THE BEST WATERFALLS IN MEXICO

HUASTECA POTOSINA – LAND OF WATERFALLS

I love waterfalls, they’re one of my favorite natural phenomena. Something about watching water plummet from a great height down into a basin is just so mesmerizing to me. I suppose it’s the combination of power and grace that’s so compelling. I’ve visited Mexico more times than I can count but it wasn’t until recently I learned about the best waterfalls in Mexico.

Mexico is a beautiful country whose variety of topography and natural resources make it a top adventure destination. In the state of San Luis Potosi, lies a region called Huasteca Potosina and within it, a town called Cuidad Valles. This is where you’ll want to make your home base while you explore the falls. It is the only developed town with hotels, supermarkets, hostels and even a handful of Airbnb’s. The rest of the region is mostly rural, filled with modest ranchers and locals that live off the land. The drive from the SLP airport will take about 4 hours.

The best time to visit this region, according to our local guide is late February to late June. While you’re there, you’ll want to avoid visiting the falls on the weekend as they tend to be crowded. Without further ado, here are the best waterfalls in Mexico.

CASCADA DE MINAS VIEJAS

Towering at about 50 meters (164 feet) is Minas Viejas. A beautiful waterfall located just 1 hour & 30 minutes away from Cuidad Valles. Getting there is straightforward but be on the lookout for random people on rural roads stopping cars to beg for money. On our way there, about 30 minutes out from the waterfall we were stopped by a drunk man. He set up a makeshift blockade, a flimsy piece of rope that he tied from one end to another. I could have easily blown through the rope but I decided to proceed with caution and let my friend who spoke spanish communicate with the man. In the end, we gave him the US dollar equivalent of a penny and continued on. 

 When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find a well run operation. Lots of parking spots available, vendors selling trinkets, food, snacks & souvenirs. There are multiple parking options, with different parking vendors charging different prices, we paid the cheapest one of 50 pesos. We walked toward the entrance to pay our fee of 60 pesos and life jacket rental fee of 30 pesos. The life jackets are mandatory to swim and jump in the falls. 

These falls left me speechless. They were a gatorade turquoise blue, trees quite literally in the middle of the pools, vegetation growing and hugging the sides of rock formation and what looked to be the equivalent of seaweed growing underneath the water. It felt like we had stepped into a new universe. That feeling I get in my stomach from awe and excitement rose to the surface. It grounded and reminded me of why I value exploration. 

This area is massive. There’s room to pitch tents and barbecue pits. There’s picnic tables sprawled across and can easily make for a whole day event. We coincidentally ran into friends we made from the day before at Cascada de Micos jumping tour and joined their party, we took turns jumping some more at these falls and had the best time.

Once our hearts were full and bodies tired we began to wrap up the day. On our way out, a local family struck up a conversation with us. One thing led to another and before we knew it they were feeding us from their picnic table. All 6 of us. I wanted to highlight this story to balance out our sketchy experience from earlier on in the day and because unfortunately our sketchy experiences did not end there. We were grateful for that local family’s kindness because it was a reminder to keep your heart open even when exercising caution on trips.

SUMMARY 

• Location: Cascada De Minas Viejas Google Maps
• Entry Fee: 60 pesos
• Facilities: Restrooms, food vendors & parking

CASCADA EL SALTO 

This was our final stop on the way to downtown San Luis and was perfect for our last day. There is no entrance fee. You are allowed to swim and cliff jump for as long as your heart desires. There is no official management of the falls but the vendors and tour guides enforce using life vests if you plan on swimming. Otherwise you are free to roam and explore. We were in awe, a massive canyon with several pools separated by rocks rising out of the water. At this time the falls were not flowing which revealed the beautiful jagged edges of the mountain side formed by years of water flow. We befriended locals and had a blast exchanging travel stories, exploring and learning about each others cultures. 

SUMMARY 

• Location: Cascada El Salto Google Maps
• Entry Fee: 60 pesos for life vests
• Facilities: Vendor food & snacks 

CASCADA EL MECO 

On our last day in Cuidad Valles as we headed back to downtown San Luis we stopped by this unassuming roadside waterfall. Local “guides” prevent entry unless you pay them for a tour which includes swimming in the pools. I was jumping in for a quick dip when a tour guide approached and said I needed a tour for that. We spent the next 20 minutes just admiring the falls and taking in its beauty on the small observation “deck” area. It was perfect because we did not have much time to spare before heading back to the city.

SUMMARY 

• Location: Cascada El Meco Google Maps
• Entry Fee: No entry fee 
• Facilities: Minimal parking, no restroom 

CASCADA DE AGUACATE 

Cascada el Aguacate was not originally on our list, we were planning to visit Puente de Dios but our friends convinced us to go with the former and we were not disappointed.

The falls themselves are quite impressive—they’re approximately 229 feet tall! After seeing them in person I can confirm that they really do look like something out of Jurassic Park (minus all those dinosaurs). It will take 1 hour & 15 minutes to get there from Cuidad Valles and I recommend filling up on gas before heading out because there were no gas stations in the area, in fact there is not much of anything in the area. 

When we arrived we were a bit confused because it looked like an event center and there was a birthday party going on. There was no indication that there were magical waterfalls hiding behind this scene. That’s because you had to descend some 168 steps across 4 sets of stairs to get there. A woman approached us to collect the entry fee of 100 pesos per person and directed us to the entrance of the stairs. Going down of course is always easy and the further you descended the greater the roaring sound of the falls. 168 steps later and we were greeted by mist from the falls traveling in the wind, picture a grand waterfall inside of a canyon.

We were filled with excitement and jumped right in, away from the falls towards the left there’s a large rock to jump off of and more pools to explore. While I was dilly dallying away, enjoying paradise I noticed a small group in front of me talking about underwater caves, my ears perked up and I zoned in on the conversation.

There were underwater caves right in front of the large rock we had all been jumping off of and the two men of the group were trying to convince the girl of the group to join them and when she refused they turned to me. I couldn’t have been more stoked because it was a pleasant surprise, nowhere I read while researching for this trip mentioned underwater caves. My excitement quickly faded as I realized I had my contact lenses on with no backup…oops. I guess I have a reason now to return fully prepared with a snorkel mask!

SUMMARY 

• Location: Cascada de Aguacate Google Maps
• Entry Fee: 100 pesos
• Facilities: Toilets, restaurant & parking

CASCADA DE MICOS 

This waterfall offers the most adventure out of the rest on this list. There’s zip-lining, cliff jumping, canoeing, rappelling and sky bike riding, where you’ll be suspended 100s of feet above the falls and riding for dear life. At least that’s what it felt like and as an adrenaline junkie, it was my favorite part!

We made the mistake of paying an entrance fee of $100 pesos and $800 pesos for zip-lining. Any adventure package you pay for already includes the entrance fee. We started off with the regular zip-lining which took two routes and then ended with the sky bike zip-lining. It was a beautiful, heart pumping experience, gliding across the falls and admiring the canyons that surrounded us with the turquoise colored waters bellowing beneath it. We were about to pack it in and drive off to the next waterfall when we were upsold on the cliff jumping experience, it only cost about $400-600 pesos and we had been having such a great time we didn’t want it to end!

This cliff jumping tour took up the rest of our day which was about 4 hours, we were driven up the road to an entrance that looked like an old utility plant and hiked down about 15 minutes to get to the first falls. It was much more fun than I’d expected but strenuous because once you jumped into the water, you then had to swim to the next location and repeat the process.

These are the types of adventures I live for but I’d advise fueling up with food and snacks and checking your energy levels during the excursion. You’ll be given life vests which helped ease swimming & helmets for some of the slippery surfaces. You were able to cut your time short and explore the trails instead, if you became too exhausted to continue. We jumped off a total of 8 falls, ranging from 5-15 feet, the tallest being about 30 feet. It was surprising to find a cave underneath the tallest falls!

If you are staying in Cuidad Valles, it will only be a 35 minute drive to Cascada de Micos. I recommend going during the week to avoid crowds. It is a local spot that draws in a lot people on weekends.

SUMMARY

• Location: Cascada de Micos Google Maps
• Entry Fee: $100 pesos
• Facilities: Parking, restrooms, food and drinks

These are the in my opinion the best waterfalls in Mexico! I hope you get to have an epic adventure as I did! If you are unsure of what to pack for this trip check out my Adventure Travel Packing List blog post. It includes different combinations of items to pack for different types of trips (hiking, backpacking, diving, snorkeling, etc.)