Tuxpan

Tuxpan (officially Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano) is a city of 90,000 people (2020) in Veracruz on the banks of the Tuxpan River, which reaches the Gulf of Mexico 11 km (6.8 mi) downstream. Being the nearest port to Mexico City, Tuxpan is an important commercial link for Mexican imports and exports and home to a naval base.

Understand
There is a big PEMEX terminal hereː imagine that behind you while you're sipping on a beer at the beach. And a thermoelectric plant at the north end. But Tuxpan is also known as part of the Costa Emeralda, the Veracruzan Emerald Coast. Just put your blinders on and all should be okay.

In the 1870s, a small colony of some hundreds of former Confederate officers, soldiers and diplomats from the Southern U.S. was established. Tuxpan was also the port of departure for the yacht Granma that was used to transport Fidel Castro, his brother Raúl, Che Guevara and other fighters of the Cuban Revolution from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 for the purpose of overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista. A small museum near the river has photographs and other related memorabilia.

Get in
Tuxpans is 191 km south of Tampico, 60 km north of Poza Rica and 320 km from Mexico City.

By bus
From Veracruz, it is a 6-hour trip to Tuxpan and you will probably need to change buses in Poza Rica. From Mexico City, it's about a 4½-hour trip and you will also likely need to change buses in Poza Rica. In Mexico City, buses depart from Autobuses del Norte (Futura), or Indios Verdes (Autotransportes San Pedro Santa Clara).

From Poza Rica, it is a 1-hour trip to Tuxpam. ADO buses depart hourly and cost as little as M$100. Omnibus de Mexico also serves this route, but with fewer buses (about 4 daily departures).

Each bus company has its own bus stations in Tuxpan. It is a chaotic mess instead of being intelligently centralized like it is in most Mexican cities and towns.







Get around
Tuxpan is a fairly large town and the beaches are not close to the centro, so you'll probably want to use a taxi to get around. There are several sitios around town and your hotel will have numbers to call for a radio taxi.

Do
Many miles of sandy beach stretch along a Gulf of Mexico barrier island east and north of Tuxpan. The Laguna de Tampamachoco lies between Tuxpan and the Gulf. The lagoon is lined with mangrove swamps but is not a popular nature destination, the lagoon and river being used mostly for industrial purposes (refining and shipping). You can drive north for several miles, finding your perfect secluded spot of sand to stretch out with a beach blanket and a cooler of beer.

Go next

 * Poza Rica
 * Huachinango
 * Tampico