From all the interesting places in Oaxaca, Hierve el agua is one of the most visited, but many people gets lost in the way, so we gonna explain you here how to get to Hierve el Agua without getting into any trouble.
Get out of Oaxaca's city center, easiest way is through Calle Pino Suárez, once you reach calzada Heroes de Chapultepec, take a right till you get to the baseball stadium, now the name of the street changes to Boulevard Eduardo Vasconcelos, or also carretera Internacional 190 (yes, apparently it needs 3 names).
Keep straight on this highway, is full of places worthwhile visiting, first, you gonna see the Tule tree aprox 15 from Oaxaca city, many people prefers to go straight to Hierve el agua so you they can have the least people posible at the pools, up to you.
If you want to visit Tule first, follow the sign that says Tule tree, once you're done visiting the tree, keep driving on the 190, on the left side you going to find Teotitlán, you have to turn right on the roundabout to reach the left side of the highway, we recommend visiting Yuulé, or the "Casa de carrizo", you can tell them you come from Optimus Car Rental Oaxaca so they can show you the process how they weave their carpets, for free of course.
Once you're done with Teotitlán, right outside Teotitlán, where it meets the highway, on the roundabout, you gonna see the Mezcal Distillery, try Don Agave, mention us again and they'll show you the process and give you a free Mezcal tasting.
Keep driving the 190, you gonna reach on the right side Tlacolula, if it is sunday we recommend visiting the sunday market, is one of the biggest in latin america. After Tlacolula, and after 15 more minutes you'll see on the left side Mitla, you also have to take the roundabout to the right (Mitla closes at 5 but they start asking people to leave at around 4, so keep this in mind if you plan on visiting mitla, it is $70mx per person, students or teachers in Mexico don't pay, and also is free for mexicans on sunday, so is a perfect time to practice your mexican accent and say: Soy mexicano so you can get in for free ;) or if you going straight to Hierve el Agua, keep driving, you going to see the sign that reads Hierve el agua, after 15 min you gonna reach the tolls, is $62mx going and $62 on the way back, be sure you take the tolls, if you didn't after 25 min you're probably lost, just avoid the sign that says "vía rápida por Xaagá", is a dirt road, is the old road we used to use but is a dirt road, in very bad conditions and takes way longer, so just avoid it.
After the tolls, it takes about 40 min to get to Lorenzo Albarradas, follow the improvised street signs, if you are in doubt ask anybody in the street, they are super eager to help tourist and don't mind.
You're going to have to pay $10 on they way and $25 once you're there, although they keep changing the price all the time but it shouldn't be more than $50 in total.
If you're unsure about how to get there, you can ask us at the office for more indications and a map, gps like waze and google maps generally are right but sometimes they close some roads so they easily can get you lost, just keep this in mind and trust your gps 50%. or you can show us the route the gps is showing and we can confirm if the indications are right.
You can ask for a driver for $300 more if you want to just enjoy the sightseeings and all the mezcal you want to drink, just ask us at the office.
Enjoy Hierve el agua and don't forget your bathing suit nor the sunscreen!
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