Cascadas El Chiflon: Without a Tour + Overnight Stay

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If you’re planning to spend any time in the magical Mexican state of Chiapas, you’ve no doubt heard of the spectacular Cascadas El Chiflon. 

A series of five unique waterfalls spread along a vibrant turquoise river, these waterfalls look like something from Photoshop. But let me assure you, they are really that blue and beautiful, even more so in person! 

Cascadas El Chiflon is easily accessible from the charming city of San Cristobal de las Casas but don’t get sucked into taking a day tour which leaves you in a crowded group with limited time at the falls. 

Follow our complete guide to learn how to visit Cascadas El Chiflon independently, without a tour. We share detailed info on how to get there, plus our best tips to maximise your visit (hint: it involves staying the night in a cute cabin by the river!).

About Cascadas El Chiflon Chiapas

Cascadas El Chiflon is a collection of five spectacular falls along the vibrant blue San Vincente River. Visitors follow a trail along the river, hiking to each of the falls, with the option to return via zip line. 

Located just a few hours from San Cristobal de las Casas, in the small town of Tzimol, this incredible sight is a must-visit in Chiapas and is very worthy of all the hype it gets. 

Each of the five falls is a unique shape and size, but the star of the show is the 120-metre (395 ft) Cascada Velo de Novia (Bridal Veil Waterfall). A powerful spectacle of nature, standing beneath the falls and feeling the force of the wind and spray is unforgettable and is worth the visit alone. 

Chiapas is known for its waterfalls, and while El Chilfon might look similar to the popular Cascadas Agua Azul in Palenque, we much, much preferred Chiflon!

Left or right side of the river?

To overcomplicate things, the San Vincente River runs along the boundary between two municipalities, and both sides want a piece of the tourism gold mine that is the Cascadas El Chiflon. 

There are two official tourist parks providing access to the waterfalls. One on the southern (right) side of the river, and one on the northern (left) side. 

• ➡️ Right side – south – ‘first’ – Centro Ecoturístico Cadena de Cascadas El Chiflón
• ⬅️ Left side – north – ‘second’ – Centroecoturistico Velo de Novia

The original and most popular park to visit is the ‘first’ one you encounter when you arrive in town from Comitan, which is on the right or south side of the river. The Centro Ecoturístico Cadena de Cascadas El Chiflón, sometimes just called the Centro Ecoturístico Cascadas El Chiflón.

From what I understand, this side has the most established trails, more amenities, zip lines, more swimming areas and the best lookout for Cascada Velo de Novia. 

This is the park we visited and what this post will specifically focus on. The majority of people and any organised tour visit this side of the river, but I thought it was important to clarify the difference between the two. 

The other park, Centroecoturistico Velo de Novia, has better vantage points and views of the waterfalls. Their lookouts are placed in different locations, so you tend to get a wider vista of some of the falls, Velo de Novia in particular (I don’t think this replaces the feeling of being right against the falls with the wind and spray in your face though!). 

They have a restaurant, bathrooms, cabins etc., all the same type of amenities, I think it is just a less popular and less established option. 

If you’ve got time, it would be cool to visit both and see the perspectives of the waterfalls from both sides of the river. However, if you only have time for one, I’d suggest sticking with the Centro Ecoturístico Cadena de Cascadas El Chiflón. 

Best time to visit El Chiflon

The best time to visit Chiapas is during the dry season, from November – April. Sticking to these times is particularly important for El Chiflon because those sparkly turquoise waters turn into a muddy brown after heavy rain! 

We snuck in our visit at the beginning of May and were lucky to see the falls looking blue as there had not been any substantial rain for the season. If you’re on the cusp of the dry season, I’d try to find some recent photos on Google Maps or Instagram to check what the falls look like. 

No matter what time of the year you visit, El Chiflon will be much hotter than San Cristobal. You drop down in altitude from the cool mountain climate of the city into the tropical lowlands. Be prepared for a hot, sticky day that feels like a shock coming from San Cris. 

As for crowds, avoid the weekends and holidays and arrive at the park as early as possible, or later in the afternoon to skip the bulk of the day tours. This is part of the reason why I think staying overnight at the falls is a good idea (more below).

Tour or solo?

Solo! I’m always a big advocate for visiting places independently, but there are a few sites around Chiapas that are easier, safer, cheaper and far more convenient to visit with a tour. 

Cascadas El Chiflon is NOT one of them. 

It is very straightforward to get to and from the falls via public transport, and going on your own means you’re in control of how much time you spend there. 

Most of the tours from San Cristobal also include a visit to Lagos de Montebello on the same day. The lakes are beautiful and I’d highly recommend visiting, but combining these two sites into one day is madness to me, and absolutely exhausting. 

It’s a 12 + hour day, with at least 6 hours of driving. You’re left with only 2 hours at El Chiflon, which in my opinion is nowhere near enough to see and enjoy the falls. 

Day or stay?

This leads me to my next point, should you visit the falls for the day or stay overnight? 

Visiting Cascadas El Chiflon independently without a tour also gives you the opportunity to stay overnight at the falls if you wish. 

If you’re returning to San Cristobal after your visit, you can easily see the falls in a day and there is no need to stay overnight. 

However, we visited El Chiflon as part of a broader 2 week Chiapas itinerary where we travelled from San Cristobal to Palenque via the southern part of the state, with multiple stops at lesser-known, remote locations. We would highly recommend following our itinerary and spending a night at the waterfalls. 

San Cristobal → Cascadas El Chiflon → Lagos de Montebello → Las Nubes → Las Guacamayas → Yaxchilan and Bonampak → Palenque

It seemed silly to travel 3+ hours from San Cristobal to get to the falls, only to turn around and go back, then travel in the same direction in the following days. It did mean we had to haul all our bags with us to the falls, but it made our route linear and reduced our overall travel time so it was worth it. 

Where to stay at Cascadas El Chiflon

If you do want to stay, there are a handful of cabins along the riverfront at the waterfalls, inside the Centro Ecoturistico Cascadas El Chiflón. 

We stayed in a basic but very clean cabin with a bedroom and private bathroom, that was overlooking the river. 

We paid 700 MXN, and from what I understand the cabanas range in price from around 700 – 1,400 MXN depending on size. You can only book via Whatsapp directly with the park. You can get all their details via their Facebook page.

Staying at the falls means you can be last in the park in the evening and first back in the morning. Although they technically close at 5:00 pm, no one came to kick us out until after 6:00 pm, and we were back in before the crowds arrived in the morning. It was magic to have it all to ourselves!

How to get to Cascadas El Chiflon

• 🚐 Tour: taking a tour from San Cristobal is the easiest way to get to Cascadas El Chiflon, but as I mentioned above, I don’t recommend it. If you’re short on time and don’t want to navigate public transport, this tour is the best option and includes the Lagos de Montebello. Just be ready to walk fast and make the most of your limited time at the falls. 

• 🚙 Car: if you’ve rented a car to explore Chiapas, it is 2.5 hours from San Cristobal and there is parking at the falls. Most of the way is on a well-made road, but the final stretch is poorly maintained. 

• 🚌 By public transport: this is how we got to the falls and it was really straightforward.
  
  You first need to get yourself from San Cristobal to Comitan. ADO and OCC buses run this route. You can check timetables and book online via BusBud, although you could safely turn up on the day and get a ticket. It takes about 2 hours and should cost around 80 MXN. There are colectivos available but we would always opt for a coach if we had the choice, they’re so much comfier! 
  
  Once you’re in Comitan, you need to cross the road and walk a few blocks north along the highway to around this location, where you will find lots of colectivo vans.
  
  Just ask around for El Chiflon and someone will direct you to the right van. The drive to the falls takes around 50 minutes and should cost 40 or 50 MXN per person. They drop you at the top of the road running into the park. 
  
  It’s still about 1 km (0.6 mi) to the actual entrance of the waterfalls, and there are lots of moto-taxis (tuk-tuks) around to take you. If you didn’t have luggage the walk would be easy enough, but we were not keen to haul our big bags down the road so we jumped in a tuk-tuk, which cost us 20 MXN. 

Costs and opening hours

The Centro Ecoturistico Cascadas El Chiflon is open 7 days a week from 7:30 am – 5:00 pm.

The entrance fee to the park is 80 pesos per person. 

There is an additional fee for ziplining if you want to do this: 

• 300 metre: 200 MXN
• 400 metre: 250 MXN
• 600 metre: 300 MXN
• Combined package: 650 MXN

Exploring the El Chiflon Waterfalls

There are five different waterfalls spread along a section of the San Vincente River: 

• 💧 Cascada El Suspiro
• 💧 Cascada Ala de Ángel
• 💧 Cascada Velo de Novia
• 💧 Cascada Arcoiris
• 💧 Cascada Quinceañera

You’re not allowed to swim directly under the falls, as the currents are very strong, but there are calmer sections of the river where swimming is allowed. 

A trail starts from the entrance of the park and winds along the river to all the falls. The first section of the trail to the first three waterfalls is mostly concrete or well-made gravel, with lots of stairs. It gets a bit wilder and steeper to the final two falls, and the path is mostly natural dirt which can get muddy. 

The trail is 4.3 km (2.7 mi) out and back, but if you want to walk one way and zipline back to the beginning of the park, you’ll walk about 2.7 km (1.7 mi). The trail is very easy to follow with lots of signs, but you can check out the map on AllTrails.

Swimming

You’re not allowed to swim under the waterfalls or in the pools around them, because the currents are very strong. However, there is a section of the river at the start of the trail near the entrance where you can swim. 

The river is beautiful and blue and there are little mini waterfalls all around falling into calm pools that are perfect to float around in. Even though the climate here is hotter and humid, the water still feels freezing! 

If you’ve got all day at the park, you can swim at the beginning and later on, but if you’re in a rush you might like to see the falls first and then relax and swim at the end if you still have time. 

This area has a handful of benches and covered picnic tables where you can sit and have your packed lunch or snacks.

Cascada El Suspiro

The first waterfall you’ll come across is Cascada El Suspiro (The Sigh Waterfall). It took us about 15 minutes to get there from the entrance, which included a brief stop to swim on the way.

This is one of the smaller waterfalls, only dropping 25 metres (82 ft), but it is quite wide and falls into a very big turquoise pool. It was hard to resist swimming, as you can walk right to the edge of the pool but there are lifeguards around enforcing the rules. 

We enjoyed the view, took plenty of photos and moved on to the next one! Don’t forget to look back down at the waterfall as you incline up the trail, there is a really nice aerial shot of the pool. 

Cascada Ala de Ángel

The second waterfall you’ll come across is Cascada Ala de Ángel (Angel Wing Waterfall). It’s not too far from the previous fall, and the path diverts down to the left. 

This fall is concealed behind a maze of trees and a tangle of roots, and when you finally get to the edge of the pool, you can see the waterfall in all its glory!

It’s slightly taller than El Suspiro, dropping 30 metres (98 ft) across a wide limestone rockface. I can imagine at the peak of the wet season it would be a continuous curtain of water, but when we visited it was a couple of separate falls. 

We may have dipped our feet in here, but again, you’re not supposed to swim. 

Cascada Velo de Novia

Return back to the main trail and continue to the main event, Cascada Velo de Novia (Bridal Vail Waterfall). This thundering fall is the star of the show, dropping 120 metres (395 ft), it’s a grand spectacle of nature! 

The waterfall is so big you will see it long before you actually reach the viewpoint, but the best place to appreciate the sheer force and scale of Velo de Novia is at the very top lookout, sitting right next to the face of the falls. 

At this point, the trail gets very moist and slippery and you (and your things) will definitely get wet. Put anything valuable in a waterproof bag, or if you’re comfortable, we just tucked our backpack out of sight at the base of the staircase to keep it dry. 

Standing right next to the waterfall, feeling the spray on my skin and the wind whipping my hair around was an incredible moment. We were both so humbled by the force and scale of nature and felt so tiny standing next to this immense waterfall. 

I can see why people travel specifically to El Chiflon to see Cascada Velo de Novia, it really is spectacular! 

It’s at this point where a lot of visitors turn around. The ziplines start here, and many people don’t continue on to the final two falls, but you’ll be missing out if you stop here!

Cascada Arcoiris

The trail to continue to the final two falls is not so obvious, but there is a sign marking the path behind the zip line area. The paved trail turns to dirt, and the incline turns up a notch. 

It took us about 15 minutes to reach the fourth waterfall, Cascada Arcoiris (Rainbow Waterfall), with a fair few stops to huff and puff and catch our breath. 

The trail down to the lookout is very muddy and slippery. You get a side view of the waterfall dropping into a large pool, that continues downstream and becomes Velo de Novia. Cascada Arcoiris is quite tall too, 53 metres (175 ft).

We visited the last two finals first thing in the morning after spending the night in a cabin at the park, so we were the only ones around which was incredible! 

Cascada Quinceañera

Another 10 or so minutes further up the path leads you to the final waterfall, Cascada Quinceañera. 

Dropping 60 metres (197 ft) it’s the second tallest fall and has a huge, deep turquoise pool below. The lookout area is directly opposite the fall and is elevated above the pool so you get a perfect view. 

We were so glad we made it all the way to the end, as Cascada Quinceañera was worth the walk! 

Ziplining

After seeing all five waterfalls, the trail ends and you have to turn around and come back. If you made it to waterfalls 4 and 5, you’ll need to backtrack on that trail to Cascada Velo de Novia. 

From there, you have a choice to walk or zipline all or part of the way back to the entrance. 

If you didn’t spend any time swimming at the start of the river when you first arrived, I would definitely suggest walking back and taking your time exploring and enjoying more parts of the river. 

If you feel you’ve seen that part of the park, the zipline was a fun way to get back. Because we split our visit over two days, we’d spent plenty of time swimming and relaxing by the river the day prior, so we decided to go for the zipline. 

We had read that you need to pre-pay for your ziplining at the entrance to the park and you’re not able to decide later on to do the lines, but we didn’t pre-pay and it was fine. We were able to organise it on the spot, but it’s something to check when you arrive.

There are three ziplines and you can choose to do one, two or all three. 

The first is a 400-metre line which is the prettiest one in my opinion. If you only want to do one, not the whole course, do this one. 

It starts next to Velo de Novia and flies over the river. It was amazing to see the blue waters from above and the other waterfalls as the river flowed downstream. 

When you unhook from the first line, you have a short walk to the next platform. The second is the ‘mega tirolesa’, the longest 600-metre line. It mostly goes through the jungle, and it was fun, but it didn’t have the same views of the river.

The final zipline connects directly with the second line, so you just get unhooked from one and clipped straight onto the other one. The final line was 300 metres and was nothing overly exciting but it delivered us straight to the restaurant, which was perfect timing as we were starving for breakfast! 

Was the zipline worth it? Probably not. It was quite expensive for Mexico standards, but compared to ziplining in Australia and other countries, it was pretty affordable. We were tired and hungry and had already spent hours in the park over two consecutive days, so it worked for us. 

I wouldn’t do it if you haven’t already spent a lot of time enjoying the trails, swimming in the river etc. OR I would only do the first one, which had the prettiest view. 

Where to eat at Cascadas El Chiflon

There is a restaurant on-site at the falls, Restaurante El Paraiso, just outside the official entrance. They have a range of local dishes and we found the prices to be pretty reasonable considering it’s a major tourist attraction. 

There are iguanas hanging out all around the restaurant too, which is exciting or scary depending on how you feel about these lizard friends! It was a good introduction to all the wildlife we had coming at one of our next destinations in Chiapas, Las Guacamayas.

If you’re just visiting for the day, you can have a meal before or after you go in to explore the falls. 

Inside the official park, there are a handful of small kiosks and stalls selling drinks and snacks, but not proper meals. They are scattered all along the trail from the entrance to Velo de Novia. 

If you’re staying overnight, you need to be strategic about what you are going to eat for dinner. The restaurant closes at 5:00 pm with the park, and the cabins don’t have any kitchen facilities or fridges. 

We got a late lunch at the restaurant as soon as we arrived at the park so we were full before we started exploring. We also packed some non-perishable snacks to have for dinner when the park had officially closed. 

We were lucky to find a staff member who was closing up the office around 6:30 pm, and she gave us some hot water for our two-minute noodles! 

Just be conscious of the time and make sure you’ve gotten what you need from the restaurant/kiosk before everyone leaves for the night. 

The restaurant re-opens in the morning for breakfast at 7:30am. 

Other amenities

There are multiple sets of toilets and changing rooms throughout the park. Some before you enter, some near the swimming area at the beginning of the trail and others between waterfalls 2 and 3. 

You’ll also see little stalls selling souvenirs and trinkets around the park. 

What to wear and bring to El Chiflon

If you’re coming from San Cristobal, where you’ll most likely be quite cool and chilly, don’t forget it is much warmer at El Chiflon! Throw in the fact that you’re hiking uphill, and you’ll be hot and sweaty so wear light, breathable clothes. 

You don’t need hiking shoes, but I’d recommend something sturdy like Teva sandals or trainers, not flip-flops. Especially if you want to see all five waterfalls. I wore my Teva sandals which were great when the trail was wet and muddy, and also handy when swimming in the river as the rocks are quite sharp. 

Things to pack include: 

• 👙 Swimwear
• 🧖🏽‍♀️ Towel
• 👕 A change of clothes for getting wet at Velo de Novia
• 🎒 Waterproof bag/cover
• 💧 Water bottle
• 🍏 Snacks and/or picnic lunch (if desired and don’t want to buy there)
• ☀️ Sun protection (hat, sunglasses, cover-up, reef-friendly sunscreen)
• 🦟 Bug spray
• 📷 Waterproof camera (we just upgraded from our old GoPro to the DJI Osmo Action 6 and are loving it!) or phone cover
• 🥪 Non-perishable snacks for dinner if you’re staying overnight

🎒 Find out exactly what’s in our backpacks! I’ve listed all our travel gear on my Amazon shopfront

Cascadas El Chiflon: Final thoughts

We absolutely loved Cascadas El Chiflon! They were some of the most beautiful waterfalls we saw in Mexico. 

We are so glad we didn’t take the easy option of visiting on a day tour, limiting ourselves to just two hours at the falls. Spending the night in a cabin by the river was so lovely, and we got to spend so long in the park without anyone else around. 

It was a perfect piece of our Chiapas itinerary and we’re really happy with how we planned our time here. 

I hope this post has you feeling excited and prepared to visit the El Chiflon Waterfalls!