Tamiahua

Tamiahua is a fishing town and municipal seat on the northern coast of Veracruz, at the southern end of the Tamiahua lagoon, only a few metres above sea level. The town had 4,908 people at the 2020 census. The lagoon is a long, shallow coastal lagoon about 85 km long and some 1,400 km² in area, cut off from the Gulf of Mexico by a long sand barrier that bulges out at Cabo Rojo; half its shores are lined with mangroves, and it joins the sea a little south of the town at Corazones. The name is explained either from Nahuatl, "land of maize flowers", or from Huastec, "place of much water".

Tamiahua was declared a villa in 1830 and passed to the state of Veracruz in 1853; in 1861 Benito Juárez decreed a canal through the lagoon to link Tuxpan and Tampico. Fishing has always been the heart of the town. About 40 species of fish live in the lagoon, along with shrimp, blue crab, clams and above all oysters: in the period 1970–1981 Tamiahua produced on average up to 65 per cent of Mexico's oyster catch, and oyster fishing has long been the first source of income for the local fishing cooperatives. Maize, beans, green chillies and oranges are grown inland.

Visitors come mainly to eat and to go out on the water. From the town's landing stages boats take people through the channels and mangroves, past the stakes of the fish and shellfish traps, out to the Barra de Corazones, a beach of fine sand on the open sea, or to the islands of the lagoon such as El Ídolo, Pájaros and Juan A. Ramírez, the largest; Isla del Toro can only be visited with a permit from the local navy. Tamiahua is also the closest port to Isla Lobos and its coral reef, about 18 nautical miles offshore. In the town centre stands the church of Santiago Apóstol el Pescador, and the local dishes to look for are the platillo tamiahuero of mixed seafood, peppered oysters, stuffed shrimp and huatape, a seafood stew thickened with corn dough.