Port of Chiapas

Puerto Chiapas (Port Chiapas)
Puerto Chiapas with mountains in the distance, 25 December 2008
Location
Country	Mexico
Location	Puerto de San Benito, Chiapas
Coordinates	14°41′49″N 92°24′40″W / 14.697°N 92.411°W / 14.697; -92.411Coordinates: 14°41′49″N 92°24′40″W / 14.697°N 92.411°W / 14.697; -92.411
Details
Opened	1975
Operated by	Port Chiapas Port Authority
Type of harbor	bulk (coffee, minerals, gas), container, cruise
Size of harbor	950 m × 350 m
Land area	60,000 square metres (15 acres) container storage
Available berths	625 metres (2,051 ft)
Director General	Alfonso Perez
Statistics
Annual revenue	$1.5 million (2009)
Website

The Port Chiapas (Spanish: Puerto Chiapas) or Puerto Madero is a port in Puerto de San Benito in the Tapachula municipality of the Soconusco region in the southern portion of the Mexican state of Chiapas. 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. Puerto de San Benito is connected by Highway 225 to Tapachula International Airport and the city of Tapachula. Since its opening in 1975 the port has been a small fishing and agricultural transport center. Upgrades carried out in 2005 and since by the government have added facilities for cruise ships and more heavy cargo. Governor Juan Sabines Guerrero has ordered development of the port in the hopes it will attract business to Chiapas, currently the poorest state in Mexico. Ships of the Holland America Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises and Princess Cruise Line currently arrives in Port Chiapas.

There is little of interest to the cruise passenger in the immediate vicinity of the port. There is a craft market as one leaves the dock, but the nearest town, Tapachula, is a few miles inland.Volcán Tacaná dominates the port's eastern horizon and a number of ruins and biological reservations are accessible from it.