Puerto Dos Bocas Tabasco Mexico
Frequently Asked Questions
At the industrial wharf of Dos Bocas in Tabasco state: tanks, gantries and tugs make up the view. The port compound cannot be crossed on foot, and there is no old town waiting at the bottom of the gangway.
No, and it is fairer to say so plainly. This is a working port: everything happens by coach, on programmes arranged in advance. That deliberate logistics is the price of reaching a region mass tourism ignores completely.
Choose one excursion and plan for the whole day: distances in Tabasco are measured in hours of driving rather than kilometres. The cacao haciendas near Comalcalco, the brick Maya city of Comalcalco, or the Olmec heads of La Venta in Villahermosa.
Because Tabasco begins here: one of the greenest and wettest states in Mexico, land of cacao, slow rivers and the oldest monumental sculpture on the continent. Calls remain rare, mostly small cultural cruise ships in winter.
A circuit of haciendas around Comalcalco where you follow pods split with a machete, beans fermented then sun-dried, and chocolate ground on a hot stone. The tasting surprises palates used to sweetened bars; you also try chorote, the local cacao and maize drink.
A unique Maya city about forty kilometres away: with no stone available on this alluvial plain, the Chontal city built temples and palaces from fired clay bricks, some still bearing motifs carved by their makers. The site sees very few visitors and is often walked in near solitude.
The colossal Olmec heads: basalt faces weighing several tonnes, carved nearly three thousand years ago and moved to Villahermosa from their original site, which was threatened by oil extraction. A shaded path links them. It is the longest outing, about 80 kilometres away.
A small town about ten kilometres away that lives off fishing, coconuts and the port. Its main square, church and market offer an unvarnished look at daily Tabascan life. No major monuments, no souvenir shops: simply Gulf-coast Mexico, friendly and surprised to see visitors.
The Mexican peso, and you need cash. Few businesses take cards outside the towns.
Light clothing, a packable rain jacket and insect repellent. The climate is very humid with frequent rain, and mosquitoes are active at both Comalcalco and La Venta.
