Your expert guide to Chiapa de Corzo & the Sumidero Canyon
Many visitors to the state of Chiapas know the pueblo mágico (magical town) of Chiapa de Corzo only as somewhere you visit on a day trip from San Cristóbal de las Casas in order to get to the Cañon del Sumidero. I’m here, however, to recommend that if you’re heading that way, you don’t bypass the town, but you spend a night or two in this gorgeous little place and soak up its atmosphere because it’s an absolute delight of a small Mexican town.
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Where is Chiapa de Corzo?
Chiapa de Corzo is just 20 minutes away from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas. It’s just under an hour from the gorgeous, and much better known, San Cristóbal de las Casas.
✈️ The Tutxla Gutierrez airport Aeropuerto Internacional Ángel Albino Corzo receives flights from numerous cities around Mexico & the USA including Mexico City, Mérida & more.
🚗 If you plan on driving (recommended), pick up a rental car at the airport
→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to driving & renting cars in Mexico
→ Check car rental options & reserve
🚐 There are minibuses that run between Tuxtla Gutiérrez & Chiapa de Corzo. Buses and minibuses also run between Chiapa de Corzo & San Cristóbal de las Casas.
📍 My experience with taking a bus to Chiapa de Corzo from San Cris was that I was dropped on the highway just outside the city and had to take another minibus, which dropped me in the plaza. The driver from San Cris pointed me in the direction of the correct second bus.
Where to stay in Chiapa de Corzo
🏨 MexicoCassie top recommended hotel: Hotel La Ceiba – this beautiful mansion hotel located just a 5 minute walk from the Chiapa de Corzo plaza offers gorgeous rooms, a swimming pool, restaurant & luscious jungle gardens. The rooms are great and breakfast is delicious. I stayed here in Feb 2026 and highly recommend it.
🏨 MexicoCassie luxury recommended hotel: Hotel Mansión Chiapa – if you’re looking for extremely well priced luxury in this tiny town, there is nothing better! The rooms in this 4⭐️ hotel all have a patio and well equipped bathroom. Breakfast is exceptional here and the atmosphere is ‘intimate’ and welcoming. The hotel has a pool for guests.
🏨 MexicoCassie bargain recommended hotel: Hotel de Santiago – a fabulously priced hotel in the centre of Chiapa de Corzo. Breakfast is delicious, the rooms are clean & staff are friendly.
🗺 Or, if you don’t love these recommendations consult the MexicoCassie accommodation finder for more options
Where to eat in Chiapa de Corzo
🍽 There are some lovely restaurants around town. The riverside restaurants have a wonderful ambiance but are more pricy than those in town.
Consider trying local cuisine such as baked cochito (a marinated pork dish) or a delicious fish soup.
MexicoCassie top recommendations
Traditional food: La Cocina de la Tia (view above is from this restaurant) – everything here is prepared with love and absolute dedication to reviving local and traditional food, encouraging local farmers to return to growing local herbs. This is an absolute gem of a small restaurant.
Tacos: Don Rafita – good, cheap tacos just off the plaza
Market & street food: Calle Mexicanidad de Chiapas – here you’ll find a whole street of market foods. This is a great option if you want to try cochito, pozol or grab some quick chicken. On the plaza at dusk you can also find marquesitas, esquites and more
A note on climate
🔆 You may have checked the climate & weather for San Cristóbal de las Casas but Chiapa de Corzo is a whole other game. The first time I visited was in December and while we were cold in San Cristóbal it was 30℃ in Chiapa de Corzo. The temperature rarely drops below 18℃ and tends to peak at 39℃ ( 64℉ – 101℉). It’s generally sunny and warm/hot & humid.
☔️ The wet season is May – October.
⭐️ The best time to visit is between December – March. But if you’re heading to San Cris at the same time, definitely think carefully about your packing!
What to do in Chiapa de Corzo
Take a tour on the Cañon del Sumidero
Without a doubt, the main attraction of the town is the boat ride though the Sumidero Canyon (Cañon de Sumidero).
This is actually one of the most famous tourist sites in all of Chiapas. Apparently, though, a whopping 80% of visitors here are Mexican despite the fact that this is the second most visited site in the whole state after the famous archaeological site of Palenque in southern Chiapas.
The canyon is surrounded by the Sumidero Canyon National Park. The canyon section is the part of the Grijalva River where the canyon walls reach up to a staggering 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) at their highest point.
🚤 The round trip boat tour runs along the 23km of the Grijalva River from Chiapa de Corzo to the Chicoasén Dam, one of the longest in all of Latin America. As you travel along the river you’ll see the Cueva de Colores with its Virgin de Guadalupe image, the Cueva de Silencio, the stalactite named the Caballito de Mar (Seahorse) and seasonal waterfall, the Árbol de Navidad (Christmas Tree) as well as the magnificently soaring cliff walls.
🐢 🐊 If you’re lucky you may spot some of the local wildlife such as river turtles and crocodiles. I haven’t seen the turtles but I have seen many crocodiles here. Apparently it’s possible to hear spider monkeys but we didn’t when we visited.
How to arrange your own Cañón del Sumidero trip
The canyon is explored on a boat with around 20 other people. The trip takes between two to three hours, going from Chiapa de Corzo to the dam and back.
If you’re already in Chiapa de Corzo and feel fine about booking your own adventure, head down to the embarcadero (small docks) on the river. Here there are two or three cooperative groups all offering exactly the same tour. It really makes no difference which you choose. Buy your tickets (under the arches) and then wait around on the steps until you hear your boat tour being called. When we went we deliberately got there shortly after the ticket office opened (around 8.30 am) and were on the first boat of the morning.
👣 If you don’t have the time or energy to sort it out for yourself, check tour options here. There are plenty of fabulous tours to choose from.
Top tips for visiting the Sumidero Canyon
💺 If you can get them, take the front seats as they offer the best views.
🧣 If you go early, even when it’s hot on land, the boat ride can be chilly. For us, our morning tour in late December, when it was almost 30℃ on land, we were freezing on the boat. Take sweaters. My Feb tour was warmer, I think because we set out later.
🚮 At certain times of year, some sections of the river aren’t clean, they’re full of trash. It’s absolutely devastating to see, and quite honestly, many blogs won’t warn you about this. This river is one of the five dirtiest in all of Mexico and some 5,000 tonnes of garbage accumulate each year. There are regular efforts to clear the river, particularly by the workers of the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP) and the Secretariat of Tourism in Chiapas, which extract twelve tons of garbage from the Grijalva river each day. Most of the season cleanup coincides with the rainy season, especially in September and October, when rains are heaviest.
Visit the Cañon del Sumidero viewpoints (miradors)
If you want to visit the miradors, you’ll need to either have a rental car & drive yourself or you will need to take a tour.
All except one of the ‘official’ viewpoints are in the national park (in the far north of nearby Tuxtla Gutiérrez). The main two are La Ceiba and El Tepehuaje.
Mirador Manos que Imploran: this viewpoint is near the dam and the town of Osumacinta. There’s a small restaurant that has delicious and well-priced food, served by the very friendly owner. There is a pool with incredible views and a viewpoint that will steal your heart. I stood for a very long time listening to the silence, watching eagles swoop and dive over the wide expanse of the river I could see.
I don’t recommend showing up early as they were closed despite google telling us they’d be open the second time I tried to visit – apparently they’d gone to the supermarket.
👣 Tours from San Cristobal or Tuxtla Gutiérrez will take you to a few land viewpoints.
Explore Chiapa de Corzo town
Diego de Mazariegos conquered Chiapas in 1528 and Chiapa de Corzo was the first Spanish settlement in the region. Of course, from the fact that there is a ancient archaeological site here, we know that the area had been settled for over 2,500 years before the Spanish decided they wanted it.
Chill out on the plaza
As in almost every Mexican city or town, the main square (plaza) is an absolute delight. Chiapa de Corzo’s plaza has a particularly beautiful fountain–La Pila fountain–on it.
This fountain, built in a Mudejar, or Moorish style, is one of the very oldest in all of Mexico, built in 1562 by a Dominican monk, Rodrigo de León.
🌳 For me, though, it’s the tree (tree photo above) that stands nearby that’s more interesting. This is La Pochota Kapok, a Ceiba tree, and it was around this tree, apparently, that the Spanish built their town.
Sitting on the plaza, hearing the birds come in to roost in this tree for the night, watching them swarm together in the balmy sky while children play, young couples stroll hand in hand, older people come out to meet their friends and street vendors set up is my favourite memory of this small town.
Convent of Santo Domingo & Church
This church, often called “La Iglesia Grande”, or Big Church, is the biggest building in town and it’s located on a small hill overlooking the river. Enjoy checking out the stalls as you walk up to it.
It is apparently one of the best preserved 16th century churches in all of Chiapas.
Museums
Museo de la Laca – located inside the 16th century former monastery, this museum displays lacquer from around the world.
Marimba Nandayapa – this is a small museum dedicated to marimba music
Galería Casa de la Chuntá – this small gallery explains the Chuntá tradition
Casa Museo Ángel Albino Corzo – a very small museum offering some history of the town (all in Spanish)
Stroll along the river bank
The river bank is a delightful place to take a stroll when you’re in town, particularly early in the morning or the evening. There are restaurants all along the bank, too.
Enjoy shopping for souvenirs
The plaza is flanked on two sides by artisan shops selling local handicrafts. There are also artisan market stalls on the road down to the river and beside the old convent.
Fiesta Grande de Enero – The Great January Festival
This annual January festival runs between 8th – 23rd January every year to honour Black Jesus & the local patron saints of Anthony )the Great & Saint Sebastian. On 8th January, the Fiesta Grande is announced and the first of the dances, by dancers called “Chuntas”, is performed. The festival is considered a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
It is claimed locally that, like many of the Catholic festivals in Latin America, it has its roots in the much older indigenous culture. So it has developed into a hybrid of old indigenous culture and newer Catholic and Spanish cultures.
The dance of the Parachicos is a highlight of the festival but there is a worry that this rich culture is on its way out as the younger generation is not interested in taking the time to make the wood carving masks
Zona Arqueológica de Chiapa de Corzo
The site has been occupied since 1200 BCE and is believed to have been settled by Mixe–Zoquean speakers, from the Olmec culture that populated the Gulf and Pacific Coasts of southern Mexico.
It’s a nice small site that takes under an hour to explore. It’s free to enter and you can climb on the pyramid (I asked).
It takes around 25 minutes to walk to the site from the centre of Chiapa de Corzo. Personally, I really enjoyed the walk as it takes you through a bustling residential market area.
Cascada El Chorreadero
Around 10km from Chiapa de Corzo is this small waterfall park where you can while away a few hours paddling, jumping and even climbing up inside a cave where the waterfall begins. If you have kids then they’ll have an absolute blast here – mine certainly did.
🚗 From Chiapa de Corzo you can also explore Tuxtla Gutiérrez & San Cristóbal de las Casas.
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➕ Read the MexicoCassie guide to renting cars and driving in Yucatán
🥾 Mexico adventures – other
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How to visit the Grutas de Tolantongo in Hidalgo
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Chiapa de Corzo & the incredible Sumidero Canyon
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Getting deep into Queretaro’s magical Sierra Gorda region
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Excellent day trips from San Miguel de Allende
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