A region of Oaxaca
The narrowest part of Mexico, where barely 200 km of lowland separate the Pacific from the Gulf: on the Oaxaca side, the Zapotec towns of Juchitán and Tehuantepec with their velas (festivals) and embroidered huipiles, the port of Salina Cruz, the wind farms of La Ventosa and the lagoons of the Huave (Ikoots) fishing villages.
28 places to visit
Map
Places to visit in Isthmus of Tehuantepec 28
28 places with their own page, grouped by kind.
Towns · 19 Villages · 3 Cities · 2 Beaches · 1 Lagoons · 1 Lakes · 1 Archaeological sites · 1
Towns
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Asunción Ixtaltepec · Town · Oaxaca
The Isthmus's pottery capital, about 10 km from Juchitán, known for its clay, its wedding stew and pozol; about 7,200 people in 2010. -
Ciudad Ixtepec · Town · Oaxaca
The Isthmus's railway junction, where the Interoceanic Train's lines to Coatzacoalcos and to Chiapas meet, with an airport and a Zapotec fiesta in autumn. -
Donají · Town · Oaxaca
Railway village north of Matías Romero, at 77 m, with a Line Z Interoceanic Train station that reopened in December 2023. -
El Espinal · Town · Oaxaca
Zapotec town of the Isthmus next to Juchitán, with candle festivals in May and the Virgen del Rosario fiesta in November; 8,730 people in 2020. -
Estación Mogoñé · Town · Oaxaca
Railway settlement in San Juan Guichicovi, founded in 1907 beside the Isthmus station; Line Z trains have stopped here again since 2023. -
Guevea de Humboldt · Town · Oaxaca
Zapotec seat in the Isthmus highlands at about 620 m, with organic coffee and a name honoring Humboldt. -
La Ventosa · Town · Oaxaca
A crossroads town named for its wind, ringed by the turbines of Mexico's biggest wind-power zone, where gusts can tip over trucks. -
Magdalena Tlacotepec · Town · Oaxaca
Isthmus town at about 107 m, founded 1650, with a 16th-century church and the Ojo de Agua spring near Guiengola. -
Matías Romero · Town · Oaxaca
Railway town of the Isthmus, founded in 1906 on the Transístmica line: historic brick station, the Interoceanic Train and the road to southern Veracruz. -
Palomares · Town · Oaxaca
Town in Matías Romero municipality at 117 m in the northern Isthmus, where Highway 147 from Tuxtepec meets Highway 185; 4,302 people in 2020. -
Salinas del Marqués · Town · Oaxaca
A fishing and salt-making community on the Gulf of Tehuantepec, an agency of Salina Cruz, with seawater lagoons worked for salt, 3 km from the port. -
San Dionisio del Mar · Town · Oaxaca
Huave town on a peninsula between the Laguna Superior and Laguna Inferior in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; fishing economy, dirt-road access. -
San Francisco del Mar · Town · Oaxaca
Pueblo Nuevo, seat of a Huave (Ikoots) municipality among Isthmus lagoons and mangroves; founded in 1970, home of the Negritos dance at Corpus Christi. -
San Francisco del Mar Pueblo Viejo · Town · Oaxaca
Original Huave village of San Francisco del Mar on the bar between Laguna Inferior and the Gulf of Tehuantepec; most people moved to Pueblo Nuevo in 1970. -
Santa María Chimalapa · Town · Oaxaca
Zoque seat of Oaxaca's largest municipality, inside the Chimalapas forest beside Chiapas and Veracruz. There is no organised tourism here. -
Santa María Jalapa del Marqués · Town · Oaxaca
Isthmus town beside the Benito Juárez reservoir: fried mojarra, boat rides on the lake and a calendar of fiestas from January to November. -
Santo Domingo Tehuantepec · Town · Oaxaca
The old Zapotec capital of the Isthmus, with a 16th-century Dominican convent, a market run by tehuanas and barrio velas all year. -
Santo Domingo Zanatepec · Town · Oaxaca
Isthmus seat at 60 m, an old Zoque settlement with a golden-grackle legend, Sun and Moon lagoons and a 16th-century Dominican church. -
Unión Hidalgo · Town · Oaxaca
Zapotec town of the Isthmus at 20 m, founded in 1882 when several ranches merged; known for the tapu game and the 2017 earthquake.
Villages
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Chivela · Village · Oaxaca
Isthmus village beside Chivela Pass on highway 185 and the Interoceanic Train; 574 residents at about 220 m. -
Playa San Vicente · Village · Oaxaca
Fishing agency of Juchitán on the Laguna Superior, 2 m above sea level: fishermen, fried mojarra and a shore that flooded in 2010. -
San Dionisio Pueblo Viejo · Village · Oaxaca
Ikoots (Huave) community of 106 on an island between the Isthmus lagoons; tradition places the first Huave temple here.
Cities
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Juchitán de Zaragoza · City · Oaxaca
The Isthmus's Zapotec capital: a hot, busy market city of velas, embroidered huipiles and muxes, still rebuilding after the 2017 earthquake. -
Salina Cruz · City · Oaxaca
Oaxaca's big Pacific port and refinery town on the Isthmus, with a seafront malecón, windy bays and right-hand point breaks along the coast.
Beaches
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Barra de la Cruz · Beach · Oaxaca
A Chontal village beach east of Huatulco with a long, fast right-hand point break that hosted a world tour surf contest in 2006.
Lagoons
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Laguna Superior · Lagoon · Oaxaca
Coastal lagoon of roughly 350 to 380 km² on the Isthmus; Huave and Zapotec fishing, islands and seafood palapas at Playa Vicente.
Lakes
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Presa Presidente Benito Juárez · Lake · Oaxaca
A 1961 reservoir at Jalapa del Marqués that drowned the old town; in droughts its 16th-century Dominican church rises from the water.
Archaeological sites
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Guiengola · Archaeological site · Oaxaca
Unrestored hilltop city of the last Zapotec kings above Tehuantepec, with pyramids, a ball court and walls, reached by an hour's hike.
Top tours in Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Barra de la Cruz
Tour to Copalitilla Magical Waterfalls from Huatulco with admission included
From US$55
Barra de la Cruz
Full Day Tour of the Bays of Huatulco
From US$40
Barra de la Cruz
Huatulco Ocean Eco Adventures
From US$77
Barra de la Cruz
Cascadas: Puente Colgante + Zona de Clavados
From US$53
Barra de la Cruz
Huatulco Walking Food Tour
From US$75
Salina Cruz
Salina Cruz - Airport Private Transport Service
From US$380
Tours, prices and ratings from Viator, checked weekly. We may earn a commission if you book.
Getting around Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Fly into Oaxaca (OAX) and Tuxtla Gutiérrez (TGZ).
Cities to start from: Juchitán Salina Cruz
Most of the region is reached by road: a rental car is the easiest way to see several places in a day, and buses link the larger towns.
Also by boat or on foot (each page says from where): Guiengola.
When to visit Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Most of Isthmus of Tehuantepec is at its best in January, February, March, and December.
Month-by-month climate on each Pueblo Mágico's page: Mitla, Capulálpam de Méndez, Ocozocoautla