6 days · Colima Detour

6 daysBalanced pacedistance-checked ✓ · updated Jul 3, 2026

1
Guadalajara
1 night · Overnight before heading south.
Day 1
🚗 3h — Toll road south to Colima, then up to Comala.
2
Comala
2 nights · Plaza afternoons, botanas and volcano views.
Days 2–3
🚗 1.5h — Down from the highlands to the coast.
3
Manzanillo
3 nights · Base for beaches and sailfishing, not the port itself.
Days 4–6
Reality check: Colima's security stats are among Mexico's worst; keep to Comala's plaza and Manzanillo's resort zone, travel by day, and check current advisories first.
By Renata SolísBased in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco · updated Jul 3, 2026

Let’s deal with the elephant first: Colima state posts some of the highest homicide numbers in Mexico, and that’s real, not a scare stat. But those numbers concentrate in specific areas and rivalries that have nothing to do with a visitor sitting in Comala’s plaza. The tourist parts of this route are calm. The move is discipline: stay in the places below, travel between them by daylight on the toll roads, skip the back roads, and read a current advisory before you commit. Do that and this is a mellow six days.

Day 1: Guadalajara

One night, on purpose. Guadalajara is worth much more, but here it’s a launch pad. Land, eat well in the centro or Chapultepec area, sleep, and get on the road early. The toll highway south is good and the drive is straightforward.

Days 2–3: Comala

The reason to come. Comala is a small white-walled town where the ritual is slow: you sit in the plaza in the afternoon, order a drink, and the botanas keep arriving free with each round until you wave them off. Behind the town rises the Volcán de Colima, active and often smoking, best seen in the clear morning light. Two nights lets you do one plaza afternoon, one morning drive up toward the volcano viewpoints, and nothing else. That’s the correct amount of nothing.

Days 4–6: Manzanillo

Here’s what a friend who lives here would tell you: base yourself in the resort and beach zones like Santiago or Las Hadas, not down by the working port, which is industrial and not where you want to be after dark. Manzanillo calls itself the sailfish capital, and a half-day fishing charter is the local thing to do. Otherwise it’s beaches, seafood, and a slower coastal wind-down. Three nights, no rush, then drive back to Guadalajara or fly out from Manzanillo’s own small airport.