Casa Chips: a small affordable hotel in Barra de Navidad, Mexico

Casa Chips is a small beachfront inn located in the Mexican coastal town of Barra de Navidad. This charming place offers the traveler the pleasures of the warm Pacific waters and the allure of small fishing village. The inn has been in operation for ten years and has hosted many who enjoy the scale and pace of a small, rustic Mexican beach town.

Barra de Navidad is in the state of Jalisco, Mexico and is approximately 236 kilometers (141 miles) south of Puerta Vallarta and 297 km (178 miles) from Guadalajara. The largest city near Barra is Manzanillo, a busy commercial port town that handles large cargo ships and has a sizeable commercial fishing fleet. Barra de Navidad in Spanish is translated as "Bar of Christmas." Evidently this name was given the day it was founded on the high sandbar that separates the ocean from the lagoon. This narrow sandbar that was once a haven for nesting sea turtles today is a network of narrow streets and shops. As development moves slowly ahead, it is comforting to know that Barra continues to retain an intimate feeling. The downtown area keeps the pace slow, since the area is reserved for pedestrians and bicyclists enjoying the many stores and family restaurants. Many of the buildings retain the tropical Mexican character of white stucco walls with sweeping palm roofing.

Another feature that makes Barra distinct is the feeling that you are surrounded by nature. Barra borders the ocean on one side and a large lagoon extending eastward toward the Sierra Madre on the other. The crescent-shaped coastline is dotted with mangrove trees and palms that host small marsh areas and is home to a wide assortment of birds and reptiles. On any given day you can sight of a flock of pelicans, egrets, and frigates flying in and out of these waters. Around all this there are the incredible panoramas silhouetted as the sun runs its arc from sunrise to sunset ....