Day 16: Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa del Corzo Tour from San Cristóbal de las Casas
Today we are going to do the Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa del Corzo tour, so as usual on this trip to Mexico in 45 days, we get back early and when it is 6 in the morning we are ready in our room to work for a while before at 8 go directly to the breakfast room of the Hotel Posada El Zaguán, which is our accommodation in San Cristóbal de las Casas these days.
As we said yesterday, after knowing all the visits to do in San Cristóbal de las Casas that we had scheduled, we went to hire the Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa del Corzo excursion, one of the most famous that are made in the city, managing it directly with the hotel, since from what we saw the prices are very similar in all agencies and thus avoid having to look at one or the other. Another comfortable and safe option is to book this excursion in advance in which a guide in Spanish will pick you up at your hotel.
With the tour hired for today and after charging energy with breakfast, when it is 9 am the agency van arrives at the door of the hotel to make way for the first visit of the day that is none other than the incredible Sumidero Canyon.
How to do the Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa del Corzo Tour from San Cristóbal de las Casas
Considered by many as the star tour of this area of Chiapas, the excursion to the Sumidero Canyon, to which a brief visit to Chiapa del Corzo is normally added, is without any doubt one of the essential places to visit in Mexico.
There are several ways to do it, among them for free, although this if you add the prices, in the end it can even cost you more than doing it with an agency, since the prices of the latter are quite adjusted.
- We hire you directly at the Hotel Posada El Zaguán and it will be with the company Chiapas Extreme Tours.
- The total price of the tour is 300 pesos per person and includes transportation, come to the hotel, entrance and boat to the Sumidero Canyon, transportation to Chiapa del Corzo and transportation back to San Cristóbal de las Casas.
- The start time of the tour is at 9 am and ends at approximately 2:30 pm in Sancris.
- The navigation through the Sumidero Canyon is approximately 2 hours and is done in a small boat, which also includes a guide.
- If it is sunny, wear a protective hat and hat, as there are few shadows during the tour.
- If you want you can go directly to the jetty and take a boat there for 210 pesos per person to make the route through the canyon, but you will have to wait for one with free places, normally this tour is organized and also look for transportation from Sancris until there, both round trip, which probably costs you more than 90 pesos, which is the difference we have paid for the tour, with which we will also go to Chiapa del Corzo.
Sumidero Canyon
From San Cristóbal de las Casas to the Sumidero Canyon we have about 30 minutes of journey, which we do under a radiant sun and a much higher temperature than expected, which augur us that we will have good weather, something that for us is synonymous with good luck and more in a place like this where the icing on the cake is being able to enjoy it with sunshine.
Once there, we pass to the ticket office area, where we have to wait approximately 15 minutes until our boat is ready and start the journey through the Sumidero Canyon.
Ticket offices of the Sumidero Canyon
Port where we will start the Sumidero Canyon tour
Next to the ticket offices there are several stalls where they sell soft drinks, water, snacks and caps or souvenirs, so you can take advantage of them to buy them here if you don't take them, although the prices are somewhat higher than in Sancris, although nothing exorbitant.
Punctual, when it is 10 in the morning we ride in a small boat with which we will do the tour of the Sumidero Canyon, in which from the beginning our guide gives us explanations of everything we are seeing.
We begin the tour of the Sumidero Canyon
Sumidero Canyon checkpoint
This impressive canyon is one of the wonders that you can know in Chiapas.You can travel through the Grijalva river, encased in impressive walls, some of more than 800 meters, which are those that are traveled in the second part of the tour and that we can probably Say, they are the most amazing we've ever seen.
Start sailing through Sumidero Canyon
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Sumidero Canyon
In addition to the breathtaking views and the experience of sailing under the enormous stone walls, another of the attractions when making the tour of the Sumidero Canyon is the possibility of seeing much of the fauna that inhabits this place From chiapas.
On the tour you can see many types of birds such as cormorants, herons and kingfishers, in addition to the occasional crocodile that usually seems to wait for tourists who do this tour and sometimes, a monkey that makes its presence noticed by the loud howls between trees.
Birds in the Sumidero Canyon
Monkeys in the Sumidero Canyon
At the time that the guide has begun the search for some crocodile, this has led us to see some areas of the Sumidero Canyon in which the garbage is piled up due to the current. Although we have seen several boats that collect both logs and garbage during the tour, we understand that seeing that in some very specific areas, this is still a problem, the means they put in is not enough. We know that the current is something natural and is moving the garbage, but we believe that they should put more means to try that this does not become as much as we have seen in some of the areas.
Crocodile in the Sumidero Canyon
Another highlight in the navigation through the Sumidero Canyon it is the moment in which it is arrived at a rock formation that receives the name of the Christmas tree, due to its structure.
Christmas tree in the Sumidero Canyon
Details of the Christmas tree in the Sumidero Canyon
At the end of the tour you will reach the Chicoasén hydroelectric dam, 25 kilometers long, and that is the point where we turn around to tour the Sumidero Canyon again and arrive again at the port when it is 12 noon.
Chicoasén Dam in Sumidero Canyon
Sumidero Canyon
Once the Sumidero Canyon tourIf we want to be honest, we have to say that we did not expect too much from this excursion. We decided to do it only for one reason: they had recommended it to us very much. But having not seen too many photos, we were not sure what we were going to find.
We have not needed more than five minutes, until we have found a truly spectacular landscape, which we would even dare to say that in this aspect it has been one of the most spectacular we have ever seen, so we can not What to recommend and much this tour if you are a few days in San Cristobal de las Casas.
At this time of noon we continue the tour, heading now to Chiapas de Corzo, a magical town that we arrive in about 15 minutes and where we have an hour to discover it.
The heat at this time of day is already quite evident, the temperature has already risen to almost 26 degrees, but the thermal sensation is quite high and more considering that we are practically dressed in winter, so we decided to start the visit to Chiapa del Corzo in the most central part of the town, where there is a market of food and some crafts and that is located in an area covered with arcades.
Chiapa del Corzo
Chiapa del Corzo Market
Although we had read that this stop on the tour was not excessively interesting, the truth is that it seems to us that it is a good complement to the Sumidero Canyon and that it is highly recommended to spend an hour, seeing a less village tourist, where you can go for a walk, have a drink or just sit at watch life go by.
Chiapa del Corzo Church
Punctual when it is two o'clock we return to the van that takes us back San Cristóbal de las Casas, where we arrive at 2:30 in the afternoon and where we decided to stay in the Plaza 31 de Marzo to go straight to eat something, deciding this time around La Viña de Baco, where we ordered several starters to share and some more refreshed quesadillas for 310 pesos, which although they are not bad, the truth is that they pass without grief or glory For our stomachs.
Book the best rated Spanish tours and excursions in San Cristóbal de las Casas by travelers:
- Excursion to Sumidero Canyon
- Excursion to San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan
- Excursion to Agua Azul, Misol-Há and Palenque
- Excursion to Lagunas de Montebello + El Chiflón Waterfall
- Excursion to Amatenango del Valle- Many more excursions and tours here
It's 4:30 in the afternoon when we return to the streets of San Cristóbal de las Casas, willing to get lost in their little streets full of color and continue discovering one of the most beautiful places we have known in our travels and where, as We said yesterday, we are already considering spending a season.
San Cristóbal de las Casas
From here little we can detail the route we have done and we have dedicated ourselves during the next three hours to travel Sancris soaking up its environment, color and especially that environment that we are so enjoying and that we recommend you discover losing yourself for your streets, without maps and only letting yourself be carried away by the senses.
Sancris Chiapas
San Cristóbal de las Casas
We recommend that when you are here, you forget the urban legends that only make us face the world with fears and walk through its streets without thinking about the insecurity that many people talk about, touring Sancris day and night, at which time the city dresses up and shows us a face Amazingly beauty. Although logically with this we do not mean that you do not use common sense, quite the opposite. All we want is to make it clear that not everything is as bad as they paint it and that the world is much safer than they want to make us believe.
San Cristóbal de las Casas
At 7:30 p.m. we approached you until I want you Green, where we were the day we arrived in San Cristóbal de las Casas and where we ordered a pesto pasta, a vegan hamburger had two more juices for 218 pesos with which we said goodbye this incredible day in which we have discovered the impressive Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa del Corzo.
Having dinner at Te Quiero Verde
Day 17: San Juan Chamula from San Cristóbal de las Casas
