Coatzacoalcos Bay

The Coatzacoalcos River enters the southern Gulf of Mexico through a low coastal plain of rivers and wetlands. Its mouth opens toward the Bay of Campeche, while the river reaches inland across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. In 1522 Spanish conquerors founded the villa of Espíritu Santo in the Coatzacoalcos region, establishing a colonial foothold among Indigenous communities of the southern Gulf coast.