Where locals go

Where locals actually go

The tourist version of Barra is the malecón seafood restaurants. The local version is quieter and cheaper, and mostly about the same thing: fish, eaten without fuss.

• The morning fish and shrimp. Residents buy straight off the boats and from small stands rather than sitting down at the waterfront tables. Watch where the pangas land and follow the crowd.
• Melaque’s plaza and market. For everyday shopping, cheaper meals and the weekly rhythm of the area, people cross over to Melaque. The plaza, the taco stands around it and the market are where locals spend an ordinary evening.
• Colimilla on a day off. The lagoon palapas are not only for tourists; local families take the boat over on weekends to eat and swim in the calm water. Go with them rather than treating it as a one-time attraction.
• Panadería runs and lagoon-side benches. A bag of pan dulce and a bench facing the water is the genuine slow-day move here.

What a friend who lives here would tell you: skip the fanciest-looking place on the strip and eat where the plastic chairs are full of Mexican families. The food is better and half the price, and nobody is performing for the tourists.