Just north of Bucerías, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, better known as simply "La Cruz," has a fishing fleet but not much of a beach. A marina is being developed as part of the Escalera Nautica program: a "ladder" of marinas meant to encourage sailing and boating on the Sea of Cortez and the coast of northern-to-central Pacific Mexico. Like other Vallarta-Nayarit beaches, homey La Cruz is growing and becoming somewhat more sophisticated. On the north side of La Cruz, Playa la Manzanilla is a crescent of soft, gold sand where kids play in the shallow water while their parents sip cold drinks at one of several seafood shacks. It's somewhat protected by the Piedra Blanca headland to the north.
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