| Peña Hermosa Beautiful Rock in Spanish. Community ecotourism offering rooms, cabañas, camping, and sometimes food. Kayak and horse rental possible. Popular with groups during the turtle nesting season Visit Peña Hermosa. |
| The city of Soteapan features a hotel, some guest rooms and several mini restaurants around the central market, and one at the entrance to the Jem Takxi waterfall. Camping is possible at the hotel and at the waterfall in season. |
| The city of Mecayapan is a touristic dead end, nearby Huazuntlan, though, features several river balnearios including Huazuntlan, Tonalapan, Los Tres Mangos, Los Mangos, Minzapan. Some of limited accommodations, camping and food. The long coast is barren of touristic features. I did find some guest rooms in Arrecifes and Perla del Golfo. There is a light house near Perla de Golfo, and the shell of a museum in Piedra Labrada. |
| Tatahuicapan City has a few eateries around the central square and a guest house. The distant ecotourism resort of Peña Hermosa offers cabañas and rooms but only serves food when groups are present. |
| The beaches of Pajapan get very busy during the summer and palapas abound. The rest of the year it's tough to get something to eat. The city of Pajapan has a few eateries and guest rooms. The beach at Jicacal offers tours and a passenger ferry across Laguna Ostion with access to Coatzacoalcos. Numerous government sponsored eco lodges forlornly await tourists in several communities along the lagoon edge. |
| The main Los Tuxtlas highway crosses Hueyapan, but attracts few tourists. In the city of Covarrubias at the south exit, is a great restaurant, Doña Julia?, which served me a beefsteak memela the size of my spare tire. Several "Motels" are nearby. Off the main highway passing through the county is a small museum worth visiting by Olmec fans. There are waterfalls hidden in the countryside but little is known about them |
| Soteapan |
| Soteapan |
| Jem Takxi Waterfall - 30 pesos near Soteapan city parking, camping & seasonal restaurant. |
| Tatahuicapan |
| Pajapan |
| Hueyapan de Ocampo |
| Santa Rosa Indigenous Museum Santa Rosa Loma Larga, Hueyapan Nice selection of small pre hispanic figurines, and tall tales from the caretakers. No entry fee, but tip well! Restaurants nearby Visit the Museum. |
| Sierra Santa Marta Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz |
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| The Sierra Santa Marta is the southern almost undiscovered section of Los Tuxtlas in southern Veracruz. It extends inland from Catemaco to Acayucan, then crosses to Laguna del Ostion, and completes its boundary with the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the inhabitants of the Sierra are native language speakers, primarily Nahuatl and Popoluca. Spanish is understood by most. Most are some of the most poorest inhabitants of Mexico. Tourism is minimal and mostly from the local area. The focus is on some southern Gulf beaches, river front balnearios (spas), and the impressive Jem Taxki waterfall near Soteapan. Closest access to the jungle of the Sierra is from the village of Santa Martha above Soteapan, but it is hard to get a guide or even a smile out of those people. In the last few years numerous "ecotouristic" cabins have sprung up on the edges of Laguna del Ostion and within some Gulf coast communities. Best bet to stay for someone wanting to explore the Sierra is either the nearby city of Acayucan or 2 hotels near Huazuntlan. The Peña Hermosa ecotourism installation is also worth considering. Restaurants are mostly of the primitive variety, with the usual plethora of palapa style dining in Jicacal and Playa Linda. Transportation throughout the area is haphazard and dependent on intermittent communal taxis and rare bus service. Visiting the area after heavy rain storms is not advisable. Annually a large percentage of its roads and bridges are washed away because of the difficulty of the terrain and sub standard political infrastructure. |
| For hotel and restaurant information, please see: Sierra Hotels For more in depth information, please see the individual municipio pages. |
| Playa Jicacal awaiting a bridge to drive to Coatzacoalcos. Offers one very basic hotel, guest rooms, camping, palapa restaurants and boat tours. Passenger only ferry service to Banderillas on the opposite side of the Laguna. |
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| The Corn Trail road from the shores of Laguna Catemaco to Soteapan in the Sierra Santa Marta A soon to be paved road leaas through the foothills of the Sierra with outstanding vistas of distant lakes and mountains. "Brecha del Maiz" in Spanish. Drive the trail |
| map - click to enlarge |