Manzanillo
Manzanillo is a city and seat of Manzanillo Municipality, in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port, responsible for handling Pacific cargo for the Mexico City area. It is the largest producing municipality for the business sector and tourism in the small state of Colima. The city has been referred to as the "sailfish capital of the world". Since 1957, it has hosted national and international fishing competitions, such as the Dorsey Tournament. Manzanillo has developed as a destination for international tourism.
History
16th century
In 1522, Gonzalo de Sandoval, under orders from conquistador Hernán Cortés, dropped anchor in the Bay of Salagua (north of Manzanillo Bay), looking for safe harbours and good shipbuilding sites. In the year before he left, Sandoval granted an audience to local Indian chieftains in a small cave, which today carries the name Playa de La Audiencia. A great part of his fleet, which was left to conquer the Philippines, was constructed in Salagua.
Manzanillo Bay was discovered in 1527 by navigator Alvaro de Saavedra, naming it Santiago de la Buena Esperanza, or Santiago's Bay of Good Hope. Manzanillo was the third port created by the Spanish in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It became a departure point for important expeditions. Cortés visited the bay twice to protect his galleons from Portuguese pirates. Over the next 300 years, the Pacific Coast's history is filled with accounts of pirates from Portugal, England, France and even Spain assaulting, looting and burning ships for their rich cargos.
19th century
In 1825 the Port of Manzanillo opened, in recently independent Mexico, and so named because of the abundant groves of native Manzanilla (Hippomane mancinella) trees that were used extensively in the early days of shipbuilding. Manzanillo was raised to the status of a city on 15 June 1873. The railroad to Colima was completed in 1889.
20th century
In 1908, President Porfirio Diaz designated Manzanillo as an official port of entry to Mexico. It was the state capital of Colima from 20 February to 1 March 1915, while Pancho Villa's troops were threatening to capture the city of Colima.
Tourism
The city is well known internationally for deep-sea fishing and the green flash phenomenon during sunsets, as well as the warm waters of the ocean. The city is a destination resort and has many hotels and self-contained resorts, particularly built on the De Santiago peninsula which juts out into the Pacific north of the city centre. Also at the north end of Manzanillo bay is the resort Las Hadas ("the fairies"), which is the most famous of the city's resorts, having been featured in the movie 10 starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore. Beach scenes were filmed on La Audencia Bay, just over the hill from Las Hadas. Manzanillo is a popular cruise ship port of call. Many tourists go from their cruise ships on city tours. Excellent swimming, snorkelling, and scuba diving are found in Santiago Bay, a few miles north of the city where a cargo ship sank in a hurricane in 1959. Other wrecks and reefs plentiful with fish are scattered throughout the bay. Manzanillo is known as the Sailfish Capital of the World. Since 1957, it has hosted important national and international fishing competitions, such as the Dorsey Tournament, making it a very attractive fishing destination.
Manzanillo consists of two bays with crescent-shaped beaches, each about 4 miles in length. Bahía de Manzanillo is closer to downtown and is the older tourist section. Bahía de Santiago, to the west, is the newer and more upscale area. The two are separated by the Santiago Peninsula. Ship channels are located at the southeast end of Bahía de Manzanillo where large cruise ships enter the port area. Manzanillo was once the scene of piracy and adventure. By 2011, its peaceful bays and sophisticated tourist and port infrastructure had made it one of the main tourist resorts and trading centres in the west of Mexico.
On 6 July 2010, the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes) opened a specialized dock for cruise ships at the port, which involved an investment of $100 million pesos (MXN) in the first stage. A second phase foresees the construction of a shopping centre.