I first saw Hierve el Agua, the magical infinity pools nestled into the Mexican mountainside, on BBC’s Race Across the World. I starred it on my Google Maps the second it came onto the screen, and it took its place near the top of my bucket list. When I arrived into Oaxaca for Day of the Dead, I knew I had to find time amongst the festivities to visit this natural wonder.
What is Hierve el Agua?
Located two hours outside of Oaxaca City lies the famous rock formation, consisting of multiple pools at the top of a rock face, and one of only two petrified waterfalls in the whole world.
Formed in a similar way to stalactites over thousands of years, this mineral deposit looks like a gushing waterfall from a distance, only once you get closer can you tell that the falls are actually solid rock.
The pools, some natural and others artificial, fill with water from natural springs, the high mineral content causing the water to have a greenish tinge. They are the perfect place to cool off in the high temperatures with an incredible view of the vast mountainside.
Why take a tour?
If you know me, you know I am normally an advocate for avoiding tours when you can. I prefer to save money, brave the local transport, and take as much time as I like at an attraction instead of being rushed through the experience.
However, this is one experience that I WOULD recommend taking a tour to see. The tour not only included the Hierve el Agua pools, but another 6 stops in total including a rug-making workshop and a mezcal distillery where we must have tried at least 10 shots each!
Additionally, the staff at my hostel told me that taking public transport to the pools is quite difficult and that I would spend most of my day travelling if I decided to try and do it myself.
Price
The price of this tour is extremely affordable. It is advertised as £14/300 pesos, however, this doesn’t include the entrance fees of both Hierve el Agua and Mitla Ruins which are £4 each. Even with this included, the tour costs less than £25 which is worth it in my opinion!
You can book this tour through any agency in the city. This is a full-day tour, we left at about 7am and didn’t return until almost 10pm, probably because we were having too much fun at the mezcal distillery!
Itinerary of the day
The itinerary of the day may alter slightly between tour groups, I believe most tour agencies include the same stops but double-check when you book so you aren’t disappointed if it doesn’t include the same attractions as this one.
1. Santa Maria del Tule
We were picked up by the minibus from our hostel just after 7am and drove for about 45 minutes to our first stop of the day, the charming town of Santa Maria del Tule.
I booked onto this tour very last minute. I arrived in Oaxaca at 6am, walked to my hostel and bumped into some girls I had met in Mexico City who asked me if I wanted to join them on the tour!
This meant I had done no research on any of the stops and when they told me we were going to a pretty town with a famous big tree I thought “okay I just want to get to the pools!”.
However, this was a really lovely first stop. The town was beautiful, I felt like I had been transported out of Mexico and into a combination of a small European town and Disneyland! There were perfectly manicured lawns with rose gardens in front of pastel-painted churches.
But the main attraction in this town, and the reason we were here, was to see the widest tree in the world! A tree that takes 33 people holding hands to be able to cover its diameter and is more than 1000 years old. I didn’t think much of this “big tree” when we were diving towards it, but when we got there, I understood why we had come, this tree was impressive.
2. Bakery
This was just a mini, extra stop. We visited a bakery where we were able to try multiple different breads. I did this tour just as Day of the Dead celebrations were starting, so we tasted a few different varieties of Pan de Muertos. Unfortunately, the explanation of the process was lost on me as I didn’t speak much Spanish at the time!
3. Hierve el Agua
Stop three was the main event, Hierve el Agua! After paying the entrance fee of £4.20 we were given two hours to explore this area. This is more than enough time to do the twenty-minute hike down to the bottom of one of only two petrified waterfalls in the world, and then relax in the pools for an hour. You’ll enjoy the cold water after you’ve worked up a sweat on the hike – the way back up is a bit of a killer!
Cooling off in the water, and looking out over the mountainside with new friends is such a happy memory for me, I was so happy to tick it off my bucket list.
4. Mitla Ruins
The next stop was Mitla ruins, in all honesty, this was my least favourite part of the tour as the tour guide we had here wasn’t great.
However, these are the second most important ruins in Oaxaca, after Monte Alban, and they are famous for the mosaic and geometric patterns on the stone walls. I think with a different tour guide the experience would have been much better.
5. Lunch
Lunch is not included, but the tour takes you to a restaurant serving pretty good buffet food. It included both traditional dishes and western food such as pasta. I think I got my money’s worth just from the fruit and jelly I piled onto my dessert plate at the end!
The cost is about £8 so if you are on a budget you might want to bring your own packed lunch. It was also about 3pm before we stopped for lunch so make sure to bring snacks! Although there will be opportunities to buy snacks throughout the previous stops.
6. Rug-making workshop
Stop six was one of my favourite parts of the day. We sat in a circle to watch a rug-making workshop in a store that is famous for only using natural dyes to colour their textiles.
We were shown how the wool of the sheep is cleaned using traditional tools, and how each colour dye is made using natural ingredients. A purple dye is created from grinding up insects called cochineals, a technique that has been used by indigenous people for thousands of years.
We watched as a white powder was added to an orange liquid, the liquid turned pink in the blink of an eye like something you would see in a school chemistry practical. To this day I don’t know if the demonstrator was joking when he proclaimed the white powder was cocaine!
After seeing how all the different colours are created, and having no idea if the huge pot of white powder in front of me was actually cocaine, we were able to witness the weaving of a beautifully intricate rug using a traditional machine.
We were then shown the many different rugs on sale, there were hundreds of stunning designs in all shapes and sizes! I was very sad to leave without buying one thanks to my already overflowing rucksack.
7. Candle-making workshop
The penultimate stop of the day was a candle-making workshop. Oaxaca is known to have some of the most skilled candle-makers in the world, making intricate patterns out of beeswax.
Our guide explained that it is tradition for a man to present an “engagement candle” when he proposes to a woman. These are extravagant, expensive candles, decorated with ornaments such as wax flowers, and can be up to 2 metres tall! We were shown one of these huge candles and were able to practice making the decorative wax flowers ourselves.
They also had a shop selling lots of beautiful candles in many different shapes. I was again upset to have to leave empty-handed.
8. Mezcal distillery
The final stop of the day, and probably my favourite after Hierve el Agua, was a Mezcal distillery, where we were taken through the whole process from the agave plant to a bottle of Mezcal.
The centre of the agave plant is called, and resembles, a pineapple. Many of the “pineapples” are roasted in a large fire pit in the ground, they are then fermented in water before the distillation stage.
Once we had been shown this process, we were able to try many different forms and ages of mezcal, much to my dismay, mezcal did not taste like tequila which is my favourite shot!
After about 5 shots of different ages, one with worms in, we were able to try the delicious mezcal liquors. There must have been at least 30 flavours, I tried chocolate, cappuccino and pina colada flavours to name a few that I can remember!
This jam-packed itinerary, which somehow still managed to feel unrushed, is a must-do in Oaxaca, especially if you are short on time and want to fit as much into a day as possible. The perfect mix of natural wonders, cultural experiences, and fun!
We arrived back into Oaxaca after 9pm, I’m not sure if it is normally this late or if our group loved the mezcal distillery a little too much!
