Entrance to Tamul - upper waterfall | Tourist Attraction

We wrote the same review at the other Tamul falls pin. We thought it would be helpful to include it here as well.

We were a bit confused by other reviews so we wanted to provide some clarification and details after visiting!

TLDR; guide was mandatory, did a 200 peso per person boat tour, it was 5 hours long and we had lots of fun!

The entrance to the top of the falls were closed. A guy was there with a rope blocking the road. It didn’t seem sketchy, he didn’t ask for money, he just told us we couldn’t go to the top of the falls.

He told us we have to visit the falls from the main village. We drove into town and stopped on the side of the road looking a bit lost. A lady from one of the tour guide venders (very friendly) approached us, welcomed us to town, and asked if we were here to see the falls. She said a guide is mandatory for seeing the falls. The guides take you on a boat tour up the river to the bottom of the falls.

Pricing was $1600 for a private tour, or $200 pesos per person if we joined a group of 8. We asked if we could join another group, she said yes, and we followed one of the guides 2 minutes down the road to the meeting point to join another group.

We parked on the side of the road next to a field (along side other cars and tour busses who were here for the tours).

We were given a life jacket, then did a short hike through the trees and fields to where the boats are located. Then we all hopped in and paddled up stream towards the falls. We paddled for almost an hour (definitely wouldn’t recommend doing a private tour… less paddlers 🤣). The river and surrounding landscape is beautiful. It’s a popular excursion, (there were quite a few boats on the water) but the boats are quite spaced out so it felt like we were alone.

When we reached the falls, we climbed out the boats onto some rocks to view them. We then had the option to cliff jump back into the river (lots of fun!) and float a little ways back down the river. On the way back, we stopped at a cenote and another waterfall which had some pools to hang out in and a few food vendors.

We had started the day expecting to park and walk up to the falls, but for the $200 pesos per person (and free parking) we thought this was well worth it.

We had a fun day!

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Agree with comments below, we just had bicycles so was easy for us but a large motorcycle or car would struggle on the road. We did turn up around 4 though so may have missed it due to that?

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I managed to get to the waterfall by going through the village on a backroad , the one suggested in previous comments. It is quite steep and grassy but ok on a smallish motorcycle. I met another motorcyclist on a big bike who had been stopped at the main entrance to the village. He had insisted (15 times) that this was a public road and to let him pass... eventually they did. It seems that after 4pm the men with a rope go home so if you can't do the side road or deal with confrontation, after 4pm would be good.

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We also got stopped on a Saturday. Seems like a legit closure and the guys work for the town. They were really nice but not budging. Said the camping wasn’t operational (that seemed false) and wouldn’t let us pass even to camp. Said we had to go to Playita to camp (don’t go there, guy is super sketchy and rude).

After a satellite search of the area, it seems like it may be possible to get around with some dirt roads. But the road that Google Maps wants you to take on the bend before turning into the rope seems like a sketchy ‘road’ if you can even call it that. We have a tall Transit van so it seemed too off camber for that, but I just drove by quickly.

Continued north to more waterfalls but will try to get in without paying on our way back south and update here. We don’t want a guide to hike, as we prefer to go alone and at our own pace. And the boat tours look miserably crowded and touristy.

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Didn’t get through, we didn’t want to pay the outrageous price of 1000 pesos for entrance and guide. The roads through the village around the rope didn’t look very promising, maybe because it rained. We didn’t try them. Boat rides for two people go for the same price and if you are with more prices go down. Might be a better option.

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They didn't let us pass without paying 1000 pesos for a guide although we said we only like to camp at the river. We decided to find a another way through the small village streets. We had to pay 20 pesos pp to at the gate 2 km before the waterfall and another 50 pesos pp and 30 pesos to park at the entrance of the waterfalls. Nobody minded that we didn't have a guide.

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Did not sleep here. Admission to the river is 10 pesos per person.
If you are wondering if you can go up the river with our own kayak, SUP: yes you can. Life jackets are mandatory (required by law) and they will stop you if you don't have any. But if you have all your own equipment, including life jackets, then this is no problem at all. We went up river with a SUP kneeling and using kayak paddles. Be advised that the current further up is strong so you might want to get out and walk on the river bank for a bit bypassing the rapids.
Bonus: when taking the tour, you get 2 minutes to see the waterfall. Going by yourself you can stay as long as you want.
We went on a Saturday and the amount of boats was insane (see pictures).

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After a long discussion with the guys at the rope, they let us pass. We said we don't need a guide and we just want to camp at the campground. First they said no, we have to pay 1000 Pesos and need a guide. We went away to our Campers (we been two campers and four people). After 5 minutes they came to us and said okay we have to pay 100 Pesos in total and we can drive to the campground without a guide. The way is 5 kilometers long and after 2 kilometers is another gate where you have to pay 20 Pesos p.P. We neither camped on the campground, but we camped on the wildcamping spot on ioverlander for free. The entrance for the Tamul waterfall is 50 Pesos p.P.

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No posible to pass for camp, you have pay 1000 pesos (until 5 people). No thanks, de came back.
afer 5 p.m. you don't pass. closed

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Here is where the dirt road starts and where you find the rope.
The entrance is now 1000M$ up to 5 people, and 200M$ per person for groups 6+ people.
They say it’s a full package. We tried to bargain saying that other people came here a few weeks ago and paid less but they said it was impossible.
Originally free to enter now cannot access without paying for the guide.

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