Playa San Vicente

Playa San Vicente, also called Playa Vicente, is a municipal agency of Juchitán de Zaragoza in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, about 9 km from the city. It lies 2 m above sea level on the shore of the Laguna Superior, one of the two coastal lagoons of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, which locals call the Mar Muerto. In 2020 it had 255 residents, more than double the 2010 count (126), in about 67 homes.

Life here revolves around fishing. Some 350 fishermen, independent and from the Che Cata and Jaiberos cooperatives, and about 50 restaurant owners joined a request for help when seaweed (sargassum) invaded the shore. People fish at night from small boats, setting nets in the late afternoon and hauling them later; in peak season catches of 60 to 70 kg a day of catfish, mojarra, urbina, snapper, snook and pez mapache have been reported. That catch supplies the palm-roofed restaurants, which serve fried mojarra and grilled fish.

The lagoon can also turn on the village. In July 2010 continuous rain and a blocked lagoon mouth at San Francisco del Mar raised the water and flooded the community. After the September 2017 earthquake the water pushed about 20 m inland and palapas were destroyed; fishing stopped for a few days. On stormy afternoons stay out of the water: lightning has killed a fisherman on this beach.

It suits anyone who wants a close look at the lagoon and fresh fish, not hotel tourism: no lodging is listed here and the nearest town with hotels is Juchitán. Wind farms stand nearby and their turbines are visible from the shore.