Casa Blanca Manzanillo

I LOVE exploring new places. But the past couple of years I've really enjoyed returning to a previously visited spot. For new places I'm so excited because of the anticipation - you don't know what all adventures you'll get into. But I've found when I'm returning to a place, I'm just as excited - because I do know all the adventures I'll get into. Which is exactly how I felt returning to Manzanillo. When we went there in 2021 we stayed at Villa Blanca. Since then, the people who owned that home bought another one - Casa Blanca - and that is where we stayed this year. Last year was all about relaxing. Aside from going to the beach, we left the house twice. This year we took advantage of some of the fun things that are available to do as well as some special requests.

The front of Casa Blanca

Casa Blanca is run by the same staff that takes care of Villa Blanca so we knew we'd be getting first class service. Casa Blanca is in the same gated neighborhood, La Punta, an approximately 30 minute drive from the airport. Noe picked us up and, of course, had cervezas waiting for us.

Casa Blanca is in a different part of La Punta so we didn't have the top-of-La-Punta views of both Manzanillo Bay and Santiago Bay but they were equally stunning. You had views of the Pacific from the common area and if you went to the left side of the patio you could see the mountains behind us and, from the pool, you could see the beach around Santiago Bay. There are 5 bedrooms, all inside the house on the 2 floors below the main level. Villa Blanca also had 5 bedrooms but you had to go outside of the main part of the house to get to three of them.

The view from the main common area of the house

The staff plans the menu for the first couple of days and then you get to pick what you want the rest of the week. While you could eat in every night, we chose to go out to dinner one evening which gives the staff the night off. They work hard and they deserve a break! If you want something particular, just ask. We requested some different fruit and they were able to find some for us. Below is Pacific Lobster, chicken mole and shrimp kebabs with mahi ceviche (mahi that we caught!)

Something else we requested was a trip to a store to get some specific wine for the week as well as some for me to bring back to the states. I was going to have the staff just grab a couple extra bottles but Noe let me know there were plenty of other options. So one morning he took a few of us to a grocery store in Manzanillo, something that's not normally on the 'To Do' list on a vacation but I love going to grocery stores in other countries. It's obviously filled with locals and I enjoy seeing what different things they have. And Noe was right about the wine. There was an ENTIRE row of Mexican wine. Below on the right is what came home with me. And on the left is a Mexican craft beer I happened upon in the store.

On our second full day, we had our first big adventure - deep sea fishing. We went out with Double Trouble Charters - on the same boat on which we did our sunset cruise the year before. I'd never been before despite growing up fishing and it ended up being an absolute epic experience on a beautiful morning. I had prepared myself that we may be out for 4 hours and return with nothing so I was armed with my camera in hopes of whale sightings. However, we did not return empty handed as we caught TWO fish. A ginormous 140 pound beautiful blue marlin and an equally beautiful mahi mahi. While I knew the fish couldn't stay alive on the boat I was HIGHLY unprepared for how that had to happen. So, TBH, I closed my eyes and plugged my ears. The fish were so yummy (our chef was delighted to cook things for us the rest of the week from our catch) but it had pained me to see such beautiful animals die. So each time we ate some of it, I thanked them for their sacrifice. 🙇‍♀️

Quite the successful fishing trip!

While the boat was full of fish, my camera was getting full of photos. And not of whales but of dolphins! We caught the mahi around some bait fish that the dolphins were enjoying too. We could see over a dozen in the distance feasting on their prey. Some of them took breaks to swim alongside the boat and it was such a cool sight to see. So all at once, we were reeling in the mahi, watching dolphins all around us and spotted a sailfish jumping out of the water. See? EPIC. We came back into the marina all giddy and excited with the appropriately timed Big Pimpin blasting through our speakers.

One of the dolphins that swam alongside the boat

The next day we were back with Double Trouble Charters, this time for a sunset cruise. We were on a bigger boat and had plenty of cervezas for what turned out to be another epic outing. Since the afternoon we arrived, we'd been watching the whales from our house be super active so we were all desperately hoping to see one up close. As we passed the spot where we'd been seeing them the most, I got a bit bummed when we saw nothing and prepared myself to not see any like the year before. But, as we neared the opposite side of Santiago Bay, there they were! And not just swimming around. We could see what we believed to be a baby and a mom - with the baby jumping and playing in the water. Seeing the unbelievably large humpbacks launch themselves out of the water is truly a sight to witness. At the same time, we started spotting dolphins in the area around the whales with one jumping totally out of the water. The whales stopped playing but stayed near the surface and we were close enough to hear them breathing through their blowholes! They poked their heads above the surface and just before they descended, one rolled onto its side showing us its side flipper as a dolphin jumped out of the water behind it. See? EPIC. The sunset became totally secondary on this experience and, TBH, wasn't that great. The dolphins continued to follow us for a bit and we saw more whales breaching and jumping on our way back to the marina to enjoy dinner by the water.

The epicness didn't end there although I could have seen nothing else the rest of the week and been content. The day after the sunset cruise, a few of us went on a hike up one of the mountains to Casa Abandanado. Aka the abandoned house formerly owned by a drug lord. How appropriately Mexico is that? Noe went on the hike with us to make sure we went the right way but it always makes me feel safer when he's with us. Not that I've EVER felt unsafe while in Manzanillo but when he's with us, I know we are fine to do whatever we want. The hike was no joke in the heat and humidity but, as most hikes are, the view from the top was so worth it. You had a panoramic view of not just the Pacific but also of Santiago Bay and the 2 mile beach that surrounds it and the freshwater lagoon of Juluapan. All set in front of the backdrop of the mountains. So much different topography in one view from so high up was what made this experience epic. It is up there in my top 5 scenic hiking views for sure. The only thing they were missing was a bar at the top like in Switzerland. 😂

Epic views from Casa Abandanado

While our last two days were spent around the house, pool and beach we still managed to squeeze in some activities. We rented kayaks to paddle around Manzanillo Bay and snorkeled multiple times off both sides of the beach. Aside from the rainbow array of tropical fish I saw barracuda and a couple different eels. I also saw several fish that I'd never seen before and had to look up on Google. The snorkeling was even good at the floating dock off the beach as, all week, a school of sergeant majors had taken up residence there. Most were small and cute juveniles and a spiky pufferfish hung out with them there most of the week. Some people in our group also spotted stingrays while snorkeling and we also saw whales one afternoon from the beach - which hadn't happened at all last year!

Kayaking in Manzanillo Bay

The sunsets, while still beautiful, were actually subpar compared to last year’s (yes we were #spoiled😳) but it didn't matter since the animal activity was off-the-charts awesome. Last year Shane and I were the new couple coming to Manzanillo for the first time. It was love at first sight for us and we couldn't wait to return. It was fun watching the new travelers this year experience the same exact thing. Everyone loved it, talking about returning before the week was over and were sad to leave such an amazing place. Manzanillo is an extremely under the radar destination in Mexico. Most people have never heard of it and all of those people are 1,000% missing out. Don't go to Cancun or Cozumel or Cabo. Manzanillo is easy to get to from the states (see last year's blog post) and you'll have such a richer experience of actually seeing Mexico and getting to know some of the locals. And don't believe what the government website says about traveling to Colmia (the state Manzanillo is in) versus what it says about Cancun. You can read another blog post from last year on my thoughts about that. It's also EXTREMELY affordable once you're there. Flights can vary and are limited in options so you sadly don't have much of a choice with them. However, if you fill up the house, splitting the cost between 5 couples is not bad at all. Especially as the homes are pretty much your personal 5 star resort. At the end of the week you'll pay for your food, drinks and transportation. For us it also included our kayak rentals since we rented them at La Punta and, at least for now, Covid tests - which a nurse came to the house to do them. The excursions with Double Trouble were paid for separately. Both last year and this year, those end of the week costs totaled $500.00 per person. $500 for a week's worth of unlimited fantastic food, unlimited drinks and transportation whenever we needed it to wherever we wanted. That is $70 a day. It really sunk in how inexpensive it is there when, at the airport hotel while coming home, Shane and I’s dinner with a couple drinks was $100. 🤦‍♀️ Shane and I had debated about not going again after this year because of my lack of vacation time (and we have a lot more in Europe we want to see) but, after going a second time, we both know we want to keep returning again and again. I don't know how we can't because Manzanillo is a special place with good food, gorgeous scenery, tons of adventure and wonderful people. Any week that goes by that either Casa Blanca or Villa Blanca isn't full of a group having fun is truly a tragedy.

The sunset on our last evening at Casa Blanca