The port entrance lies about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northwest of the mouth of the Suchiate River which is the international boundary between Mexico and Guatemala.

[7] Governor Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía had put interest in the original rustic and old port, and later Governor Juan Sabines Guerrero has ordered development of the true port in the hopes it will attract business to Chiapas, the poorest state in Mexico.

There is a craft market as one leaves the dock, but the nearest town, Tapachula, is a few miles inland.

[10] Tours are available to Izapa which is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site with several carved Maya stelae and monuments.

[11] Volcán Tacaná dominates the port's eastern horizon and a number of ruins and biological reservations are accessible from it.