Sunday, November 18, 2007

Chacala and the Sea

Sometimes, with all the monster trucks, and pickup loads of workers driving into Chacala every day, I forget that Chacala is basically a fishing village. With a rapidly growing tourism industry.Most all of the local men work in Chacala's small fishing industry.
And they often start fishing commercially as youngsters.
As fishermen, motor and boat repair, fishing net weavers, fishing wholesalers, fishing retails, and fish cooks. Most of these guys wear more than one hat.Some also use their boats, launches for the tourism trade. Taking sportfisherman out.
And surfer's to La Caleta, and picnickers to Las Cuevas. And to the lovely little Chacalilla beach (above, to the left) which can still be entered legally by boat.Even though the owners of the development bordering this sweet little beach try as hard as they can to exclude people from this public beach.

Tourism and fishing are closely entwined in Chacala. Tourists catch fish themselves, or buy fish from the fresh catch on the muelle, the fishing dock in the morning, or from Lalo's fish market.
And order fish dinner at local restaurants, Don Enrique's open grill, where he smokes and barbecues whole fish.
And, of course, yachts and power boats come into Chacala waters. They are usually self-sufficient though, and don't really add much to the local economy. A few drinks maybe or a dinner at a local restaurant.

There are actually three separate beaches in Chacala: the main beach, where most people swim, and were the restaurants and vendors are located. And the muelle, the little protected cove where the boats tie up or anchors, and where dinghy's can land and boats are launches.
And little kids can swim in the calm quiet waters. And of course, Chacallila, around the corner from the muelle. This guy probably catches more fish than anyone in town.

2 comments:

Islagringo said...

I would love to spend some time on that Chacalilla Beach. It looks so paradise like. I liked the way you ended your post today. Very creative and funny!

CancunCanuck said...

Beautiful pics and post, glad to have found you (through a variety of expat in Mexico blogs).

Thanks!--Kelly, aka CancunCanuck