Catazajá is a small, lowland Chiapas town on the edge of a broad lagoon system, about half an hour from Palenque. It is not a town of churches, plazas and colonial polish. Its reason to exist for travellers is water: boatmen, fish restaurants, evening light on the lagoon and the chance, never guaranteed, of seeing manatees in the wetland.
The Catazajá Lagoon System is an ecological conservation area and a refuge for birds, crocodiles, turtles, howler monkeys and manatees. Local trips usually leave from the malecón, where the town feels more like a fishing village than a formal attraction.
Catazajá is best treated as a slow half-day from Palenque, especially if you want wildlife and water after the ruins. It is too modest to build a whole trip around, but on a spare day it can be much better than another cafe in town.