Beach Town in Jalisco Levels Playing Field for Disabled Visitors John Pint - MexicoNewsDaily.com
go to original April 18, 2022

While browsing the net for a nice beach we hadn’t been to before, we came upon a picture of Gran Bahía de Cuastecomates, located six kilometers northwest of Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, on the Pacific Coast.

True to its name, this is a “big bay,” but sheltered and with calm waters, a perfect place for old-timers and toddlers to enjoy the sea without fear of being smacked by a wave and turned upside down — in other words, a place where no surfer would ever choose to go.

So, not being surfers, my wife and I booked a room at the grandiose-sounding Hotel Quinta Gran Bahía de Cuastecomates, which turned out to be grandiose-looking as well, with some 75 rooms, each featuring a balcony facing the ocean and the beautiful bay.

It seemed that we had stumbled into Mexico’s first town and beach for the handicapped and aged on the Pacific Coast, the pet project of Lorena Jassibe, wife of former Jalisco governor Aristóteles Sandoval, who inaugurated the place in May 2016. The town has two hotels, each of which has a percentage of rooms adapted for clients with disabilities.

“They located the project here because our bay is so well-protected,” the shopkeeper told us, suggesting that we go see the amphibious wheelchairs there that allow the disadvantaged to roll along wooden walkways right into the warm seawater, where they can have fun along with everyone else.

We did just that and found that these specialized, cleverly designed vehicles can be rented for a token fee of 25 pesos per day.

As to our hotel, I should remark that it has four stars probably due to the great view guests get from their rooms. We found the place clean, the staff very friendly and helpful but the food remarkably bland and uninspiring.

Nine kilometers northwest of this beach — a 23-minute drive away — you’ll find one of the best places in Mexico for seeing crocodiles in an estuary.

Cocodrilario Ejido la Manzanilla is the biggest croc sanctuary in the country and features a 650-meter-long boardwalk that allows you to experience the flora and fauna of a mangrove forest without having to get into a boat.

To reach the crocodile sanctuary, ask Google Maps to take you to Cocodrilario La Manzanilla.

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. Follow John Pint on Facebook.

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Related: This Beach in Mexico Is an L.G.B.T.Q. Haven. But Can It Last? (NYTimes)

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