Option 1 — Water taxi from Los Muertos Pier
The simplest way. Boats leave Los Muertos Pier in the Romantic Zone roughly every two hours from about 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., more often in high season. Tickets run around 300 pesos each way and you buy them at the pier.
The catch is the timetable. You are on their clock both directions, the boat is shared, and it drops everyone at the same spot. Check the last return before you relax on the beach — miss it and you are staying the night.
Option 2 — Bus to Boca de Tomatlán, then water taxi
The cheapest route. Take a local bus south to Boca de Tomatlán, then a water taxi from the small beach there. Boats leave more frequently from Boca — roughly hourly — and the crossing is shorter because you have already covered part of the distance by land.
Budget a couple of hours each way once you count the bus, the wait and the boat. It works well if you are travelling light and not in a hurry. It works badly with small kids, a lot of gear, or a tight schedule.
Option 3 — Private boat
A private charter is the expensive option per person if you are two people, and often the cheapest if you are eight — because the price is for the boat, not per head.
What you actually buy is the route. Instead of going straight there and straight back, you stop at Los Arcos to snorkel, swim at Colomitos, snorkel again at Majahuitas, and reach Yelapa with the day still ahead of you. You leave when you want and come back when you want.
Our Yelapa charter runs 6 to 8 hours with a 6-hour minimum, from $461 USD for the whole boat with up to four people. That is the honest number: Yelapa is a full day, so the 4-hour base price does not apply.
What to do once you're there
The waterfall is a 20-minute walk from the beach through the village, past local shops and vendors. It is an easy walk in comfortable shoes, not a hike.
Eat on the sand — the beach restaurants serve fresh fish and the pie ladies walking the beach are a Yelapa institution. Try raicilla, the local agave spirit the area is known for. Bring cash: there are no card terminals in most of the village and no ATM you want to rely on.
