Best Day Trips from Comitán: El Chiflón, Montebello & Tenam Puente
Comitán de Domínguez is a colonial Pueblo Mágico about 85 km from the Guatemala border, and its real value to a traveller is location: it puts you within 15 minutes to an hour and a half of the best sights in southern Chiapas, most of them reachable by colectivo without a tour. The day trips worth doing, ranked:
El Chiflón waterfalls — about 45 minutes southwest, a chain of turquoise falls ending in the 120-metre Velo de Novia. The best single day out from town.
Lagos de Montebello — 1 to 1.5 hours southeast, a national park of dozens of multicoloured lakes strung along the border.
Tenam Puente ruins — 15 to 30 minutes southwest, a compact hilltop Maya city with three ballcourts and almost no crowds.
Las Nubes — 3-plus hours southeast, a turquoise river with a suspension-bridge lookout. Really an overnight, not a day trip.
Comitán itself — the shaded plaza, Templo de Santo Domingo, the Rosario Castellanos cultural centre, the hilltop mirador, and a glass of comiteco.
I base myself in Comitán when I'm riding this part of Chiapas, because it's the one town in the south that turns four scattered attractions into a set of easy mornings. Below: how day trips work out of Comitán, then each one with drive time, how to get there, cost, how long it takes, and a verdict. For the town in depth, see the Comitán de Domínguez guide; for the region, the independent guide to Chiapas.
Key Takeaways
Comitán's whole point is as a base: El Chiflón is ~45 minutes out, Tenam Puente ~15 to 30, Lagos de Montebello ~1 to 1.5 hours, all on paved roads.
Colectivos leave from different terminals scattered around the centre and along Highway 190 (Boulevard Belisario Domínguez), not one central station. Confirm your departure point the day before.
El Chiflón is the best single day trip: ~35-peso colectivo, ~80-peso entry, half a day.
Tenam Puente is the sleeper: a hilltop Maya site with three ballcourts, ~2 hours, often near-empty, and free for Mexican nationals and residents on Sundays.
El Chiflón and Montebello can be combined in one long day, but they're on different roads and you'll rush both. Split them over two mornings.
Las Nubes is ~130 km each way with awkward colectivo times. Treat it as an overnight or skip it.
How Day Trips Work from Comitán
Comitán has no single bus terminal for the region. Colectivos and combis run from a handful of small terminals and street corners, mostly in the blocks southwest of the plaza and along Highway 190 / Boulevard Belisario Domínguez, and each destination has its own departure point:
El Chiflón / Tzimol: vans from Highway 190 on the southwest edge of town, a few blocks from the main bus terminal, about 35 pesos (Zoe Goes Places).
Lagos de Montebello: the Transportes Lagos de Montebello combi line runs from a terminal in the centro (around Calle 13a Sur Poniente — ask your guesthouse, as the corner has shifted before), roughly hourly from about 8:40am to 4pm, around 55 to 60 pesos to the lakes (Voyage Mexique; Comitán de las Flores).
Tenam Puente: the ejido combi line from 2a Avenida Poniente Sur, in the centro, about 20 to 25 pesos, roughly every 45 minutes from around 7am, with the last van back from the ruins near 4pm (Off Path Travels).
Ask your guesthouse to point you to the right corner, and go in the morning: almost everything on this list stops running by mid- to late afternoon.
Your own vehicle helps most at Tenam Puente and Montebello, where you can beat the colectivo schedule and the tour buses, and least at El Chiflón, which is a straightforward colectivo run. Rentals are easier to arrange at Tuxtla airport than in Comitán itself.
Combining El Chiflón and Montebello: it's technically possible in one very long day, and San Cristóbal tour operators sell exactly that. But the two sit on different highways southeast and southwest of Comitán, so you'd backtrack through town, and you'd get maybe 90 minutes at each. Based in Comitán, there's no reason to. Do one each morning.
The Day Trips Compared
Day trip | Drive time each way | How to get there | Cost | Time needed | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
El Chiflón waterfalls | ~45 min | Colectivo from Hwy 190, ~35 MXN; or own vehicle | ~80 MXN entry | Half day (4–5 hrs) | Do it. Best single day out |
Lagos de Montebello | 1–1.5 hrs | Combi from the centro, ~55–60 MXN; or own vehicle | ~65 MXN park fee (foreigners ~125) + ~40 MXN ejido fee per person | Half to full day | Do it. Quiet, spread out |
Tenam Puente ruins | 15–30 min | Ejido combi from 2a Av. Pte Sur, ~20–25 MXN; or own vehicle | ~85 MXN nationals / ~155 MXN foreigners | ~2 hrs | Underrated. Go if you like ruins |
Las Nubes | 3+ hrs | Long combi via Montebello, or own vehicle | ~40 MXN entry | Overnight | Overnight or skip. Too far for a day |
Comitán town | — | On foot | Free–50 MXN museums | Half day | Do it. Give the base a morning |
1. El Chiflón Waterfalls
Drive time: about 45 minutes, roughly 40 km southwest on Highway 190 toward the Tzimol turnoff.
El Chiflón is a spring-fed river that steps down a limestone valley in five turquoise cascades, ending in Velo de Novia ("Bride's Veil"), a curtain of spray falling about 120 metres in one sheet (Two Wandering Soles). The water holds its colour most of the year because the catchment is small, so it doesn't brown out after every rain the way Agua Azul does.
How to get there. Colectivos marked Tzimol or El Chiflón leave from Highway 190 on the southwest edge of Comitán for about 35 pesos and 40 to 50 minutes; they drop you about a kilometre short of the gate, a 15-minute walk or a 10-peso tuk-tuk (Zoe Goes Places). By car or motorcycle it's paved the whole way.
Cost: around 80 pesos per person at the gate, cash (Jonny Melon). Ziplines and cabañas are extra.
How long: a half day. Reaching the Velo de Novia platform is 30 to 40 minutes of steady uphill on a paved path with steps; budget two to four hours for the full chain and back.
Verdict: do it, and go early. Full detail in the El Chiflón waterfalls guide.
2. Lagos de Montebello
Drive time: 1 to 1.5 hours southeast, on Highway 190 toward La Trinitaria then Highway 307 into the park.
Lagos de Montebello National Park, Chiapas' first (protected since 1959), is a cluster of dozens of lakes right against the Guatemala border, each a different shade of emerald, turquoise, or near-black depending on depth and mineral content. The park is commonly described as having 59 lakes; treat that as a round number rather than a headcount, since the smaller ones are seasonal.
How to get there. The Transportes Lagos de Montebello combis run from a terminal in the centro (around Calle 13a Sur Poniente — confirm the corner locally) roughly hourly from about 8:40am to 4pm, around 55 to 60 pesos to the lakes (Voyage Mexique; Comitán de las Flores). A rental car or motorcycle handles the park roads in dry season.
Cost: the CONANP national-park fee is about 65 pesos for Mexican nationals and residents (125 pesos for other foreign visitors, 30 pesos for students and teachers), and the ejido that controls Tziscao, Cinco Lagos, Pojoj, Internacional and Montebello lakes charges a separate access fee of about 40 pesos per person on top (Comitán de las Flores; Milenio, retrieved 2026-08-31). Raft (balsa) rides on Lago Pojoj and Cinco Lagos run about 150 to 250 pesos per person, negotiated on the spot.
How long: a relaxed half day for Bosque Azul plus Cinco Lagos; a full day if you add Tziscao for lunch.
Verdict: do it. It's a quieter, more spread-out kind of beautiful than El Chiflón, and the drive is short from Comitán. See the Lagos de Montebello guide.
3. Tenam Puente Ruins
Drive time: 15 to 30 minutes, about 10 to 13 km southwest of Comitán off Highway 190.
Tenam Puente is a Late Classic Maya city built up a series of wooded hills at about 1,600 metres, with platforms, plazas, pyramids, and three ballcourts — the only site in the region with that many (Mexperience). From the acropolis at the top you get a long view over the Comitán valley. On a normal day you might share the site with a dozen other people.
How to get there. The ejido combi line leaves from 2a Avenida Poniente Sur in the centro, about 20 to 25 pesos, roughly every 45 minutes from around 7am; the last van back from the ruins goes near 4pm, and staff at the entrance hut will phone one up for you (Off Path Travels). By car it's a signed turnoff and a short paved road.
Cost: about 85 pesos for Mexican nationals and residents, 155 pesos for other foreign visitors; free for nationals and residents on Sundays (INAH, retrieved 2026-08-31). INAH's own site still shows the older 80/145, but the 2026 tariff raised its Category III sites — carry a little extra. Open 8am to 5pm daily, last entry 4pm.
How long: about two hours to walk the whole site.
Verdict: underrated. If Maya ruins are part of why you came to Chiapas, this is the easiest one to reach in the state and one of the emptiest.
4. Las Nubes
Drive time: 3-plus hours southeast, about 130 km past Montebello along the southern border highway.
Las Nubes (the Causas Verdes ecotourism centre, run by a Tzeltal and Tojolabal ejido in Maravilla Tenejapa) is a stretch of the Río Santo Domingo running an intense turquoise through a series of rapids, with a suspension-bridge lookout over the gorge (Vámonos to Mexico).
How to get there. This is the hard one. It's a long combi relay via the Montebello road, and the direct colectivos back toward Comitán leave brutally early or around midday (iOverlander, retrieved 2026-08-27). With your own vehicle it's a committing full day of driving.
Cost: about 40 pesos entry (reported anywhere from 30 to 50 depending on season); cabañas on site if you stay.
How long: realistically an overnight. As a day trip from Comitán you'd spend six hours in transit for two at the river.
Verdict: worth it on a longer southern loop with a night booked at the ecotourism centre. Not a Comitán day trip.
5. Comitán Itself
Don't treat the base as only a base. Comitán is a genuine Pueblo Mágico and half a day in it is time well spent.
The main plaza. A stepped, multi-level square with clipped trees, benches, and a fountain, and free marimba on weekend evenings when locals come out to dance (Mexperience).
Templo de Santo Domingo. The 16th-to-17th-century church on the plaza, with a bright yellow facade and unusual blind arcading on the tower.
Centro Cultural Rosario Castellanos. A former convent turned cultural centre, named for the writer who grew up in the region; walk into the courtyard for the murals.
The mirador. Climb to the hilltop chapel above the centre for the view over the valley toward the mountains.
Comiteco. Comitán's own spirit, distilled from fermented agave sap rather than the roasted heart, so it comes out sweeter than mezcal (Vámonos to Mexico). Try a glass before you decide whether to carry a bottle out.
For where to sleep, see where to stay in Comitán.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to do in Comitán?
Use it as a base. Within an hour and a half you have El Chiflón's waterfalls, the Lagos de Montebello lake district, and the Tenam Puente ruins, all reachable by colectivo. In town itself: the multi-level main plaza with weekend marimba, the yellow Templo de Santo Domingo, the Rosario Castellanos cultural centre, the hilltop mirador, and comiteco, the local agave-sap spirit.
Is Comitán worth visiting?
Yes, mainly as a hub. It's a quiet colonial Pueblo Mágico with a good plaza and cheap food, but its strongest argument is that it cuts the drive to southern Chiapas' best sights to under 90 minutes each, versus three to four hours from San Cristóbal. Give it one night minimum, two if you want El Chiflón and Montebello without rushing.
How do you get from Comitán to El Chiflón?
Take a colectivo marked Tzimol or El Chiflón from Highway 190 on the southwest edge of town, a few blocks from the bus terminal, for about 35 pesos and 40 to 50 minutes. Vans drop you about a kilometre from the gate; walk 15 minutes or take a tuk-tuk for around 10 pesos. Entry is about 80 pesos.
Can you do El Chiflón and Montebello in one day?
Just barely, and it's the standard San Cristóbal tour, but they sit on different roads southwest and southeast of Comitán, so you backtrack through town and get roughly 90 minutes at each. Based in Comitán, split them: El Chiflón one morning, Montebello the next.
What are the Tenam Puente ruins?
A Late Classic Maya city 10 to 13 km southwest of Comitán, built up a set of wooded hills with plazas, pyramids, and three ballcourts, topped by an acropolis with a long view over the valley. It's open 8am to 5pm daily, costs about 85 pesos for nationals and residents and 155 for other foreigners, takes about two hours, and is usually close to empty.
The Bottom Line
One day in Comitán: do El Chiflón. Two: add Lagos de Montebello, one destination each morning. Three: slot in Tenam Puente before lunch and give the town the rest of that day. Save Las Nubes for a trip with a night booked out there. For how Comitán fits a wider route, see how many days to spend in Chiapas and the best day trips from San Cristóbal; for more falls, the best waterfalls in Chiapas; for the whole state, the unfiltered list of things to do in Chiapas.
