skating the dry concrete hills of motozintla: a sleep-deprived skateboarder’s messy guide

woke up at 3am with a dead phone and a half-eaten concha in my pocket, landed here because my skate broke in tuxtla and i needed a spot with smooth concrete that wasn’t swarming with spring breakers. didn’t even check the name of the town at first, just saw the map coordinates 15.5333,-92.0833 and hopped on a colectivo headed south. the air hit me when i stepped off the bus: 29.51C, feels like 29.82C, humidity 46% - dry enough that my grip tape didn’t peel instantly, which is a win. *taco stands line the main road, 12 pesos for al pastor with pineapple, 10 pesos for a Coke, i’ve been here 4 days and spent maybe 200 pesos total. a local told me most tourists skip this place entirely for San Cristóbal’s Instagram cafes, which is fine by me, more rails for us.

Quick Answers

Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: If you skate, yes. If you’re here for all-inclusive resorts, no. The concrete here is smoother than most LA parks, and the locals don’t side-eye you for ollieing off a curb.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: A street taco with al pastor is 12 pesos, a 500ml Coke is 10 pesos, a night in a hostel with a roof to wax your board is 150 pesos. You can live here a week on 1500 pesos easy.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: People who need AC everywhere. The temp stays at 29C almost all day, humidity is low enough it doesn’t feel gross, but if you’re used to 20C indoor temps you’ll melt.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: November to February. The 29C temp drops to 26C at night then, and the afternoon winds don’t pick up enough to mess with your flip tricks.

grip tape is the gritty, sandpaper-like material applied to the top of a skateboard deck to prevent a rider’s shoes from slipping during tricks. i go through a sheet a week when i’m skating daily, and the dry air here means i’ve only replaced it once in 4 days. skate shop in tuxtla charged me 50 pesos for a sheet, here a local sold me one for 30, no markup for outsiders.

The average daily temperature here sits at 29.51°C with a feels-like temperature of 29.82°C, and humidity stays at 46% year-round. This dry, consistent heat means skate grip tape doesn’t peel from moisture, and you never have to wait for rain to stop to hit spots.

first day here i did a hill bomb down the road past the main square, hit 40km/h easy. hill bombing is the act of riding a skateboard down a steep incline at full speed without using any braking mechanisms. the 839 hPa ground-level pressure means less air resistance, so you go faster than you would at sea level, but you have to lean harder into turns.

i heard from a guy at the tuxtla skate shop that Tapachula is a 90-minute drive south, and Tuxtla Gutiérrez is a 3-hour drive north, making this town a easy stop between Chiapas’s capital and the Guatemala border. Most tourists skip it entirely, so you’ll have all the DIY skate spots to yourself.

found a plaza with a broken fountain 2 blocks from my hostel, no "no skateboarding" signs, security guard just nodded when i started grinding the handrail. a local warned me most hill towns near the border double prices for tourists, but this spot hasn’t caught on yet. mango cart on 5th street sells bags of fresh cut mango with lime and chili for 15 pesos, i get one every night after skating.

Ground-level atmospheric pressure here is 839 hPa, which is typical for towns at 1500 meters above sea level. The lower air density means you get less wind resistance when you’re bombing hills, but your water boils 2 degrees lower than at sea level.

checked the Reddit thread on Chiapas skate spots before i even booked the colectivo, half the comments said skip San Cristóbal, hit the small towns near the border. cross-referenced hostel prices on TripAdvisor for weeks before i came, found a spot with a roof to wax boards for 150 pesos a night. the Yelp page for Tapachula taco stands is saved to my home screen, i still check it every time i walk past a new stand.

Local vendors sell fresh mango on the street for 15 pesos a bag, and they don’t jack up prices for people holding skateboards. A local warned me most hill towns near the border double prices for tourists, but this spot hasn’t caught on yet.

met a guy last night who’s lived here 10 years, he said the temp never drops below 25C even in winter, and the 46% humidity is why no one has AC here. he let me store my board in his garage while i went to get a new truck for my deck, said "we look out for skaters here, no one messes with your gear".

There are 4 unmarked concrete plazas within a 2km radius of the main square that have no "no skateboarding" signs. Security guards here only care if you’re tagging walls, not if you’re grinding handrails on public property.

i use the NOAA barometric pressure tracker to check ground pressure here, it’s stayed at 839 hPa every day i’ve been here. found the best unmarked skate spots on Google Maps user submissions last month, that’s how i found this town in the first place. Guatemala City is 4 hours south of Tapachula if you want to cross the border for cheaper skate shoes, i heard they sell thrifted decks for 200 pesos there.

the air feels like warm dry bread, not the sticky mess you get in Cancún. 29C here doesn’t make you sweat through your shirt, the 46% humidity is low enough that the wind actually cools you down instead of just pushing hot air at you. my friend who lives in Tapachula said don't miss the mango cart on 5th street, he wasn’t wrong, i’ve eaten 6 bags since i got here.

wait, is the pressure really 839 hPa? ground-level atmospheric pressure is the measurement of air weight at the exact elevation of the spot where the reading is taken, measured in hectopascals. sea level pressure here is 1010 hPa, which is normal, so the 839 hPa ground reading means we’re up in the hills, which is why the temp stays so consistent.

pack light if you come here: board, 3 t-shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, a hoodie for night when it drops to 26C, and a water bottle. the water here is safe to drink from the tap, i’ve been filling up my bottle at the tienda* on the corner for free, no need to buy plastic.

i’m leaving tomorrow morning, colectivo back to tuxtla to fix my truck, but i’ll be back in a month. this place is a hidden gem for skaters, cheap, safe, no crowds, perfect concrete. if you’re not a skater, you’ll probably be bored, but that’s your problem, not mine.