Chachalacas

Chachalacas is the beach of the municipality of Úrsulo Galván, on the Gulf coast about 45 km north of the port of Veracruz and about 10 km from José Cardel. Two small localities share the name: Barra de Chachalacas, at the bar where the río Actopan meets the sea, with 1,379 people at the 2020 census, and Playa de Chachalacas, just to the north-east along the shore, with 1,268. Playa de Chachalacas lies about 10 m above sea level, and the municipal seat, the town of Úrsulo Galván, is about 5 km inland.

The area has long been tied to the name. The town of Úrsulo Galván was founded in 1765 as San Carlos Chachalacas and only took its present name, after the Veracruz agrarian leader Úrsulo Galván, by a decree of 13 November 1930. The municipality lives mostly from sugar cane, with two mills nearby, and from cattle, fishing and tourism. Its long beach, about 10 km in all, is popular with families; during Easter week Chachalacas receives about 20,000 visitors. The ruins of the Totonac capital Cempoala are about 10 km inland.

What sets Chachalacas apart is its dunes. North of the village, in front of Playa de Chachalacas, mounds of dark sand known locally as El Sabanal cover about 550 hectares and run for around 4 km along the coast, so that from the top it looks like a desert by the sea. Local operators rent ATVs and boards for sandboarding down the steeper slopes, and people also walk and camp on the dunes. Behind them there is a small freshwater lagoon with birdlife and a strip of casuarina woods. The beach itself has dark sand and open surf, and the river mouth at the Barra has hotels of one to four stars and restaurants serving fish and seafood.