Laguna de Champayán

The Champayán lagoon is the broad sheet of fresh water stretching west of the city of Altamira, part of the lagoon system fed by the Tamesí and Pánuco rivers on the coastal plain of southern Tamaulipas. Its eastern shore reaches right into town, four blocks from the Plaza de Armas, and fishing and cattle communities such as El Fuerte, Mata del Abra and Tres de Mayo live along the rest of its banks. Altamira municipality records 334 bird species over the year, including the endemic Altamira yellowthroat. Migrant gulls, storks and pelicans arrive on the lagoon around October and leave when the heat sets in.

The way in is Champayán Park on Calle Juárez, the city's newest place to enjoy the lagoon: splash fountains lit up at night, a small aviary, a jogging track, an open-air gym facing the water, palapas and walkways. Boat rides on the lagoon and up toward the Tamesí River leave from its small pier. A suspension bridge crosses to Isla de la Esperanza, where a wooden arbour with benches has become the favourite spot for sunsets and for wedding and quinceañera photo shoots; at weekends people queue to cross. Opposite Bulevar Manuel Cavazos Lerma a pier and boat ramp serve fishing and water-sports boats.

A block from the water, just behind the park, the little La Puntillita market sells what comes out of the lagoon and the Tamesí: shrimp, blue crab, tilapia, sargo, guabina, oysters, clams, freshwater prawns and acamaya crayfish, depending on the season. The lagoon depends on the rains and on what the rivers bring: in the 2024 drought the water fell to about 20 per cent in some areas, the shore turned to dry mud and boat rides stopped, so it is worth asking about the level before you go. On the feast of Saint James, 25 July, dozens of boats go out on the water in procession.