Swimming and enjoying the attractive beach and views of the bay take up most tourists' time. You can hire a small boat for a coastal ride or fishing in two ways. Go toward the malecón on Calle Veracruz until you reach the tiny boatmen's cooperative, with fixed prices posted on the wall, or walk two buildings farther to the water taxi ramp. The water taxi is the best option for going to Colimilla (5 min.; $2.50/£1.25) or across the inlet (3 min.; $1/50p) to the Grand Bay Hotel. Water taxis make the rounds regularly, so if you're at Colimilla, wait, and one will be along shortly. At the cooperative, a 30-minute lagoon tour costs $20 (£10), and a sea tour costs $25 (£13). Sportfishing is $80 (£40) for up to four people for a half-day in a small panga (open fiberglass boat, like the ones used for water taxis).
Surfing along Costa Alegre is gaining ground, thanks in large part to Germaine Badke and his South Swell Mex Surf Shop (tel. 315/100-4332; www.southswellmex.com). The shop offers boogie board and surfboard rentals, surfboard and surf supply sales, and will also create a custom-designed board. Surf lessons are also available. They're in Suite 17 of the Hotel Alondra.
Isla Navidad Country Club (tel. 314/337-9024; www.islanavidad.com) has a beautiful and challenging 27-hole, 7,053-yard, par-72 golf course that is open to the public. Grand Bay Hotel guests pay greens fees of $175 (£88) for 18 holes, $192 (£96) for 27 holes; nonguests pay $207 and $230 (£104 and £115), respectively. Prices include a motorized cart. Caddies are available, as are rental clubs.
Beer Bob's Books, Avenida Tampico #8, between Sinaloa and Guanajuato, is a book-lover's institution in Barra and a sort of community service that the rather grouchy Bob does for fun. His policy of "leave a book if you take one" allows vacationers to select from hundreds of neatly shelved paperbacks, as long as they leave a book in exchange. It's open Monday through Friday from noon to 3pm and occasionally in the evenings. "Beer Bob" got his name because in earlier days, when beer was cheap, he kept a cooler stocked, and book browsers could sip and read. (When beer prices went up, Bob put the cooler away.)
