CHIAPA DE CORZO TRAVEL GUIDE

Places to Stay - Click here for price key

Hotel La Ceiba ($$, Av. Domingo Ruiz 300, tel. 961/616-0073, www.laceibahotel.com) is the nicest hotel in town, rating three or four stars. It has simple rooms, a pool, spa, restaurant, and events salon.

Posada Real ($$, Av. Julián Grajales 192, tel. 961/616-1016) has cable TV, a/c, and parking for small cars.

Hotel Los Angeles ($, Av. Julián Mexicanidad de Chiapas 2, tel. 961/616-0048) has parking, free Wi-Fi, cable TV, and a/c.

Places to Eat - Click here for price key

Jardines de Chiapas ($$, Av. Francisco I. Madero 395, tel. 961/616-0198) is the usual haunt of tour groups, and attracts locals too. The food is classic Chiapas fare. There's an expansive buffet after 1PM Wednesdays, Sundays, and holidays for 185 pesos.

Italiano D Avellino ($$, Calzada Victorico R. Grajales 1103, Ribera Nandambúa, tel. 961/153-0733) offers pizza and pastas in a nice patio setting.

Open about a year ago, Restaurant Yalailo ($$, Malecón Chiapa de Corzo, tel. 961/616-0453) serves seafood and typical local snacks. Most of the other restaurants facing the river along the malecón serve similar menus; some of the best known are Comitán, Verónica, Rincón Turístico, and La Pasadita.

Things to Do

Parque Sumidero (tel. 961/128-8894, www.sumidero.com) has a swimming pool, restaurant, natural areas, and adventure activities at additional cost. The entrance fee of 250 pesos entrance fee includes access by boat. Most people arrive as part of an arranged tour, but you can make individual arrangements, too.

No need to make reservations for a boat ride up the Grijalva River to see Cañón del Sumidero and Chicoasen Dam. Right in town, the most popular access is at Malecón Chiapa de Corzo (cost 150 pesos, boat ride about 2 hours). If you want to make arrangements ahead of time for some reason, contact Sociedad Cooperativa Angel Albino Corzo, tel. 961/616-0680 or Sociedad Cooperativa Nandiumé (tel. 961/616-0453). Five minutes before town on the road from Tuxtla is Embarcadero Cahuaré and la Sociedad Cooperativa Nandambúa (tel. 961/616-1572) as well as other boat operators, all offering the same services and prices as those mentioned above.

The former Dominican monastery, Ex-convento de Santo Domingo (one block south of the main square, Av. Mexicanidad Chiapaneca 10, tel. 961/616-0055), was restored in 1999 and now serves as a cultural center with rotating art and cultural exhibits. Inside, el Museo de Laca shows lacquerware made here and abroad.

More Info

Tourism office is located at Av. Domingo Ruiz 1, tel. 961/616-1013.

Bus and Taxi Info

From Tuxtla, inexpensive buses take about half an hour and leave almost every five minutes aboard Transportes Tuxtla--Chiapa de Corzo (Estación de Autobus de Tuxtla, at 7a Sur Oriente) between 6AM and 10PM. (If the taxi driver taking you to the bus station isn't sure where it is, tell him it's the location of the old Cine Vistarama.)

From Chiapa de Corzo, buses less frequently than they do from Tuxtla but nonetheless several times an hour from el Central OCC (Omnibus Cristobal Colon, beside Plaza del Sol, tel. 961/613-3180).

Taxis Santo Domingo (tel. 961/616-1089) can provide transportation to Tuxtla or to see the canyon from lookout points, some with restaurant, overlooking the canyon. The lookout points are La Ceiba, La Coyota, El Roblar, El Tepehuage, and Los Chiapa.