We flew from Cancun to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital city of the State of Chiapas.
Many backpackers opt for the overnight bus from Tulum or Playa del Carmen to reach Chiapas. The buses travel to either Tuxtla Gutierrez or San Cristobal De Las Casas. It is a very long journey usually around 16-20 hours. Not worth it if you do not have much time available.
Volaris, the low cost Mexican Airline offers great fares and it only take 1.5 hours to reach the destination. To be honest, sometimes (if not almost all the time), flying is cheaper than the bus and totally worth the time saved on the road.
We planned to spend couple of nights in the capital City as it is closer to the Cañón Del Sumidero (Sumidero Canyon) rather than visiting it from San Cristobal De Las Casas.
We arrived mid afternoon and we went straight to our accommodation – Hostal Tres Central -a great new hostel right behind the Zocalo, in the centre of town. The hostel is very clean and our room was very spacious with a private shower and a shared toilet. The bed was also cozy and comfortable. The staff at reception were also very knowledgeable, they gave us lots of info about the roundabouts and how to get to the Canyon by ourselves.
After a good night sleep we got up reasonably early and ventured to the Canyon.
We walked approximately 10 minutes to the colectivo station and catch one of the local mini vans to take us directly to Chiapa de Corzo where we were going to catch the boat through the Canyon. The journey took approximately one hour and costed approx 20 pesos each.
Once arrived in Chiapa de Corzo, we walked down the pier lane where we booked our trip with one of the boat companies. It is the less touristy way of doing it even if it is still busy as most people opt for this option instead of going on an organized tour. The cost is also reasonably fair, only 190 pesos per person.
The ride through the Canyon was beautiful, the scenery was fantastic. There are some unusual rock formations. Our guide pointed out to a stalactite named “Caballito de Mar” (The Seahorse) due to its shape resembling the cute inhabitant of the sea.
The Christmas Tree is another atypical rock. Its shape is been sculpted by a waterfall streaming down. The waterfall is present only during the rain season (June to November). We visited in February, so we did not get to see the waterfall. Nonetheless, the Christmas Tree was quite impressive.
There is an abundance of wildlife along the way. We spotted crocodiles – which to me looked quite fake until finally one of them closed its jaws and started to swim on the direction of our boat -.
There were monkeys hiding in the trees and a great variety of birds, including some mean vultures.
The Canyon is surely a place not to be missed.
Back from our boat ride we spent sometime walking around the market in Chiapa De Corzo and lunched with a typical “comida corrida”, a very inexpensive set lunch.
