Gulf of Mexico

The southwestern Gulf of Mexico opens north of the coast of Veracruz and the Bay of Campeche. Rivers descend from the Mexican highlands to a shore of estuaries, lagoons and sandy barriers, while the volcanic hills of Los Tuxtlas rise near the coast farther south. Across these waters ships traveled between Veracruz and other ports of the Spanish Caribbean, using the Gulf as a passage between New Spain and the Atlantic.