La Pesca is a town in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on the Gulf coast about halfway between Matamoros and Tampico, just north of the mouth of the Rio Bravo. As the name might suggest, it's well known for it's sport fishing, both in the Gulf and on the Rio Bravo, but there's also a long sandy beach about 2 kilometers east of town, stretching north from the lighthouse on Punta Piedra. Each year around the Easter week, as many as 50,000 people descend on the town for Spring Break, flooding the hotels and camping on the beach. Outside of Easter week, and the Christmas season, the town and beach can be very uncrowded and sedate, especially off of the weekends.
The state of Tamaulipas has long-term plans to develop La Pesca into an upscale resort area attractive to foreign tourists (though these plans have been in the works for a long time and its hard to say when or if they will be accomplished), similar to Quintana Roo's development of Cancún, complete with golf courses and high-end resorts. The good or bad news, depending on your viewpoint, is that those plans are still a long way off, and La Pesca is still fairly rustic, inexpensive, and little known to foreign tourists. For Americans or other tourists coming from the United States looking to try road tripping in Mexico, La Pesca is a great first step, an easy 4-hour drive south from Brownsville, Texas.
The main two things to do in La Pesca are to go to the beach or to go fishing. The beach is impossible to miss, just follow Highway 70, the main street, east of town and the road ends at the beach. You can park anywhere along the access roads running parallel to the beach or often just on the beach itself, but watch that you don't get your car stuck in the sand. If you're interested in fishing, most hotel proprietors will gladly set you up with a fishing guide or boat to charter, or you could ask in any of the stores in town and they will no doubt be able to refer you.
Aside from small convenience and souvenir stores, there's not much shopping to be done in La Pesca. There's sometimes a small market in the first north-south street just past the canal bridge coming into town, but it's much smaller than what you might be used to from bigger Mexican cities and it'll be mostly closed down by the afternoon.
Be sure to bring as much cash as you'll need for your stay in La Pesca, because there are no ATMs in town. A handful of stores and hotels will accept credit cards, but most will not. However, there is a PeMex station just west of the canal bridge on the west end of town if you need gas.
You can find several eating options along the main street in La Pesca. Most open during the day are mid-range priced restaurants (by Mexico standards), M$30-50 (pesos) for breakfast, M$50-90 for lunch or dinner. In the evening, around 7:00 PM, several taco stands open in the town proper where you can easily get a good meal for about M$30.
There's also several open air restaurants by the beach on the southern lighthouse end, which have pretty reasonable prices (M$50-100) considering their prime location. Also, several hotels along the western approach to town have attached restaurants.
- Costalora Restaurant, Zona Centro (downtown, +52 8353271507. 8AM. Mexican food. Try camarones empanizados and huachinango enpanizado. M$60-$100.
- Villa del Mar. On main street about halfway through town, lunch/dinner for about $50-$90 MXN. Try the Camarónes Rancheros.
- Restaurante Veracruzana. An open-air restaurant halfway between town and the beach, lunch/dinner for about M$40-80. Try the tacos de camarónes.
Costalora Restaurant, Zona Centro (downtown, +52 8353271507. 8AM. Mexican food. Try camarones empanizados and huachinango enpanizado. M$60-$100.
Villa del Mar. On main street about halfway through town, lunch/dinner for about $50-$90 MXN. Try the Camarónes Rancheros.
Restaurante Veracruzana. An open-air restaurant halfway between town and the beach, lunch/dinner for about M$40-80. Try the tacos de camarónes.