” that was filmed at Tecuan. My advise is don't bother

Ariel view

On the main patio

Ariel view of hotel, lagoon, landing strip and future housing development

The pool area

Fishing El Tecuan

My friend Ron from Seattle was down for a few weeks and we took Armando (a local carpenter) with us up to Tecuan for some rock fishing. It's a bit of a drive and probably better to do in the morning than late afternoon. The road in from the highway is not that good and driving it in the dark is a challenge. There is also less traffic on the highway headed north in the morning than in the evening going south.

If you catch any fish at this beach or not it's just a beautiful place to visit. There is nothing there but beach, the rocks and an abandoned hotel back from the beach. There is a river mouth on each end that only fill with water in the rainiy season (summer). The rest of the time they are small lagoons like much of the coast.

Yes we did catch nothing ....

Ron on the rocks with a line in



At the end of the rocks



Rocks awash



A tide pool looking south



Last minute try before dark

Majahuas, Perula, Chamela, Tecuan

Majahuas - Full of natural beauty, this collection of beaches and lagoons is located 15 kilometers from Tomatlan. One of the most important tortuguero fields of the state of Jalisco operated by the Center of Coastal Ecology of the University of Guadalajara for the protection and conservation of the marine turtle.

Bahia de Chamela - Located 157 kilometers south of Puerto Vallarta, this bay boasts the greatest number of islets in Mexico. Here you can rent boats for either fishing or touring around one of the 11 nearby islands inhabited by hundreds of bird species. On the south end of the bay is the small community of Chamela. On the north end of the bay is Playa Perula which is a good sized town with many motels, RV parks and restaurants lining the long beach.

Chamela-Cuixmala Protected Area
Also in this region is one of the most important protected areas in Mexico. With its many distinct climate zones, it is home to a high concentration of animal, reptile and bird species found only in Mexico. A biological station there includes a museum at km 59 on the highway from Barra de Navidad; and with luck you may see armadillos, crocodiles, iguanas, deer, foxes and raccoons.

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 deserted resort (Hotel El Tecuan) 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 so bring what you need.

The skeletal remains of a hotel developed by General Garcia Barragan, Mexico's Secretary of Defense in the 50's, sit on a parcel of land overlooking the ocean. The property was given to him by Mexican ex-President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz for his service to the country. The general built the hotel, swimming pool, tennis court and even a private landing strip but died before he could complete the plans. The hotel was leased out by family for several years but fell into disrepair and has since been looted, raided and stripped of anything of value.