Zona Arqueológica de Yaxchilán, Southern Mexico, Mexico
5.0 (532 reviews) Saturday: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM Spent More than 3 hours Ranking #4 in Chiapas Ancient Ruins
Amazing experience
This is a rather large and well excavated Mayan site that is rather difficult to reach so you get the whole "hidden gem/remote jungle" and "beautifull Maya ruins" experience in one go! It starts with a 30/40min boat ride where we haggled down to 200$M/person (we were a group of 4) that is a very nice jungle experience in itself. We saw some toucans and other birds flying over and enjoyed the teeming jungle passing along. The site itself is not the most amazing one, but there is a lot to explore: 2 acropoli, a large plaza and a small labyrinth you van actually enter. Compared to other sites that are this remote it is really well excavated, and a lot of fine carvings can be found while roaming the site. Added bonus is the river that can be seen from some structures. The only other visitors were 4 other people, some howler and spider monkeys and a gazillion mosquitos. Bring repellent and long trousers! (They did seem to stay low)
Address
Tollan, 16 de Enero, El Tesoro , Chiapas, Mexico.
Mobile
Website
http://www.inah.gob.mx/zonas/30-zona-arqueologica-de-yaxchilan
Working hours
Monday : 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Tuesday : 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Wednesday : 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday : 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday : 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday : 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sunday : 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Current local date and time now
Saturday, May 11, 2024, 9:20
User Ratings
5.0 based on (532 reviews)
Reviews
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5mottovino 5:00 PM Feb 2, 2022
Exotic trip into the jungle
Once you get through a couple "civic improvement payments" for the town of Fronterra Corazol, you drive down to the boat launch area to find a boat downriver to see the incredible ancient mayan city of Yaxchilan. The minute you see the Usumacinta river, you fell like you are on an adventure. Across the other side is Guatemala and monkeys are howling in the trees. You should not expect to pay more than 1,000 Pesos for your boat and driver if you want a private experience. Or you can wait for others to arrive and split the cost. Once you arrive (about 45 minutes) you see an impresive ruin right off the river, making it even more exotic when you arrive and jump off the boat on to the steps. The boat waits 2 hours for you to explore this impressive city dating back to 400-600 A.D. Many of the buildings are covered by jungle but what you can see is impressive. The acropolis was amazing with all the ornate lattice work on facade. All the while you are listening to parrots and howler monkeys in the trees. It's really quite an experience... but not for faint of heart. One note of caution; there are immigrants constantly coming across the border into Mexico (on their way to US) without any restrictions once they cross. They then start walking on the roads and you need to be careful not to hit these large groups on the road!
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4Starkall 5:00 PM Nov 13, 2020
Maya ruins and monkeys
During the Corona crisis Yaxchilan is actually open but only the down town area. The acropolis on top is closed like all the other temples up there. I guess the officials are afraid that too many people could gather there. Well, on a whole day there were maybe 100 tourists visiting the ruins. Usually there are many more. Anyway if you are willing to take the efforts to get there (first by car / bus changing to a boat later) and if you are okay with only seeing the half of the location, the day trip is worth it. The boat tour is fun, there are always monkeys and the ruins are pretty.
