Attractions
Misol Há, Water Falls
Address: Misol-Ha, Road to Misol-Ha waterfalls, Chiapas, Mexico .Misol-Ha
Twenty minutes from here. A single 35-meter waterfall dropping into a round pool you can swim in.
The name is Ch'ol for "falling water." Behind the cascade, there's a cave about 20 meters deep; you walk in behind the curtain of water and look out through it. That's the part people remember.
The water is blue from mineral content and cold enough to wake you up completely.
Go early. By mid-morning the tour buses arrive from San Cristóbal. Before nine, you'll often have the pool almost to yourself, and the light coming through the falls is better anyway.
Bring a towel and shoes with grip the path behind the cascade stays wet all year.
If it's raining, go anyway. The falls are at their most powerful in green season, and the cave stays dry.
Palenque Ruins
Address: Ruinas-Palenque, Palenque, Chis., Mexico .The Palenque Ruins
Three kilometers from your room. 5 minutes by car.
This is one of the great cities of the Maya world on the level of Chichén Itzá and Tikal, but with something neither of them has: it sits inside the jungle rather than cleared out of it. The trees are still there. The howler monkeys are still there. You hear them while you walk.
Under the Temple of the Inscriptions is the tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal, who ruled here for 68 years and was buried in 683. His tomb sat sealed under the pyramid for more than twelve centuries before anyone found it, in 1952.
Go at opening. The site opens at 8:00 AM and the tour buses from San Cristóbal arrive around 11:00. Those first three hours are a different place: cooler, quieter, and the mist is still coming off the ruins.
Most of the city is still buried. Archaeologists estimate only a small fraction has been excavated. What you're walking through is the part they've uncovered; the jungle is still holding the rest.
We'll arrange your transport and tell you exactly what time to leave. If you want a guide, ask us we work with local guides who grew up here, and the difference between walking through with one and walking through alone is significant.
Agua Azul, Water Falls
Address: Cascadas de Agua Azul, Chiapas, Mexico .Agua Azul
An hour and a half from here, a river turns turquoise and stays that way for kilometers, a series of cascades and pools you can swim in, one after another.
The color comes from mineral content in the water. It's real, it's not a filter, and it surprises people who thought they'd seen enough waterfalls in Mexico.
Go in green season if you can. Between May and October, the water runs at full force, and the cascades are at their most dramatic. In dry season it's calmer and clearer, which some people prefer for swimming.
One honest note: this is the most visited of the three waterfalls near us. If you want the same water with almost nobody around, ask us about Roberto Barrios instead it's closer, quieter, and most tourists never find it.
We'll help you arrange transport and tell you what time to leave so you arrive before the buses do.
