Ahmet Erkun

Going to the beach — Playa Linda being not too far away — or visiting Laguna Pozuelos for a cruise amongst the mangroves. That’s what I had initially planned for our first port in Mexico. That changed when we saw on the Oceania Destinations Channel on TV that there was a shuttle into Tapachula City. We decided to explore a new-to-us city instead.

Turns out that there is a shuttle, but it is not operated by Oceania. So the information was a bit misleading. (There was no mention of a shuttle in the Currents. Thus, I am guessing that the information on the destinations channel is an editing oversight.)

At a cost of USD $10pp R/T, the locally operated shuttle was quite reasonable. After all, it would be taking us some 17 miles each way. The problem was that the first shuttle was at 10:00a and they insisted that we had to come back on the noon shuttle. Hmmmm! 30 to 45 minutes each way to get into the city … leaving us maybe 1 hour to explore. Plus, as the first two people off the ship, we’d have to kill at least 45 minutes before the shuttle departed. We already had a short day in port, with all aboard at 2:30p. No can do, we said.

Instead of wasting time, we arranged for a R/T transfer at the taxi stand … more expensive at $30pp … but in this case, more efficient. We could have, of course, dropped that price down by sharing the cab (a van in our case) with others. But the few early disembarkers who were around were leery of taking a cab, concerned that the driver would leave them stranded in Tapachula City.

No worries, actually, as our driver found a parking spot and just waited to pick us up from the designated spot at the designated time. He even asked if we wanted him to escort us around Tapachula, but we declined and went off on our own. (By the way, he spoke no English … which seemed par for the course for today’s visit, but he was very adept at using a translation app to converse with us, connecting his phone to the van’s radio so we could hear his questions.)

The drive into Tapachula City was a pleasant one on a paved highway. Once we got into the city, the traffic was congested, but by 10a, we were off and wandering around Parque Central Miguel Hidalgo … in the heart of downtown. What struck us almost immediately was something unexpected. Yes, there were a lot of locals in the park. But there were even more immigrants — mostly men — who seemed to be of western African descent … seemed really odd on the Pacific side of Mexico.

Two of the places of interest in the city overlook the park, so it was easy sightseeing, allowing us to get out of the brutally hot sun for some respite between sites.

First we went in for a quick look-see at Iglesia San Agustin, dedicated to the patron saint of Tapachula … built in a neo-classic style and dating back to the mid-1800s … gleaming white in the bright sunshine. No elaborate decorations inside … a place of worship for the locals.

Then we went to the Museo de Tapachula … housed in the art-deco style Old City Hall. Here we were greeted by music and dancing. Inside, we were shown the entrance to the museum. Everything was in Spanish, unfortunately, so we did not spend much time there. We did, however, on the second floor, enjoy a a display of the lacquer art for which the area is known and a temporary art exhibit by a Japanese artist.

The surprise part of our time at the City Hall was a couple of special events … organized for the Oceania tour groups. A Maya ceremony in the courtyard and a Maya dance performance in a multimedia room. (The organizer of the latter event welcomed us to stay and watch the show when we told him that we were from the ship … though not part of the tour group.)

We wrapped up by going into the new City Hall where the locals transact everyday business … on the other side of Parque Central. One of the English-speaking tourist reps at the Old City Hall had told Mui that there were two beautiful stained glass panels that we should see. Mural? Stained glass art? You don’t have to twist my arm to check them out. Definitely worth the stop.

One of the things we wanted to do while in Tapachula City was to pick up pesos for the many Mexican ports we will be visiting as we make our way along the coastline … both on the way up to San Francisco and on our way down to South America. Having noted the banks overlooking Parque Central, we went to ScotiaBank first … only to have the ATM go out of service when we stepped up to it … we think the large family group ahead of us drained it of funds. Trying several other banks, where there were long lines waiting to use the ATM, we finally found a Banco Azteca on a side street. The line was short when we joined the queue, but quickly grew behind us. This time, we got our money … all is good.

It was hot today. The city — 300,000-strong by last count — was crowded and noisy … we were amidst the hubbub of the locals going about their daily activities. Tourists were not in evidence, except when the Oceania tour buses made a quick stop en route to other destinations. English-speakers were few and far between, reminding us of our visit to Merida, Mexico in 1999 where our pigeon-Spanish, interspersed with a bit of English and some Italian, allowed us to get around unaided. The people of Tapachula City were incredibly friendly … smiling and offering greetings of welcome; apologetic when the language barrier prohibited them from being helpful.

We really enjoyed our visit to Tapachula City and are glad we went there instead of going to the beach. Next time — and there will be another call here on the way south — we will have a longer day in port and will go see some ruins.

(By the way, I had read that there would be operators at the port with whom tours could be arranged. None were there today for our short call. Perhaps that will change when we return on the way south. The taxi stand will arrange for tour-like trips as long as you know where you want to go, but whether you get an English-speaking driver is uncertain. Prices are pre-set.)Read more