Mexico Guide
Veracruz
Veracruz
VILLA RICA DE LA VERACRUZ was the first town founded by the Spanish in Mexico, a few days after Cortés's arrival on Good Friday, 1519. Your first, and lasting, impression of Veracruz, however, will not be of its historical significance but of its present-day vitality. Its dynamic zócalo, pleasant waterfront location and relative absence of tourists make the city one of the most enjoyable places in the Republic in which simply to sit back and observe – or join – the daily round. This is especially true in the evenings, when the tables under the portales of the plaza fill up and the drinking and the marimba music begin, to go on most of the night.
Watersports
To see marine life in the Gulf of Mexico at close quarters, head for one of the city's dive shops: Tridente, Ávila Camacho 165 ( 
229/931-7924, tridente_ver@hotmail.com), or Scubadiver, Hernandez y Hernandez 563 ( 229/932-3994, 
www.scubaver.net ), both near the Mar y Tierra hotel, are good. They offer guided dive trips to a large number of little-visited reefs and beaches within the Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano, along with PADI certification at better rates than you'll find in the Caribbean (around M$750 per day diving all inclusive, or M$300 snorkelling). Kayak Mexico ( 229/913-0452, www.kayakmexico.com ) runs kayaking day trips to the mangrove swamps nearby.
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