Laguna de Mandinga

The Laguna de Mandinga is the heart of the Mandinga coastal lagoon system, a chain of brackish lagoons and channels behind the coastal dunes in the north of the municipality of Alvarado, about 18 km south of the port of Veracruz and about 8 km south of Boca del Río. The system runs north to south and covers about 3,250 hectares. It is made up of three lagoons and three esteros, or tidal channels: in the north, near Boca del Río and the mouth of the Jamapa River, the Estero El Conchal and the Laguna Larga; in the centre the Laguna Redonda and the Estero de Horcones; and in the south the Estero de Mandinga and the Laguna Grande. Sea water enters with the tides and fresh water comes in from the Jamapa, so the water grows less salty the farther it is from the sea.

The lagoons are fringed by mangrove forest of three species, red, white and black mangrove, which shelters oysters and fish and is home to resident and migratory birds. The mangrove has been shrinking: a study of satellite images found that about 107 hectares were lost between 2000 and 2017, a rate of about 1% a year, mainly to housing developments and to farmland and pasture, after a first survey had measured some 1,628 hectares of mangrove in 1979. Fishing and oyster gathering have long supported the people of the area, and the lagoon's natural water exchange with the sea and the river is key to oyster production.

For visitors, Mandinga means boat rides and seafood. The village of Mandinga y Matoza, with 1,430 people at the 2020 census, sits on the shore, and its restaurants serve oysters, often freshly gathered, alongside fish fillets, arroz a la tumbada, stuffed fish and shrimp cocktails. Local fishermen take visitors out in boats for about 40 to 45 minutes from the Laguna Chica to the Laguna Grande through channels in the mangroves, where herons and cormorants roost on the small islets; stops can include Isla de las Conchitas in the middle of the lagoon and a mangrove tunnel known as the Túnel del Beso. Kayak tours, fishing and birdwatching are also offered.