When you think that nothing else can go wrong, something does. I was in the back of a poorly ventilated van, the roads were windy and there were humps along the narrow road. Although I tried to sleep throughout the difficult journey, my motion sickness betrayed me. It was awful and embarrassing. The van even had to stop so I could clean up the mess. To say the least, I just wanted to leave but I couldn’t. I was miserable for the rest of the journey until we reached our first stop – Cascadas de Agua Azul. All the bad memories started to fade as I caught sight of this amazing place.
While the stretch of road from San Cristobal to Palenque was horrible (but scenic), the sights along the way more than make up for the hard journey. Here are the highlights of this day tour:
Cascadas de Agua Azul
Cascadas de Agua Azul is a stunning waterfall with crystal clear waters. With its perfect shade of blue (Jon says it’s green), the name Agua Azul perfectly suits this natural wonder. The extent of the waterfall is impressive. From the park entrance, there are several levels with various viewpoints. Go further up and you’ll get the chance to see the waterfall with less people. You can even take a dip in certain areas but most parts have a “no swimming” sign probably because of the current.
Souvenir shops and restaurants line up the walkways along the different levels of Cascadas de Agua Azul. After about an hour of sightseeing, it’s good to rest in one of the restaurants and eat some cheese and potato empanadas.
Cascadas de Agua Azul is a popular day tour in Mexico. It can get pretty crowded but it’s definitely worth a visit. After all, it’s one of the most impressive waterfalls I’ve seen during my travels.
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Misol-Ha Waterfall
Our next step was another waterfall. While it doesn’t quite compare to the beauty of Agua Azul, the Misol-Ha waterfall was still interesting with its height. There is also a small cave structure that you can explore behind the waterfall.
Palenque Ruins
Another highlight of this tour is the Palenque Ruins, Mayan ruins that date back to around 600 AD. Awe-inspiring architecture welcomed us in Palenque with tall pyramids and temples. Unlike the Wonder of the World, Chichen Itza, you can still climb the actual stone steps of most of the pyramids in the Palenque Ruins. The views are amazing at the top and you can just imagine how vast the site must have been during its glory days.
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The Palenque ruins reminded me a lot of Tikal (in Guatemala) with its jungle setting. If you’re lucky, you can even spot howler monkeys hiding in the trees (like we did!).
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Details about this Tour in Palenque
We booked the day tour to Cascadas de Agua Azul, Misol-Ha Waterfall and Palenque Ruins in San Cristobal for $450 MXN (including entrance tickets). The tour was great apart from the minivan which was quite cramped. The tour returns to San Cristobal but we opted to be dropped off at the bus station in Palenque.
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Do you want to visit Cascadas de Agua Azul and the Palenque Ruins? Have you done this day tour in Palenque? Let us know.
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We went here on our honeymoon about 25 years ago. After taking a collective all the way up to the falls, we were super disappointed to find out it was rainy season and it just looked like a massive mudslide. Nothing blue in sight. That was so disappointing!!
That sucks. A good reason to go back I suppose?