She's starting the new year as a single woman following the end of her 11-year relationship with Liev Schreiber.

And while 2016 has changed her life in ways she might never have predicted, it's clear that Naomi Watts is excited to start afresh.

Posting pictures from a bikini break in Mexico, where is is holidaying with friends, the British-Australian actress looked happy and care free.

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'Girl power!' Naomi Watts rings in the new year as a single woman... with a bikini trip to Mexico

'Ring in 2017!!' she wrote. 'Happy New Year from Mexico have fun everyone!!'

Tagging a couple of her female friends, she wrote: 'dorks, girl power, over excited.'

The images showed blonde Naomi wearing a black bikini and smiling widely on the sand in Mexico.

Couldn't be happier: The images showed blonde Naomi wearing a black bikini and smiling widely on the sand in Mexico

The girls trip comes after reports that the star is 'in a good place' after her split from Liev.

The pair ended their 11-year relationship in September and Naomi, 48, says the most important thing now is ensuring that their sons, Samuel, seven and nine-year-old Alexander, are happy.

She told Australia's Daily Telegraph earlier this year: 'I feel I'm in a good place in my life and I want to make sure my kids are healthy; my kids are happy and things are going to go well. Those are my hopes for me and for all of us.

'I feel like change is always scary, but that's only because transition for anyone is new and you wonder how things are going to go.'

Following their split, Naomi was spotted in the audience at the 49-year-old actor's new Broadway play, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and she believes it is vital for their children that things stay cordial between them.

Still close: Naomi spent Christmas with her ex Liev Schreiber and their two sons

She previously said: 'He's the father of my kids. So it was important to support him.

'I was very curious to see this and all of his work.

'The play is fantastic and really I hope everyone gets to see it because he does some extraordinary work up there.'

The couple announced their split in a joint statement, where they said they felt the 'best way forward' for the two of them - and for their family - was to 'separate as a couple'.

They explained: 'Over the past few months we've come to the conclusion that the best way forward for us as a family is to separate as a couple.