I don't like rolly anchorages. They make the olive jump out of my lunch.
Great minds think alike – and bad ones seldom differ – so it was no surprise that on the morning of February 15, 2015, all but 3 of the other cruising boats in Santiago Bay raised anchor within minutes of The Fox and one another, seeking calmer anchorages. It was a very short passage to the very popular Barra de Navidad: 25 miles, 5 hours total. Temperatures were in the 70s-80s F with overcast to partly cloudy skies.
This pic up on the left was taken a day or two later, from the marina/resort hotel. 
This view is roughly to the north, and the center-to-left side of the pic looks back out to sea. The jetty marks the entrance from sea into the marina/resort, the shallow-water approach to the town of Barra de Navidad (the cluster of white buildings in the center-right of the pic), and, out of view further to the right, to the Barra Lagoon. The seaside town of Melaque shows in the distance on the shoreline in the upper center left. This photo on the right gives a further view of the town of Barra de Navidad, looking a bit more to the NNE.
We decided to go Full Luxury and tie up in the lush Marina Puerto de la Navidad instead of anchoring in the Barra Lagoon as we had done in years past. (This pic on the left looks roughly eastward, over the marina and toward the Barra Lagoon.The Lagoon has always been a popular destination for cruisers; anchoring is free and there are the fun navigational challenges of maneuvering a keel boat through a narrow occasionally-dredged-but-shifting channel and anchoring in shallow depths in very soft, silty sand. Protip: I have heard but do not know from personal experience that recent hurricanes have filled in parts of the Barra Lagoon so that the anchorage is now smaller than it was back in the day. So, definitely check with the folks who have very recent local knowledge of the Barra Lagoon and its approach BEFORE you commit to going in.)
LOVED the marina. Looking around the docks, we recognized many familiar names from long ago: s/v Quinhagak out of Seattle; s/v Shadowfax; and s/v Destiny whom we hadn't seen in 8 years! We got reacquainted with all these folks and more, and enjoyed the day and evening exploring all the marina resort offered. The gym…The pool…The restaurants…The free WiFi….The non-rolliness….and then, of course, we supported the town's French Baker in all of his French Baked Goodness. The four days we spent in the marina, and provisioning in all the familiar spots in town, were indeed pleasant, nostalgic, and relaxing after moving so far, so quickly.
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