Chacala, Nayarit
“Place of Shrimps”
Chacala
Fast Facts
Location –
Chacala is located on the Pacific Ocean coastal plain, ten miles
west of Las Varas.
Weather –
Tropics. Beautiful warm winters and hot and humid from July to
October – the rainy season.
Population –
300
Elevation – 1
meter
Founded – 1524
by Spaniard Francisco Cortés
Industry -
Fishing and Tourism
Medical – Doctor.
Hospital in la Varas
Money – Nearby
town of Las Varas for Banks and ATM
Airport –
Puerto Vallarta
History:
South coast of
Nayarit and highlands of Jalisco were inhabited by the
Tecoxquin (sometimes referred to as the Throat cutters) from
approximately 2000 to 2300 BC. They left petroglyphs in Alta
Vista and other nearby places.
Mainly fishermen and
farmers they also traded salt and cotton and coaco reaching
Sinaloa to the north, Colima to the south and Michoacán to the
east. The small villages were under control of Teuzacualpan
Chila Valley – now known as Zacualpan.
They practiced
Shamanism and used psychotropic plants to communicate with their
Gods during altered states. The Tecoxquin’s were wiped out
through disease and epidemics once the Spanish arrived.
In 1524
Hernán Cortés' nephew Spaniard
Francisco Cortés de Buena Ventura arrived in the bay and later
Portuguese explorer Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño stopped in
Chacala on January 7, 1596 from Manila. Father Kino departed
from Chacala in 1683 on his way north.
Chacala was a small
commercial port in the 1800 (coffee) and did not reach the
import of commercial volume that San Blas or Puerto Vallarta
did.
Festivals
Things to See and
Do
Alta Vista
Beach comb, relax,
water sports, fish
Accommodation:
Hotels
RV Parks
Directions:
Drive Highway 200 South of Las Varas Nayarit and turn West at
the intersection marked Chacala. Turn and drive 11kms to the
beach and town.
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