San Fernando

San Fernando is a little inland town in Tamaulipas. An important historical site, the town is likely most famous as a supply stop on the way to Carboneras, on the coast. The little beach community is in the larger municipality and one of the most popular beach towns on this stretch of the Gulf Coast.

San Fernando is home to the Church of San Fernando Rey and importantly, to the Regional Museum that will teach you much more about the entire area, and how it fits into the mosaic of Mexican history. The picture is a big one. But for more informal learning, the Mercado San Fernando is actually rather well-known for supporting the San Fernando Culinary scene. The market offers sit down meals, amidst a significant number of boots and saddles leather dealers, and loads of important pottery spun on wheels near and far.

But San Fernando will perhaps always be most famous for bordering the giant Laguna Madre. One of only a few hypersaline lagoons (or lakes) in the Americas, the system of salty lagoons is not suitable for most life, but swimming is permitted in some areas. The entire coast is part of the giant Laguna Madre y Delta del Río Bravo Wildlife Protection Area. Especially important for migratory water birds, the numbers you can see are often astounding. The environment includes marshes, estuaries, inland islands, intertidal marshes, and of course, the beaches.  

Inland from the Playa Carbonera, the enormous San Fernando landscapes continues to astound with lagoons and hidden mangroves, and as an adventure destination, it remains difficult to beat. People generally arrive to San Fernando from the Matamoros Airport. The trip takes about 90 minutes. From Ciudad Victoria, a bus trip takes just over two hours. Futura runs buses several times a day and most buses from Monterrey will route you through Ciudad Victoria.