I am thinking about driving my family from Austin, Tx to Tampico. Are the beaches good/clean/safe? Do you have any idea where to find a road atlas that would start from Mc Allen, Tx? Other than the beach are there other things to do (can't go clubbing with my 12 and 13 yr old) Do the hotels have racks of "tourist info"? I know about getting auto ins for MX and registering my car upon entering the country. I also plan on getting the heck away from the border towns ASAP!!!!!! Any helpful knowledge or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Well, as a tampiqueño I must thank you for your interest in the city. I hope my answer is helpful.

I'll answer by parts:

The beach.

The is basically one beach, Miramar. In general my opinion is that it is clean and safe considering that it is a public beach. So it's not really the same as when you go to Cancun, Acapulco, etc where the hotels have their own "private" beaches. On the most crowded days of the year (good Friday weekend and Easter weekend) you won't find just a few hundred people, but thousands. Spring break is by far the most crowded season, summer does get crowded but not as much.

I think the beach itself is nice, it's a sand beach, no pebbles like on the pacific coast. The sand is not white as on the Caribbean coast, but it's sand, and for what I know even finer than Cancun's sand.

Not many lifegards, actually very few, but the beach is shallow, gets deep like 30 - 50 meters into the sea. By deep I mean a 6' tall person needing to float.

Road Atlas

well, Googlemaps is actually very accurate, it even has all street names not only of Tampico area but almost all Mexican cities.

Now, if you want a printed map, then I you can buy one in Reynosa and probably in McAllen too. You should be able to find them in convenience stores (Oxxo, 7 eleven, etc.)

One important advise if driving from McAllen/Reynosa or Brownsville/Matamoros, go through Victoria, not through Soto La Marina. The road is wider and in much better condition going through Victoria.

Also you might find Military or Federal Police checkpoints. There is also one customs checkpoint.

There are some speed bumps in the highway, but they all have warning signs (the word TOPE, the sideview sign of a speed bump and distance) or really small bumps so you know they are coming.

They are always in points where there is a village or small town and there is constant pedestrian crossings.

So there should also be signs telling u to reduce your speed and warning u of a lower speed limit.

more soon...

-G

part 2

BTW, regarding road atlas, city map and getting your way around, check wikimapia

http://www.wikimapia.org

(don't forget to activate "hybrid" view)

it should REALLY help you, wikimapia is very useful.

Also you can find nice photos of Tampico in google maps, just activate the photo function in the "more" menu.

Here is a forum thread with some nice photos too.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=470388

more soon...

Thank you so much for all of the information. About the military stops and customs, I have heard so much about the police or authorities being a little (sometimes a lot) on the crooked side. I would imagine this more pertains to tourists and them wanting to make a quick Peso. What is your knowledge or understanding? I speak minimal Spanish. In the "big" tourist areas, it seemed that almost everyone spoke pretty good English. Can you tell me what I can expect in Tampico and other smaller towns that I will travel through on the way. I would suspect that the smaller the town/city the fewer people I will find speaking English.?.?

I'm really not trying to give you 10,000 questions or take up too much of your time, but you are such a valuable resource. I really appreciate all of your help!!!!

Oh, what about gasoline/petro? Will it be hard to find? Are there plenty of stations? Should I make sure I have plenty of Pesos or are credit cards and U.S. dollars just fine like the larger areas?

I ran across some information that there are some pyramids not too far from Victoria. I don't recall a name or city do you know what I am talking about?

When I use Google Maps going from Mc Allen to Tampico, Mexico it tells me that Tampico is "unknown". Any thoughts??

Not to get overly personal, but I'd like, if we could, meet in Tampico so I could buy you lunch or dinner as a thank you. Please, do not feel any pressure to do so though. I'll stop here and once again tell you Thank You for your help.

Brad.

Corrupt authorities.

Well, I have personally never had any trouble in the checkpoints. But i'm not a foreign tourist. I do know a lot of people (Mexican tourists) that have had problems with traffic police trying to get money from them and I do see here some previous posts about that.

I think you should probably contact the US embassy in Mexico City or the US consulate in Matamoros (google for their contact info) and ask them what you should do if you find yourself in a situation like that.

The Mexican secretary of tourism has a toll free line for US and Canada tourists 1 888 401 3880.

The Tamaulipas Secretary of Tourism has a toll free line for US and Can too 1 800 482 9832

I think you should contact those authorities too and ask how to report any government official trying to take advantage of you.

Many times just warning the official that you will report him is enough to persuade him not to bother you. I mean, letting him know that you know your rights and who to call is usually enough to persuade him.

Maybe the Mexican consulate in Austin can give you some guidelines too.

English in Tampico

Well, Tampico does get a lot of tourists, but unlike the internationally famous destinations of Mexico, most tourists that visit Tampico come from other Mexican cities and by road. So tourism infrastructure and services are more focused towards them than towards foreign tourists, which are a small number. I would expect most people not to speak English, but you should find people who speak fairly good English in hotels and restaurants.

You are right, the smaller the town, the fewer people you will find speaking English, but again, those few will be in places where foreign tourist are expected to hang around.

So, although you won't find a lot of English-speaking people, I'm sure you'll be able to move around the city without much problem.

Gasoline

Don't worry about gasoline, there is lots of gas stations. Pretty much all take cards. Most of them probably take US dollars too, but they'll give you the worst rate (by that I mean like 25% less pesos per dollar than you should get), so I wouldn't recommend trying to pay with US dollars.

Just so you know, currently the unleaded gasoline price is roughly $7.70 pesos per liter. Super unleaded is $9.50 I'll let you do the conversion to dollars per gallon. haha

In case you don't know, there is a state monopoly on oil in Mexico, so all gas stations only sell Pemex gasoline. Prices are set by the government and are the same all over the country, except for a few zones like the border where it's a bit cheaper.

Nearby pyramids

Well, I'm not aware of any pyramids close to Victoria. The closest pyramids to Tampico are in Tajin, Veracruz, that's about 4 hrs south. Just search for "Tajin" in wikimapia and you'll find them.

What is close to Victoria is "El cielo", which is a natural reserve, no pyramids though.

As for racks of "tourist info" in hotels, I'm not really sure, but they must have some pamphlets, etc.

Violence

I wouldn't be so worried about violence on the border. Shootouts are between the army/federal police and the gangs. So far no tourists have been involved, that's my understanding.

Tampico and Monterrey has also had some violence, but not as much as in border towns.

I think that as long as you stay aware you'll be fine.

Googlemaps

Googlemaps in Mexico is not fully functional as in the US/Can and western Europe. So, some cities have more features than others. Also the highest zoom satellite image is not available. No street view, no zip code or street name search. So no "get directions" from A to B function either. I think probably the only fully functional city in Mexico is Mexico City.

All these features should come soon or later. Not long ago a few cities only had satellite image, no street names, not even city name, the rest of the country was just a blur. I wouldn't expect these features to be available for Tampico this summer, but I can tell you the google street view car has been spotted in the region.

Miramar Beach attendance

Here's the numbers (according to a local paper).

Good friday - 240 thousand

Holy saturday - 160 thousand

I think that's a lot of people or a roughly 5 km (3 miles) beach.

Again, during summer it's much less crowded.

I found this website

http://www.surdetamaulipas.com.mx/

it doesn't say much, but it's the only one I've found with information in English.

I'll post about places to visit and things to do besides the beach, bars and restaurants later.

oh, more pics:

the new main square of Madero and some beach pics.

(i'm not the poster, btw)

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=632927&page=266

-G

Ok I'm a 23 year old guy from Tampico. I speak English, I know the area, I could hook you all up with the best places you should all visit. I know bout the best nightclubs, the best bars, the best prices, the best hotels (best value for your cash) and of course where to find girls. I could even hook you guys up with some stash ;)

oh I forgot ! heres my mail guazon1987@hotmail.com

If you click on 'travel information' on my mexico insurance website, www.ammexinsurance.com, I have abnner ads to all the main tourism websites for any border state in Mexico. They all have great info on what to do.

I do speak excellent Spanish. It is very easy to find a good hotel room for under $30 a night. During my last trip I stayed at the Hotel Cañada Rica in Ciudad Madero. I payed 250 pesos a night. It was clean, comfortable, and had AC. I do agree with you that if you want to find the best deals you need to speak Spanish.

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