Malacatiupan / Thermal River & Waterfalls | Informal Campsite

April 24th, 2024 by fourwheelfam

Hot trash river. Camping area was pretty nice, but the water itself was gross and I would not go back. Clean bathrooms and fast WiFi.

April 20th, 2023 by info

10$ for entrance + camping. 2 adultos, 1 child.
cold beer 2.5$

March 29th, 2023 by ian.hallett

We cycled here after crossing the border at Las Chimenas. Good spot for access to the falls with clean toilets. Large newly built covered area which, the owner told us, will be opening up as a restaurant in a couple of weeks.
Quite expensive at $5 per person per night but quite secure.
Best to arrive during opening hours.

March 23rd, 2023 by momollivier

We spent the night on this spot. There was a lot of noise (workers + partying) we negotiated the access price + night at $10

March 22nd, 2023 by jp98tj

The place is a bit dirty and there is not many facilities on it. only WC (toilet) I told the guy and explained that for this kind of prace, he should offer much more. at the end, we pay 5 US$.
if you go to this place, try to tell these guy that he is too expensive, that he should offer much more if he wants more tourists on his place. he will agree and you will pay less.
there is no place for big cars, only 3 places for some 4x4. the rest of the place is not adequate.

March 6th, 2023 by adelinehobeika

Nous avons passé une nuit ici, came et safe. La rivière est chaude. Nous avons payé 10$ la nuit pour 2 adultes et 3 enfants, et 4$ l'accès à la rivière ( gratuit pour les enfants).

We spent one night here, cam and safe. The river is warm. We paid $10 a night for 2 adults and 3 children, and $4 access to the river (free for children).

February 12th, 2023 by Anna&Irina

As the first night after the border, it was optimal. They close the gates at 5 pm. We called and they waited extra for us until 5:45. The site is very sloping and uneven. The level pitches are limited. We had a very good and quiet night. We liked the hot waterfalls very much.

February 7th, 2023 by philipp.koechert

ok place after the border crossing. camping st the parking lot with no shade. gate will be closed at night so we felt safe. clean toilets which are open all night. short walk down to the river and pools, nice to soak in the evening with beer. bring flashlights for that. nice „warm“ shower for the morning. 7$/pp a little on the pricey site.

February 4th, 2023 by ticket2ride.de

Taking a bath in a hot river is an interesting experience, temperature at least as hot as a bathtub 😉.
Parking field has only limited leveled places and no shade, however very quiet at night.
Paid 10 $ (negotiated) for 2 persons and a campervan. Unfortunately again garbage in the woods and at the river.

December 22nd, 2022 by birdbox-van.de

7$ pppn to camp and to enter the Thermal River. Camping on a Dirt-lot which is quiet level.
Overall quiet expensive for what you get. (Toilets are available). The water is warm/hot, but there is so much rubbish around…unfortunately not really worth it.

May 11th, 2022 by hourlesslife.com

We checked out this place and considered spending the night. It was $2 for parking and $1 each for adults. They confirmed we could camp over night and pointed out the restrooms right by the parking lot. We went and walked down by the thermal river. Lots of different places with varying depths and current speeds. In the end, we decided not to swim or camp because it was just too hot. The parking lot doesn’t have any shade. If the weather were cooler, then this could be a really fun place to soak in the waters with an easy walk home for the night.

March 29th, 2022 by fannyspironelli

Great spot for spending time relaxing. Kids loved it. Very hot water. Natural pools. Jumping. We paid 3$ for parking and 2$ for the pools / waterfalls. Kids did not pay under 12. We could stay for the night without paying more. Alone there. Very quiet on a Tuesday. Toilets with tp, very clean. Never tasted such hot water in a river, incredible ! We recommend !

March 23rd, 2022 by Lucas_Meets_World

This place was great! Thermal water falls with pools to swim and relax. Lots of friendly locals and other visitors around when we were there. We spent the night at the dirt parking lot after visiting the falls. Nothing special but quite and safe. Toilets are available during the day.

February 1st, 2022 by haleysvoyage.com

stayed for one night. It's $1 pp to access the hot spring waterfalls and $2 to park in the dirt parking lot. It's not flat, but in a gated parking lot that is locked after sunset to about 8am. There is also a really nice bathroom that looks like it was recently built. The waterfalls are really hot and beautiful.

December 3rd, 2019 by mischling

Amazing thermal waterfall.
Camping on the very dusty dirt 'parking' lot not that great. But come on you do get to swim, shower and jump in a thermal waterfall. For 0 usd pp pn.

We did leave a par of blue beach shoes behind. Please ask Mariano for the shoes and contact me on WhatsApp +507 6035 1380 if you found them or did not find them.

Make sure to have your belongings close to you when swimming or leave them in your car.

A couple from the next town claimed this morning to have been assaulted and their phones and purses are gone now. Talking with Mariano he says that more likely that they left their stuff out of sight and that when he is at the water with you doggy stuff will never happen because the kids from the area which are stealing would be recognised by him which the kids obviously want to avoid.

November 16th, 2019 by lindsay.allison.smith

Okay, not being an 'I need to see every waterfall' kinda person, this was pretty cool! It's not huge, but the thermal water part is very fun. When you get down to the water, go left and then across the river to the other side. Follow the Yellow spray paint. Yes you can jump in, and the climb out is near where the water drop again (unmarked but little divots have been dug into the rock).

We followed the sign into the yard. There's a lower parking lot looking area with the dirt road above it. To stay the night we parked on the little dirt road part, no problems. We met the lovely man too but he does not speak English so this is a good time to practice!

DOG OWNERS: there are of course a lot of dogs here. 2 groups - 1 is a slightly territorial (esp with food) pack owned by the homeowner. For us there was a feral pack nearby too that only came toward camp once. No issues, just a heads up.

April 19th, 2019 by instagram.com/jtadventuretime

we didn't meet mariano, we didnt buy pupusas, nobody charged us. totally free on the parking spot for the falls. the police was there until the night.
not leveled at all. some flies around, but good for one night.

February 25th, 2019 by thyost

This was a great stop right after (or before) the border. The falls are really nice and there are several spots that are like mini hot tubs. Mariano let me camp right along the river and it was really quiet and safe. The families sell some beer, water, and fried food or you can walk to the church for great pupusas! I thought I was ordering two pupusas and got $2 worth... 8 pupusas!

February 5th, 2019 by cultivandosur

Cruzamos frontera y nos vinimos a quedar 3 noches aquí. Durante el día hace muchísimo calor! Durante la noche esta hermoso.

Muy lindo levantarse y poder ir a saltar a las aguas termales. El río es extenso y se puede caminar un poco alrededor. Tiene unos bichos raros que se te pegan al cuerpo creo que inofensivos porque me bañe los 4 días y no me afectó en nada.

Mariano y su familia son buenas personas. Cada tanto van tours arreglados por la municipalidad y preparan comida casera a 3 usd.

Salto Malacatiupan es hermoso un templo sagrado maya

January 24th, 2019 by ruudsjoukes

We camped in a tent near the river. Felt safe. Waterfall is really amazing!! You can jump pretty much anywhere, water is around 2,5m deep at big falls and big pool. Don't go further or you won't be able to get out! Water is really warm and mostly clean.

December 8th, 2018 by Quefluya2018

Pasamos un día hermoso aquí, tal como describen Mariano es un hombre que adora compartir con viajeros, es muy amable y siempre está dispuesto a brindar su ayuda.
Las aguas y cascadas termales son poco conocidas sin embargo son un lugar imperdible.

May 3rd, 2018 by poramericavamos

You can camp next to Mariano’s house for free! Felt safe. Just gave him a contribution for walking with us to the waterfalls. Very nice guy who likes overlanders!!!

March 3rd, 2018 by martinrocha

We also stayed one Saturday night. Quite and safe. Hot spring is a highlight. Still free

December 22nd, 2017 by It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

Parked on an unused dirt road next to the family house. Free. Easy stroll to hot water river and falls. Beautiful river, not amazing campspot. But it works.

December 10th, 2017 by the_big_girl_travels

We arrived here Sunday afternoon and it was really busy so had to park on the road. We met Mariano down at the thermal river/waterfall as he's the guía and also lives here. He was super friendly and said that we could park on the land overnight (once all the day trippers had gone). There's a nice flat spot. The road here is fine but the entrance to the parking spot is a pretty uneven. Highly recommend visiting even if not for an overnight. No facilities but very peaceful spot... you'll also become quite an attraction with the kids that live here too.

As far as we are aware it's free but we may offer a propino tomorrow before leaving as he manages the area and also very kind to us.

There were armed guards down at the river too which we thought was a bit strange but very friendly and I suppose safer.