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DON'T visit the Las Tuxtlas coast. Seriously. I mean, you're several hours from the nearest mall. There's not a hotel room worthy of more than maybe one star. Shopping? Just what you'll find in the weekly mercado tanguis or the local grocery. Not a single fancy restaurant. During my stay, I didn't see a single gringo outside of my shaving mirror!

On the other hand, if you're tired of hearing the old Mexico hands brag about being in Puerto Excondido in 1969 or Zipolite in 1973, this is your chance to be on the cutting edge of visitors to a locale which may be even more beautiful.

The Las Tuxtlas is an area of low extinct volcanos. They were the home of the Olmecs, thought by many to be the earliest major Pre-Colombian Mexico. Nestled among these low peaks is the northernmost tropical rainforest in North America. A large portion is protected in the Biósfora Nacional, a biosphere protected as a national park and part of the people's patrimony. And the green clad mountains extend all the way to the blue waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Transportation • Transportación

The adventure starts just trying to get here. About the only easy way is to rent a car in Veracruz or hire a taxi. Actually, it can be done as a day trip from either Veracruz or Catemaco. But to do it the way the locals do, you've gotta do public transportation. If you're starting from Veracruz, you would take the second class bus to Catemaco, telling the conductor that you need to get off at El Tropico.

 
 


and the pictures above are about all there is of El Tropico


From El Tropico, there are three ways to go on. If your timing is good, there are periodic second class busses. Or if you don't mind dropping ten or twenty bucks, you can grab a cab.


But the most frequent and least expensive conveyence is by camioneta.
 
Travel by camioneta gets you close to the people and to the countryside. To get just a tiny glimpse of Las Tuxtlas by camioneta, click here for a collection of pictures snapped from the back of the trucks.


Once you've chosen your method of transportation from El Tropico to the Costa Tuxtlas, you'll find yourself twisting through some beautiful, verdant green contryside and several tiny hamlets with names like El Panatlan and La Nueva Victoria - with a lovely little crater lake off to the starboard. Side roads take off to places with such charming names that they invite future exploration, like La Perla Michapan and Punta Puntillas. The road approaches the coast at Punta Roca Partida, dominated by its mountaintop lighthouse.
 
 
Roca Partida is at the center of an area of intense recreational oportunities. Beyond the lighthouse is a trail leading down to a deserted beach, one of two in the area known as Playa Escondido, or hidden beach. On the Gulf side of the lighthouse is a sheer drop of 225 feet, down which you can do a free rappel with equipment available on the beach.


During the rappel, you pass the entrance to the cave of the pirate Lorrencillo. But you don't have to dangle off a cliff to get into the cave. Kayaks are available on the beach or your party can hire a fisherman and his boat to ride into the mouth of the old pirate's hideaway.
Just off the rock is a marvelously verdant coral reef, teeming with life. The top of the reef is in just inder fifty feet of water. dropping to 150 feet. The water is somewhat clearer here than in the reefs immediately surrounding Veracruz are even those off Anton Lizardo.
A short distance up the river separating Punta Roca Partida from Playa del Oro is a river with rideable rapids. One of the palapas on the beach rents kayaks and infltables for riding the whitewater.
 


From Punta Roca Partida, the highway continues on to Playa Hermosa. Your scribe just may one day become a resident of this slice of paradise; I don't know of many prettier spots in this world.
 
 
I'm really looking forward to spending some time down there with a bottom finder, a GPS, some dive gear, and a local fisherman!
Next stop: Montepio. This is not an unknown town. There's even a real hotel, as well as a beautiful little church that would be perfect for that unique wedding you might be planning. A gorgeous seafront village!
 
 
After leaving Montepio, my conveyence made a side trip to another tiny seafront village named Balzapote. I must appologize to you, my readers, for my inability to unlimber my camera in time to take advantage of what may have been the two best photo oportunities of the entire trip. First was a submerged caldera, just off-shore. It looked eerily like a stonhenge-like apparition rising out of the sea. The second was a young father on horseback with his toddler aboard, delivering milk door to door in a stainless-steel dairy canister. Sigh.
Once back on the road, you'll pass throgh the UNAM Biological Station on the fringe of the National Biosphere Preserve, experiencing true tropical rainforest, before passing through Sontcomopan and on to Catemaco.
 
The Catemaco Cathedral and Palacio Municipal from the Zocalo
Want to see some more pictures from this trip? Click here.
MapaTuxtlasí   art submitted by Alejandro Negrete

Hotels • Hoteles

Punta Roca Partida

• Las Playas del Muñeco 01-200-125-54-10. 5 rooms. Arroyo de Lisa

   

• Cabañas Playa del Oro

  
  

  Playa Hermosa

  
  There are two sets of cabañas in Playa Hermosa. One is in the hills above the village, on the edge of an arroyo carrying a rushing, clear, roaring stream.
  
  The other set of cabañas is on the Gulf side of the village
  
  overlooking one of the most beautiful villas you'd ever care to see.
  
  

  Montepio

• Hotel Paraiso. 10 rooms.
• Hotel Posada San Jose 18 rooms.

Restaurants • Restaurantes

Punta Roca Partida

• Carnes y Mariscos Playa La Muneco 01-200-125-54-10. Arroyo de Lisa. Fish pulled fresh from the sea and quite possibly the best refried beans I have ever eaten.
  

  Montepio

• Restaurant Comedor
• Restaurant Montepio

  Help keep this information current. Email john@johnzap.com with updates.

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Tour Operators, Outfitters • Operadores Turísticos, Proveedores

• There are a number of tour operators and outfitters operating off the beaches. Talk to your waiter or hotelier.

  Help keep this information current. Email john@johnzap.com with updates.

  Ayúdenme a mantener ésta información al día. Envía tus actualizaciones por e-mail a john@johnzap.com.

Sport Fishing, Boat Tours • Pesca, Excursiones en Barco

• Fishing expeditions may easily be booked through your waitperson or hotelier anywhere along the coast.

  Help keep this information current. Email john@johnzap.com with updates.

  Ayúdenme a mantener ésta información al día. Envía tus actualizaciones por e-mail a john@johnzap.com.

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The Gulf Coast of Mexico www.johnzap.com John Williams:  john@johnzap.com