Las Nubes, Chiapas, México

August 26, 2014|Posted in: Ecoturismo, Nature

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Las Nubes (The Clouds) is an area which affords you access to views of one of the most beautiful rivers with cascades and rapids that you might ever see. Not that Las Nubes recreation area is the only spot from which to see the river in general, but for any views of the river, we recommend starting here. In a separate article, we will discuss an additional access point and recreation area, Río Celeste Maya.

To get here, follow the signs from Comitán de Dominguez. Make sure you have enough gas as you continue your trip if you’re driving yourself although you’ll notice that in place of PEMEX gas stations, pueblos and ejidos (communal lands) along the way will be selling giant jugs of gasoline by the side of the road if you’re really running low. As you get closer to the area, you’ll continue to notice signs but they will become cruder as you proceed. Continue to follow them, they are still accurate. You will finally reach Las Nubes tourist area after passing through one final ejido.

Camping is a “just-pick-a-spot” affair. The central lawn area between the cabañas and the jungle is all yours. There are also camping spots along the river, although the cascades are extremely loud. Don’t get us wrong, the jungle at night is loud too, but not quite as loud.

To camp, we spent $50 MXN per person, which did not include access to a bathroom or shower facility. That didn’t matter the night we arrived because there does not appear to be a bathroom attendant later in the evenings in general. Thus, use of the bathroom and shower become “free” after a certain hour and hence we didn’t quite feel the burn of having to repeatedly pay the same person to use the facilities over an extended period of time at first. During the day you will spend $3 MXN per entry into the bathroom/shower area, and while there are a couple of stalls and the attendant will give you TP, there is only one shower per restroom.

There are “No Fires” signs posted everywhere. That being said, there’s a particular thing about the enforcement of rules and regulations in Mexico. And accordingly, while we camped that night, our neighbors lit up a fire on a concrete platform in the lawn area. They cooked and spent time by that fire that night. And they invited us to do the same. And we did. We cooked using this fire when our Coleman propane camping stove simply decided to not work…at all. Cooking by your own fuel is fine, they just supposedly don’t like fires on the property, but nobody shut us down that night.

For $50 MXN you can rent a palapa, or covered BBQ area, with a built-in table and grill area. The only running water for rinsing and cleaning dishes, as far as we could tell, is that from the bathroom sinks. I used them for getting water in order to soak and scrub our dishes (which I did elsewhere) and then used the sinks for rinsing them off.

The part of the river right where the facilities stand is beautiful in its own right, but you’ll want to do some light hiking to a couple of other points of interest for further excellent views of this amazing río and surrounding landscape, specifically to el Túnel (the Tunnel), el Mirador (the Viewpoint), and finally el Puente (the Bridge). All three are in the same general direction away from the facilities area and further into the jungle, further away from where you entered Las Nubes recreation area to begin with. From the dirt road turn left at the signpost to get to the riverbank from where you can enjoy views of river rapids, cascades, and a massive rock wall through which the river carved a tunnel (el Túnel) over time. Then retreat from the river’s edge and backtrack slightly for a trail that leads off to your right and allows you to climb up to el Mirador, affording views of not only the river below but of various natural pools and surrounding hillsides and mountains. It is gorgeous.

Once you’ve descended from el Mirador, backtrack to the first signpost and then turn left. Quickly you’ll come to the bridge and while you can utilize the pedestrian cable bridge to cross to the other side of the river for a different perspective, you’ll want to first remain on the facilities side and climb down the boulders there to the cascades in the opposite direction of the bridge and take it all in.

Be aware that Las Nubes gets rather busy on weekends and holidays. While always still worth the trip, plan yours for a weekday or non-holiday if you don’t like crowds.

{Last Visit: April 2014}