Chacala
Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico
Chacala sits in a small cove on Mexico's Riviera Nayarit, about 90 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, a nearly mile long beach of soft, pale sand lined with palm trees and palapa restaurants. The town holds around 300 full time residents, though visitor numbers climb sharply during Semana Santa and Christmas, and jungle covered hills rise up on either side of the bay.
A genuinely unhurried beach town that's stayed small on purpose, though the crowds during Mexican holiday weeks are a real shift from its normal quiet pace.
Visit outside Semana Santa and the Christmas holidays if a quiet version of Chacala is the goal, since the town's population can more than triple during those weeks.
Chacala is about 90 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta International Airport by car, near the village of Las Varas, with informal parking around the town.
The beach is wide and flat with easy access from the palapa restaurants lining the shore, suitable for most visitors and families.
The dry season from November through April brings the most reliable sunny weather, while the wet season from June through October carries the Pacific hurricane season risk for this stretch of Mexican coast.
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