Mexico has been blessed by nature with extraordinary places for the practice of adventure tourism by air, water and land.
There are countless natural walls to climb or descend; routes to do on foot, by bicycle, on horseback or by flying; and rivers to descend, and all the places for adventure tourism in Mexico included in the following list guarantee adrenaline in abundance.
These are 12 Mexican adventure destinations that bring together natural beauty, challenges to overcome, and other tourist charms, ensuring a fun and spiritually rewarding trip.
1. Basement of Las Golondrinas, San Luis PotosÃ
It is a hair-raising chasm more than 500 meters deep and it is one of the Mexican temples of the faithful to rappelling. It is also frequented by daring paratroopers.
It is located in the Huasteco municipality of Aquismón, whose head is located 305 km southeast of San Luis PotosÃ.
This vertical cavern begins with a 60-meter entrance on the surface and widens as it descends, reaching an area of ​​more than 12,000 m2 on the ground. It is inhabited by swifts, although the swallows earned the name.
Another great attraction in Aquismón is the Tamul Waterfall, the largest in the state with a height of 105 meters. It is located in a deep canyon through which the waters of the Santa MarÃa River circulate. In Tamul you can go rafting and rappelling.
2. Copper Canyon, Chihuahua
These ravines of the Sierra Tarahumara are more impressive than the Grand Canyon of Colorado and offer the possibility of practicing various adventure activities, such as hiking, horseback riding, climbing, rappelling, mountain biking, canyoning and rafting.
The journey on the El Chepe train is in itself an adventure trip, crossing over bridges with chasms that freeze the blood.
The Barrancas del Cobre Adventure Park offers all the facilities for you to practice your favorite entertainment and has zip lines, a cable car and many other amusements.
Do not forget to know the Tarahumara communities, ancestral inhabitants of the mountains, with their unique cultural features.
3. Jalcomulco, Veracruz
Rafting is an exciting sport due to the adrenaline that generates a trip at full speed through the rapids of the rivers and the pleasant and refreshing contact with the water.
One of the Mexican sanctuaries for the descent of rivers is the La Antigua river, as it passes through the Veracruz municipality of Jalcomulco.
The river descends with variations in its level of impetuosity, creating sectors of different degrees of difficulty for rafting .
Near the banks of the river there are areas to practice other adventure entertainment, such as zip lines and water trekking .
Jalcomulco is located 41 km south of Xalapa and several operators operate in the town that know the best places for adventure tourism and provide the necessary equipment.
4. Pena de Bernal, Queretaro
This 288-meter-high rock located in the Pueblo Mágico de Bernal, is the largest monolith in Mexico and is visited by the cream of national and international climbers.
It is the third largest monolith in the world, only behind the Sugar Loaf and the Rock of Gibraltar, and it has four routes to climb:
- At Bernalina
- The dark side of the moon
- Meteor shower
- Gondwana
It should be noted that La Bernalina is the most traveled vertical path and Gondwana is for experienced climbers. In all cases it is recommended to ascend with an expert, especially when climbing the rock for the first time.
Bernal is a charming Queretaro Magical Town located 58 km northeast of Santiago de Querétaro and among its other attractions are the Temple of San Sebastián and its viceroyalty mansions.
5. Nevado de Toluca, State of Mexico
The “Naked Man” (which rises 4680 meters above sea level between the Mexican valleys of Toluca and Tenango) is an active volcano that offers various possibilities for adventure tourism in Mexico, as well as pleasant activities in contact with nature.
On its slopes there are hiking and mountain biking routes and in winter mountaineers take advantage of the snow in its highest part.
The fauna is no longer as abundant as in the past, but it is possible that you can admire squirrels, opossums and birds of prey flying in the heights.
The dazzling turquoise beauty of the lagoons of the Sun and the Moon in the crater of the volcano comforts the spirit.
6. Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico
Paragliding was born as a child of mountaineering, when mountaineers decided that they needed something faster to descend from the peaks they were ascending, but it is already an adventure sport with its own personality.
In Mexico, one of the best places to practice it is Valle de Bravo, a town in the State of Mexico that has ideal weather conditions for this type of flight.
The Peñón de Temascaltepec, located 11 km from Valle de Bravo, is recognized as one of the great world destinations for free flight.
Several paragliding flight schools operate in Valle de Bravo, which teach beginners and experienced practitioners the secrets and tricks of the specialty. Among these are Wings of Man, Flumen and Learn to Fly.
If you visit Valle de Bravo during one of the many national and international paragliding events that take place throughout the year, you will have guaranteed fun day and night, first in the air and then on the ground.
7. Mesoamerican Reef, Quintana Roo
This reef system – which measures 1,000 km and spans four countries (Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Guatemala) – is the second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef.
It is a wonderful place for diving, especially in the Mexican Riviera Maya, forming part of four national parks and two biosphere reserves on the Caribbean coast of Mexico.
There are countless places to dive at different depths in the Puerto Morelos National Reef Park.
For example, there is the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park, the Isla Contoy National Park and the Costa Occidental National Park of Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún and Punta Nizuc, as well as the Banco Chinchorro and Sian Ka’an reserves.
An enormous number of beautiful specimens of marine fauna parade before the eyes of the divers, including several species of turtles in danger of extinction, fish of all types and colors, manatees, sharks and a wide variety of corals.
All this makes diving through these reefs one of the most beautiful adventure tourism experiences in Mexico.
8. Bosques de Monterreal, Coahuila
Arteaga is a Coahuila Magical Town that is known as La Suiza de México for its alpine environment and its snow-covered mountain slopes in winter.
Near Arteaga is the Bosques de Monterreal resort and sports complex, a place for children and adults to practice snow entertainment.
It has cozy cabins so you can stay as if you were really in a resort in the Swiss Alps and its instructors make learning for beginners a fun experience.
In the Bosques de Monterreal complex you can ski in winter with natural snow and also outside of the winter season on artificial slopes.
Arteaga is located 16 km east of Saltillo and also stands out for the deliciousness of its fruits, especially quinces, apples and peaches, with which they prepare tasty preserves and liqueurs.
9. Balloon flights in Guanajuato or the State of Mexico
Balloon flights are a fascinating adventure that allows you to see beautiful places from above, with a perspective that is impossible to have staying on the ground.
From some points in the DF, the State of Mexico and other places in the country, excursions in hot air balloons depart from the air to admire sites such as the pyramids of Teotihuacán, Tequisquiapan, Tlaxcala, Tepotzotlán and San Miguel de Allende.
One of these operators is Vuelos en Globos, located at Lago Peypus 213, Modelo Pensil, Mexico City.
Ballooning trips are led by experienced pilots and offer shared or private rides that include a personalized certificate and the toast that is a world tradition at the end.
The panoramic views of Popocatépetl, IztaccÃhuatl, Orizaba, La Malinche and other spectacular Mexican places are unique from a hot air balloon, a very safe means of flight.
10. Zacatlan, Puebla
This Puebla Magical Town is nestled in the Sierra Norte de Puebla and is famous for its apples.
Near Zacatlán is the Valle de Piedras Encimadas, a place with enormous rocks up to 20 meters high, which have adopted curious profiles due to the action of the elements.
In this valley there are sites for rappelling, mountain biking, hiking and other adventure entertainment.
Another place for ecotourism adventures is the Barranca de los Jilgueros, a misty gorge with the atmosphere enlivened by the song of thousands of birds.
The best date to visit the Magical Town is in mid-August, during the Great Apple Fair, a fruit that sustains the town and the municipality of Zacatlán de las Manzanas, which is celebrated with a popular festival lasting several days. .
11. Lacandon Jungle, Chiapas
Lovers of jungle adventure tourism have an almost virgin paradise in the Lacandona Jungle of Chiapas, with colossal trees, mighty rivers and the typical heat of the humid jungle.
In the Lacandon Jungle there are fantastic places for rafting, rappelling, hiking and other adventure activities.
This exuberant territory, full of animal and plant life, is dotted with small indigenous communities, especially Chols, Tojolabales, Tzotzils and Tzeltales, who continue to live tied to their ancient customs and traditions.
12. El Chico National Park, Hidalgo
Mineral del Chico was a flourishing mining town for the wealth of precious metals and now lives mainly from ecotourism that takes place in the El Chico National Park.
This natural space is one of the oldest reserved areas in Mexico, since its first designation as a protected area dates back to 1898, during the Porfiriato.
Its current extension is 2,739 hectares and it is constellated by beautiful coniferous forests, impressive rocky structures, valleys and lakes, with places to enjoy various adventure tourism activities, such as walks, trekking, mountain biking, rappelling and horseback riding.
The El Cedral dam receives its clean waters from a network of streams and springs that come down from the Sierra de Pachuca and is populated with rainbow trout and salmon for the enjoyment of recreational fishing enthusiasts.
In the Magical Town of Mineral del Chico and its surroundings, you must visit the PurÃsima Concepción temple and some mining sites that are witnesses of the past splendor for the exploitation of silver.
What is adventure tourism?
It is the performance of activities that involve facing a challenge against the terrestrial, aquatic or aerial environment, or that involve an interaction with the natural environment that entails some type of real or imaginary risk. It is normally classified within nature tourism.
Adventure tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism segments worldwide and its practitioners spend more than 260 billion dollars annually.
In Mexico it is estimated that almost nine million annual international visitors carry out some activity related to nature tourism.
Mexico’s terrestrial diversity, with snow-capped peaks, mountains, jungles, savannahs, deserts, and islands, plus a coastline that exceeds 9,300 km, formed by the two great planetary oceans, as well as mighty rivers, give the country exceptional conditions to become a one of the world powers of adventure tourism.
Characteristics of adventure tourism
The most relevant characteristics of adventure tourism and its practitioners are the following:
- It takes place in natural spaces, generally little intervened or altered by human action.
- Tourists are motivated by facing a challenge that involves making an effort and displaying skills.
- The people who practice it are usually of medium economic income upwards.
- Practitioners are generally individuals concerned with environmental conservation.
- Adventure activities are usually combined with others of a cultural nature, such as learning about and interacting with native communities near the sites.
Adventure tourism categories
Due to its demand, we normally speak of three categories in adventure tourism:
High demand
Expeditions, explorations, long journeys.
Medium requirement
Intermediate risk adventure products.
Low requirement
“Light” products, such as walks, simple horseback riding and recreational fishing.
Adventure tourism activities in Mexico
The possibilities of doing adventure tourism in Mexico are very varied, and among the main activities are:
Land activities
- rappel
- Hike
- Mountain climbing
- cabalgate
- Canonism
- Espeleismo
- Hiking
- Rock climbing
- Mountain biking
- snow entertainment
Water activities
- Free diving
- kayaking
- cave diving
- recreational fishing
- autonomous diving
- Descent of rivers ( rafting )
Air activities
- Skydiving
- Balloon flight
- Hang Gliding Flight
- Ultralight flight
- paragliding flight
