Adventure to the Sumidero Canyon Viewpoints and Chiapa de Corzo

Booking through Getyourguide was straight forward but Otisa less than impressed. The issue is what you don’t know rather than what you do…. The tour visits the canyon, viewpoints (x3) and Chiapa de Corzo. The latter is just the harbour at the end of the canyon where you can get something to eat - it’s not a tourist attraction itself. Published pickup: 08:30 Actual pickup: 08:50 Pickup if other guests complete: 09:30 Viewpoints: 10:45-12:00 Arrive at canyon: 14:15 Canyon boat ride: 14:20-16:15 Chiapa de Corzo: 16:15-17:00 San Cristobel: 18:15 There is no lunch stop planned into the itinerary. The tour was advertised as 8 hours but we returned after 9.5 hours. Pickup from the centre of San Cristobel near Plaza de La Paz seemed straight forward - turn up at 08:30 for an 08:45 departure. There were plenty of tourists congregated who could have filled a minibus and headed-off. Instead we spent until 09:30 driving around San Cristobel collecting other passengers who could easily have walked to the first meeting point within 15 minutes max. The tour is in Spanish only so if that’s a problem be prepared to guess the details and timings. Again they could easily have grouped passengers by language but have not thought of this. This also proved complicated when trying to confirm exactly where to be picked up at 17:00 - no map or smart phone map. The tour visits the viewing points above Sumidero Canyon first. By noon we have made two stops - 10 and 30 minutes. The canyon is vast and the views are nice; not amazing. There is no urgency from the tour operator to move on and most passengers are waiting around for the bus to go. On the way back out of the canyon we stopped for a further 10 minutes viewing at another spot - some people didn’t event get out to look and everyone was back within the time - perhaps this is telling for Otisa about what the customer is looking for? The drive from the final view point to the boat was about 2 hours. Other passengers had to ask to stop to use the toilet and then everyone got off to get food and drink as nothing is planned. The trip along the gorge is attractive. The explanation is purely in Spanish so not entirely sure what is going on. The boat stopped repeatedly to look at interesting things such as the flow of water down the rock face, to see a couple of monkeys and a crocodile. It stopped twice further although we have no idea what we were looking at. If it was intended to be a safari it failed to deliver. The boat itself is a speed boat with 4 seats per row separated by an aisle. The seats were quite uncomfortable due to their narrowness (I’m a 36” waist) and some passengers were literally sat with only one cheek on the seat. There was an opportunity to purchase refreshments from another boat at the start of the ride (5 hrs into the trip) which some passengers did. It looked like alcohol and soft drinks were available as well as crisps etc. The boat also stopped to allow some selfies against the backdrop of the canyon as a souvenir. Almost every passenger got up for this taking around 20 minutes. This might have been fine if I want already in a tired grump by this stage. Anyway, the final approach to the dock was the customary tip-walk from the crew which we felt obliged to contribute to. Overall, our worst trip in Mexico and we are really sorry to say that. The language isolation was clearly a problem and that’s our responsibility but despite that, for a 9.5hr outing we got 2 hrs in a boat and less than 30 minutes at some average viewing points. Our advice would be to think through whether the viewpoints are worth it - without these and starting and finishing at the Tuxtla end this may be a far better experience.

We opted for the boat from Chiapa de Corzo. For $280, you can get a community shuttle to the embarcadero point. You can also walk 15 minutes. Easy to find. This tour is, of course, in Spanish. You see some crocoldiles, monkeys, birds on the way. The canyon is impressive. All boats, tour boats and community boats, drive very fast to the dam and back. It takes about 2 hours. Should you do it? Yes. Is it impressive? The canyon is indeed. But there is no time to enjoy the wildlife; the view is the same, once you are in the canyon.

Both the Canyon and the town of Chiapa are worth a visit. Stunning views. The boat felt safe, plenty of photo opportunities. Other than me, participants collected in Tuxtla (and dropped in San Cristobal, thus a great way to travel up the mountain) were 7 SpanishSpanish-speaking and a Canadian. Thus a supposedly bilingual tour. The driver was excellent; Ivan, our guide, was fluent. However, the talks in Spanish were considerably more detailed than the briefer discourse in English. This happened repeatedly, leaving both North Americans feeling shortchanged.

My partner and I purchased a package from Otisa that included transportation from Tuxtla Gutierez airport to San Cristobal de las casas, the Sumidero canyon and Chapa de Chorzo tour, and a private transfer to Palenque with stops in Misol Ha and Agua Azul. The honorable mention goes above all to Frida, the agency's operator, who was the first to respond to my requests regarding organization and reservations. She followed me step by step with attention, kindness and availability for several months from before our trip to Mexico while trying to figure out how to optimize our time in wonderful Chiapas. Even during the tours she made sure to understand if everything was going well. We were very happy to meet her and thank her in person at the end of our stay. Obviously these are group excursions so we know that the times are rather limited. I must say, however, that the organization proved to be perfect in our case. Punctual and precise with the timing, friendly and competent guides and drivers. The canyon is a truly spectacular place, breathtaking. The time on the vehicles is a lot because in Mexico the distances expand so much considering roads and topes, however in my opinion it is still proportionate to the time spent on the launch. Maybe I would have extended a little to Chapa de Chorzo but I don't feel like saying that we rushed. Another special thanks goes to Amadeus who accompanied us privately to Palenque on a long journey of more than 6 hours with stops in Misol Ha and Agua Azul. A nice, prudent, available person. He solved a small problem we had during the trip transport with the help of my companion, in a scrupulous and attentive way. He told us many things about his Chiapas and this was worth more than the digressions of any guide. Maybe a little more time to spend on the 2 sites in this case would have been appreciated, but it is also understandable to reduce it to allow the driver to safely face the long journey back to San Cristobal. The prices cannot be defined as low. But in Mexico no one gives anything away regarding excursions or experiences. However, I would say that they were absolutely money well spent. I absolutely recommend everyone to rely on Otisa to organize their trip to one of the most beautiful countries of the earth. Thanks Otisa, thanks Frida, thanks Amadeus! Manuela and Riccardo

We hired the transportation service through the Guayaba Inn hotel where we stayed in San Cristóbal de las Casas. They came for us on time and had good handling on the road. They took us to a couple of viewpoints before arriving at the pier where we took the boat that would take us to tour the Sumidero Canyon, showing us all the natural wonders along the way as well as some of the animals that live there. We arrived in Chiapa de Corzo and walked among the food and souvenir stalls until we met again with the transport that would take us back to SanCris... The truth is, it is an unmissable and wonderful tour, one of the beauties of nature within our reach. .