10 Apr The truth about Mexico at Easter
My wife informed me that we were going to an idyllic small fishing town called Chacala with the kids over Easter. Chacala’s set in small cove on the Pacific coast of Mexico about 60 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. You can walk one end of the beach to the other in about 10 minutes. There are about 300 full-time residents, a few hotels and vacation homes. Sounds nice!
Sunset at Chacala
She’s has booked us a house that’s the only one right on the beach and in the heart of the main village strip, surrounded by a few palapa roofed restaurants and bars. The house is truly beautiful and the beach is up there as one of the best I have visited in Mexico! The shops in the village sell all the food you’d need to cook for yourself plus the usual tourist souvenirs and everything is very affordable.
Chacala Beach House
In Chacala, there are no brand name high-rise hotels or resorts, no brand name shops or restaurants and no crowds, except at Semana Santa (Easter) and Christmas when Mexican tourists flock to the beach from Guadalajara and Tepic. I have been to Mexico over Easter before, so I’m certain it can’t be that bad!
Quiet morning at Chacala
It’s my first night so I venture out and drink too many beers and tequila at the Chac Mool Café. It’s Saturday night and they have a small band playing on the beach. In true fashion, I forget my wallet and had to return sheepishly the next morning to pay my bill. They don’t seem to care and Chac Mool becomes my favourite haunt, especially for their Ranchero breakfast which is 2 eggs on top of crispy tortillas with red or green sauce & beans. All for MX$75, USD$4!
Ranchero breakfast at Chac Mool
I am surprised to discover that at the start of Easter week, most of the restaurants and shops close shortly after the sun goes down. However, a new food scene starts at the same time – street food, and this is where the locals eat, and it’s cheap and authentic. Take home a taco combo meal! I am told that the early closing is normal except for Semana Santa and Christmas. I start to get a bit concerned about the imminent horde, but I am sure it will be OK.
Street food in Chacala
I am told by a friend to check out Las Brisas, also on the beach, to try their signature grilled lobster. You have to try it for yourself! Served simply with slices of lemon it melts in your mouth. Along the one cobblestone main street, I find Surfers Pizza serving the best (only) pizza in town! The pizzas are huge, the kids love them and congealed cheese leftovers will be eaten for the next day or so – Great hangover food too!
Grilled lobster at Las Brisas
Chacala is known for its physical beauty and unhurried lifestyle. I am told that by the Thursday before Easter it will start to get really busy – That is an understatement! Thousands and thousands of people arrive at this sleepy Mexican village and it transforms into party central! The ocean becomes a sea of people – or as I like to call it, human soup with gallons of pee.
Crowds on the beach
As the throngs grow, so does the noise. Muchas ruido! What are most annoying are the Mexican beach bands that play to drunken tourists and love to compete against each other for attention. Hour after hour I listen to amateur musicians with questionable timing and ability. I am going insane. Stop it! I decide to head to the very south of the beach and discovered some peace at Debi’s Tapas Bar next door to the luxurious Mar de Jade Hotel with beautiful swimming pools – It could be on my wish list for a future visit. Debi’s has an awesome to-die-for shrimp cocktail – It’s a must.
Debi’s Tapas Bar
For the most part the surf is calm and we enjoy regular swims in the clear waters. There are some concerns about baby stingrays, but the only thing we encounter are some small jelly fish – thank goodness for the peeing tourists as I am lead to believe urine is an effective treatment. There are friendly vendors selling fruit and the usual bell ringing carts with delicious Mexican ice cream. I am sure they sell pot but I never venture to ask.
Chacala beach vendors
We have rental car, so I need to use it, and head back towards Puerto Vallarta for a day trip to Sayulita. We’ve been there over a dozen times but, OMG, it was so busy with Mexicans and Westerners (Gringos) who are rare in Chacala! I am drawn to my favourite restaurant, El Costeño for Pescado Frito – Fried Fish, and a margarita as big as your head. I am in heaven – either that, or drunk again.
Sayulita musicians
We fail on our second excursion to the La Peñita de Jaltemba Tianguis Market. After leaving Chacala we manage to get to the Puerto Vallarta/Puerto Vallarta – Tepic/México 200 which is at a standstill which I find out was due to a 3 car wreck. There’s no short cut so any journey along the 200 can be severely impacted by any accidents. Plan accordingly!
Our expensive rental car
Have I mentioned the drums? I am going insane. It’s Thursday and I resort to daytime drinking to be able to suffer the noise. It helps me, but not anyone else, as I take a nap followed by another drink – repeating as necessary. I’ve had enough and take a walk up the hill and stop at the Hotel Paraiso Escondido for a beer – they have a beautiful cold, quiet pool, so I take my beer payment as permission to use it which none of the residents seem to mind. I get back to the din and speak with the cleaner whose husband works at the port cooperative, to arrange a small boat, a lancha, to take us around any headland to escape the masses.
Video: Chacala Drums!
The Friday before Easter I wake up with diarrhoea, not from the street food I ate, but from the previous days’ drinking session. So, armed with a pocket full of toilet paper, ready to shit in the bushes, we walk to the small port, which is really a very small harbor to meet Roberto and his lancha. We head south with 4 adults and 4 kids. The ocean is cobalt blue, the water relative calm and the boat surprising stable. The mob scene on the beach is growing and our escape is uplifting. We pass the rocky point and head into the next bay that’s home to Playa Las Cuevas only to discover a shanty town has been built all the way along the beach including dozens of red and white plastic chairs. The kids are disappointed with my promise of a deserted secret beach so we check out the seas caves and head north instead to Chacalilla.
Lancha to Chacalilla
The look on my 11 years old daughter’s face as we turn the corner into Chacalilla Bay is priceless. A pristine deserted palm tree-lined beach greets us. The sand and clear blue water is a dream. The bay is home to Marina Chacala, a complex of luxury private condominiums and homes attached to Chacala – however, the beach is public, if you arrive by boat, but there’s no bar, restaurant or restrooms for us to use. I kick myself, wishing I had discovered Chacalilla earlier to avoid my drink fueled drum hatred, but am grateful for my emergency toilet paper.
Beautiful and quite Chacalilla
You’ve heard the expression, “If you can’t beat them, join them?” Well, the impromptu Semana Santa nightclub above the Restaurante Acela is a fine example. After keeping us up until 2:00am the last few nights I decide to go and check it out. For a nominal fee, 50 pesos I think, I got entry and a free drink to dance with the locals amongst laser lit smoke machine fog. As the only westerners there I entertained whilst being the entertainment! Bring on another hangover!
Nightclub in Restaurante Acela
I leave Chacala in our underused expensive rental car with mixed feelings. We will miss the Chacala we experience when we arrived – the quiet, clean, friendly, quaint little Mexican fishing village and beach. But now, we can’t wait to get out of here to escape the hordes and racket. I sound pretty negative about this place. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful, and I will probably visit again. But, if I want to keep my sanity I will never visit again at Easter! Never! Ever! I would rather eat broken glass.