Hierve el Agua

Hierve el Agua performs a slow geological trick: mineral-heavy springs seep over a cliff edge, and over thousands of years their dissolved carbonates have built two 'waterfalls' of solid stone - the larger cascade dropping around 30 metres, frozen mid-pour above the agave-quilted valleys. The name means 'the water boils', for the way the springs bubble from the rock, though the water is in fact cool. On the clifftop, spring-fed pools - reinforced into shallow bathing terraces - sit right on the drop, producing one of Mexico's most photographed swims: turquoise water, stone rim, valley air below. A looping trail descends beneath the big cascade for the full frontal view of the petrified curtain, and the drive out passes Mitla and the mezcal country of the Tlacolula valley, making the classic Oaxaca day-run.

What you actually see

• The cliff-edge pools - turquoise terraces on the lip of the drop.
• The great cascade - the 30-metre stone waterfall from the lower trail.
• The bubbling springs - mineral water welling up through the rock.
• The valley panorama - agave fields and sierra from the rim.

When to go

October to April for dry, clear days; arrive early - by late morning the tour vans from Oaxaca fill the pools. Winter mornings can be genuinely chilly for a swim at this altitude.

Honest expectations

The water is cool, not hot, whatever the name promises. The final stretch of road is rough and winding, and the site has closed at short notice in some years - confirm locally in Oaxaca before committing to the drive. Midday crowds transform the mood entirely; early birds get the infinity-pool photograph.

Nearby

The ruins of Mitla, the Tlacolula valley villages and the mezcal distilleries of the Oaxaca valleys.