Valle de Bravo
A complete guide to Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
This pretends to be a complete guide for Valle de Bravo first time visitors, it will be particularly useful if you're looking for a very cheap trip plan. This is basically a compilation of several tips I have wrote in this forum over the years and some personal messages, all of these now together into a single text for your convenience. Hopefully everything you will need to know to make your life easier when visiting Valle can be found here.
All details discussed on this text have been updated to February of 2012, some stuff have changed a little bit from previous forum messages and other sources; like bus routes, some prices, best hotels, etc. If you have any updates, additions or corrections, please feel free to contribute expanding this thread for future reference of the next visitors, thanks on advance to any info you can expand!
1.- How to get here?
First, get your flight directly to Mexico City. Having the extra ride on an airplane to the Toluca airport is a waste of money and not that much time saving as you could believe. If possible, try to get your flight planned to arrive during the day, not at night. If you need to stay a night in Mexico City don´t plan to stay close to the bus station! It will be cheap, but too dangerous at night for a foreigner. It´s OK on the day or even before midnight, but I wouldn't recommend at all to stay on a nearby hotel, staying close to the airport should be a little bit expensive, but much safer.
At your arrival to the Mexican airport, there's still some miles to hit before making it to Valle; you still need to make a bus trip! Bus is the cheapest ride to Valle by far, the bus station name is "Observatorio" (Observatory). So, my piece of advice would be to not to go directly to Toluca but to invest around $200 Mexican pesos (around 11 euros) for an "expensive" airport taxi cab to the Observatorio bus station to catch the next bus riding to Valle for $130 Mexican pesos (around 8 euros). Taking the subway from the Airport station to the Observatorio station takes just way to long, too much walking to change rails, it's too crowded and even a little bit dangerous, definitely not a choice not matter how cheap it is...
I usually do 20 to 30 minutes on baggage and customs crap at the Mexico City airport (from international arrivals) and you can be at the Observatorio bus station from 15 to 60 minutes on a cab depending on traffic and the driving skills of the guy behind the wheel. Just tell the driver to keep all his way directly trough Viaducto avenue and *NOT* to try to use any alternative routes, OK? From the airport to the bus station, is basically one straight line from East to West and that line is run by the Viaducto Avenue without any red light stops on your way. Some taxi drivers might try to get you through "secret shortcuts" in order to get some extra tipping from you.
Once at the Observatorio bus station you will find only one bus line you can use for the Valle trip, it's called the "Zinacatepec Y Ramales", look for the ticket window at the left side wing of the building (easy to find). Time schedules for the Valle the bravo bus may vary, but basically you will find daily departures from 5:00 AM up to 5:00 PM, one every hour. (For example, 5:15, 6:15, 7:15 and so on)
Be sure to buy and to ride the "Libramiento" bus route to Valle and *NOT* the "Amanalco" route no matter what. Don't let them fool you, they are not the same routes and it's not the same trip time, no matter what they tell you. The new "Libramiento" route will take you to Valle in less than three hours thanks to the fact that about half of the way uses the new highway. The "Amanalco" route will take you about six hours and I promise you will be so sick you will spend half trip throwing your inner juices all over the driver! The "Saucos" route will take you over 4 hours with a "quick" unnecessary stop at the Toluca bus station, not really nice.
Taking the "Caminante" bus from the Mexico City airport to Toluca may sound tempting, but riding a bus directly to Toluca from the airport will take a long time, these buses take a different route than cabs inside Mexico City and they take too long to go all the way around the city, you might end up arriving to Toluca after the last bus to Valle have departed of finding no more room available for you at the bus!
Next problem is getting into a bus from Toluca to Valle, let me be clear on this: There´s no such thing as a "Toluca to Valle" ride, they all depart from Mexico City loaded and all of them except the Libramiento one will make a stop at Toluca. If you´re lucky the bus won´t be fully loaded or someone might finish his ride at Toluca leaving you a worm place for you assuming you were first to make it for that seat, but if you´re not lucky enough, well, go figure... (and I don´t recommend staying the night at Toluca either)
So, the "Libramiento" bus departing from Observatorio is a non-stop ride, cheap enough, safe, you can make it on time and you might be on Valle early enough for your first flight there before calling it a day, just spend those $200 Pesos on the airport cab to the Observatorio bus station, be safe, be comfortable, be wise...!
2.- Where to stay and eat?
Once in Valle, you have several choices, from the very cheap up to the very exclusive. Cheapest options are finding a simple room. There are not formally Bed & Breakfast places in Valle, but many people will rent a room at their homes for a really small fee, you can ask for these at the Santa María landing field or any local. Usual fee would be around 10 euros the night. Hotels are spread all around the town, some of the cheapest are those you can find directly outside the Valle de Bravo bus station terminal, but I would recommend getting something closer to the landing zone to avoid long walks or unnecessary daily extra taxi rides.
They are some hotels at the Santa María landing zone or close to the local clubs, some of them really close to them! That's very comfortable because it will save you from long walks every day carrying your gear all around town. Except for the competition days happening every year, it's usually not necessary to arrive with a hotel reservation ready, especially if you will be arriving during the week and not during the weekend. In this case, I would recommend to arrive to the place first, check the hotels and take whatever fits you better to your own personal taste, budget and needs.
If you happen to be traveling with a party of friends, there are a few better recommendations for you; small parties of three or four guys can share a cabin with a kitchen outside Valle at the Avándaro suburbs. This cabins when splitting the daily cost between 3 or 4 pilots becomes much cheaper than most hotels with few extras like a view, pool and other services and a kitchen if you don't mind cooking to save some time and money from time to time. Being in Avándaro will put you in a situation where you can't simply walk to the landing zone or local clubs to search for the next shuttle, but you can have pre-arranged a pickup hour with any local cab driver to take you to the launch, they will usually charge you a little bit more than the shuttle, but when paid together by 2 or 3 pilots it becomes actually cheaper to do this.
Bigger parties may consider renting a full house. There are many options for only a couple of rooms of many rooms with pool and other services. Most of these rentals are quite expensive at first look since we're talking about luxury homes here, but since we're talking about big houses, price divides among big parties comes usually way cheaper than most hotels rooms available in town. There are some of these rentals real close to the landing zone or other strategic spots, but pre-arranged daily pick up for your party with some of the local shuttles for an extra fee might be a good idea.
Useful links:
Cheap accommodations ("posadas") in the town: (Cheaper places doesn't have a website)
https://todovalle.com/hoteles/posadadelcentro/index.htm
https://www.avedelparaiso.com.mx/
https://todovalle.com/hoteles/posada_centrica/index.htm
https://todovalle.com/hoteles/bellavista/index.htm
https://www.casabierta.com.mx/
https://todovalle.com/hoteles/fernandas/index.htm
https://www.posadarosita.com/
https://www.hostaldpaola.com.mx/
Town suites:
https://todovalle.mx/hoteles/casa-en-valle/
https://todovalle.com/propaganda/lecanda/index.htm
https://www.todovalle.com/hoteles/suitetaos/suite_taos.htm
Cabins outside town: (Mostly half way from Town and the Peñón)
https://www.dbravotours.com/
https://www.cabanasalpinas.com/
https://www.lajoyadellago.com.mx/
https://www.cabanaselestribo.com.mx/
https://www.ranchodelagustin.com/
https://todovalle.com/hoteles/elcapulin/
https://www.todovalle.com/hoteles/losencinos/
https://www.revi.com.mx/
https://www.todovalle.com/hoteles/cbellavista/
https://www.rancholasjoyas.com.mx/
https://www.cabanasdelcanada.com/
https://www.cabanasenlasmontanasazules.com.mx/
https://www.cabanaslamontana.com.mx/
https://www.valledebravorenta.com/
https://rincondeaves.com/
House rentals: (Including luxury ones)
https://www.rentasvalledebravo.com/
Luxury Bed & Breakfast: (That's the way they announce themselves!)
https://www.lasluciernagas.com.mx/
https://www.almade7lunas.com/
https://www.lajoyadelviento.com/
https://lacasadelriovalle.com/
https://www.mesondeleyendas.com/
Valle is very diverse and vast when it comes about where to eat: you will find places to eat spread all around the place ranging from all kind of prices. It's possible to eat from non permanent stand carts on the sidewalks of some streets (specially early on the morning and at the afternoon until late at night) for only 2 or 3 euros for some "tacos" or a cheese hamburger and a soda drink, up to the best fancy restaurants in town where a full meal with drinks cost around up to 30 euros.
Most typical food you will for cheap will be the "tacos" and "quesadillas" (almost the same thing), all kind of tacos and quesadillas taste very different and even the same kind of taco from place to place may vary a lot, and I mean a lot! Try to have some fun, taste everything it looks and smells good to you and ask what is it after eating it! Tacos will have different kinds of meat, for a more vegetarian choice ask for quesadillas, they are also very diverse.
3.- What about flying the place?
Valle de Bravo is known for being not only a good place to fly but also for its consistency of many good and reliable flyable days. The best flying season starts on January and it goes until April when the rain season starts. Rainy days are also flyable for a few hours, just don´t expect the best XC conditions. Rain season ends in September and from then to December days are usually very mellow and nice to fly, perfect conditions for students, beginners or just relax flying.
Valle have two very different spots for flying; the first one is “La Torre” (The Tower), this is really close from town and just about a mile and a half distance from the landing spot right at the shore of the lake (30 minutes ride up). This is a ridge soaring area and then a flight over the town with a great view. This is the basic place for medium and beginner pilots and the usual spot for the commercial tandem flights.
The launch site is very small and steep, be sure you know how to properly do a reverse launch, it also might be too crowded during weekends because of the whole local tandem commercial operation, be sure to respect the order of the line for launching. Good kiting skills are also good for you and your glider; the concrete platform of the launch site is quite abrasive for the glider if you drag it around too much.
Beware the lake landing zone is small. If you are not used to small landing zones you might not want to land there. If you do land there be willing to go in the water rather than crash into a fence or trees. You can do your approach over land or over the lake, but I will suggest to do it over the water if you are not fully able to control your glide.
Most of the run over the landing zone is done basically sideways to the wind, keep this on mind for your approach speed and always remember to check the windsocks and water trails over the lake before landing, specially on the afternoon when the wind direction usually changes completely.
You will find plenty of kids at the landing offering you to fold your glider and put all your gear back into the backpack. Most pilots will reject this because they will not trust the folding to anyone else but themselves and specially not to a bunch of kids. Well, I bet you a beer at the landing zone, that most of those kids can fold your glider and setup your great much better than you do!
Use this service, make them feel useful, they are just trying to work, earn some money and be together with the paraglider pilots they hugely admire, share some words with them if you can, they will really appreciate it. Usual "fee" for the service is less of a euro, but you can give them more if you feel like or share them some candies or something.
The next flying site to discuss is the world famous “El Peñón” (The Big Rock). El Peñón is a competition level place and great for some good XC about nine linear miles or 14 Kms. away from Valle, XC from El Peñón to Valle is a local tradition. Some say this is the best place to fly in México (XC), and it’s actually were annual international competition “Monarca Paragliding Cup” takes place every year in January plus one FAI World Championship in 2009 and one PWC Super Final in 2012.
I would recommend flying El Peñón early in the morning when the day just starts to turn on or late at the afternoon glassoff to prevent the blasting of the turbulent thermals of El Peñón, at least a couple of times until you get familiarized with the place. Avoid launching between noon and 3:00 PM on sunny days of the high season. Flying mid day at El Peñón is about big air all over the place, some particular well known thermal trigger spots like The Wall, Crazy Thermal, G-Spot and many others, can be really strong and turbulent. Flying El Peñón is tricky; it have fooled more than one before! But if you can catch up with the Peñon’s ways, you can sure have some helluva ride.
The launch area is wide and grassy and it´s hardly crowded even with many pilots trying to takeoff. Reverse launch is a must and be ready for a bumpy ride from the very few first seconds of your flight, so no fooling around with your harness, brake handles, instruments or anything else at least until you get high, never right in front of the launch area. Try to quickly get as high as possible at the launch, they are many thermals coming up all the time wide spread, if you´re flying to the Peñón itself or to the back, try to gain at least 400/500 Mts. over the launch for a safe ride.
There are a few classic XC routes to Valle, but I would recommend trying first the Peñitas/Zacamecate/Jovan/CocaCola/Valle route which runs basically over the main road to the Peñón you will use to reach the launch, so it´s pretty intuitive. Peñitas would be the "backwards piano", kind of a tricky spot but plenty of room to land. Right next to Peñitas is the Zacamecate mountain which is a nice catapult to reach cloud base. The Jován is a small road restaurant which is easy to reach on your first XC with 2 or 3 thermal climbs, food is very good and cheap, and there´s plenty of room to land nearby.
The piano landing zone of the Peñón is quite big and it´s over a plateau called "Africa" because of its shape. If you´re not planning to leave the valley for a XC and don´t like rough conditions just be sure not to try to land there at noon or you will find thermal power boosting you up again for hours making your landing quite hard and scary. The ravine before the piano landing zone and plateau can be used as a sink hole to quickly lose some height, but be careful to do your final approach over the plateau and not too low over the ravine or you could sink into the rotor and spend some really hard time there. there you will find many skilled kids that can fold your wing pretty well for about less than an euro too.
Try to get briefed before doing any XC to know where you can land, but most specially were you can´t land! You will find some big fancy states were they don't like us landing there, sometimes you might be greeted by their security personal with guns and have a hard time to leave the place. Funny enough it´s almost only on those fancy states were you could find yourself on trouble after landing there, there's a huge misunderstanding about the forbidden places to land when it comes to regular farming fields; most of the time farmers just expect you to give some symbolical retribution for the use of their private properties! Most pilots won't give anything to these people and even be rude with them, this is why they are not always welcome. Remember, this is a poor country and all they ask is about an euro per landing on their fields, which is pretty reasonable if you ask me.
For example, the race track behind the Jován is usually avoided by most pilots because the land care keeper of the place is considerate a dangerous man with a shotgun. Truth is, I always land there when I´m heading to eat at the Jován... I always chat with the guy or his kids, let his kids fold my glider and give him something on retribution so I´m always quite welcome to land there! I don't always pay except for the folding (which is actual work); I usually carry cigarettes and M&M candies; I share a chat and a couple of cigarettes to the land care keeper (they all smoke) and some M&M candies to the children (they won't melt and you can share many of those), this is usually much more appreciated than money since it shows you care for them.
When landing at any rural zone, be careful with some not so evident hazards you might not see from high; most of the time dark spots in the grass doesn't mean dark grass but dark brown rocks instead of grey ones. Most bushes on the dry zones have some sort of thorns or edgy splinters that might damage your glider, greener bushes are most of the time safer. Beware of wire fences, they are everywhere and usually setup with thin sticks so they are hard to spot from the air. Also try to avoid fields with animals if possible, not only you will scare the animals but also you might get some undesirable stains on your glider!
If you go for XC flights, another important factor to take on account is that this place is a little bit illogical sometimes; wind directions and speed may be different every day in different nearby spots, so I know more than just a few pilots have flown directly to a rotor zone expecting to find lift. Can´t blame anyone, this have happen to me many times over many years and I haven´t still figured out the whole picture here. It's usual to be able to see smoke all the time somewhere around, use any reference you can to keep track of the wind. Blue days are very common in Valle, try to learn to read the ground for thermal triggers as much as possible, this is very handy in this place!
You will find everybody at Valle very friendly and cooperative, about half of the local pilots speak at least some basic English. The first I recommend to do at your arrival would be visiting the gang at the landing at “Santa María”, remember to pay your temporal (3 month) local club fee there. Shuttles from the different local clubs for both La Torre and El Peñón destinations depart from the landing field all the time and directly from the local clubs (all of them at a walk distance from the landing field, they are quite obvious if you follow the main street close to the lake), just be sure to board the correct shuttle to La Torre or The Peñón depending on your flight intentions. Usual fee is around 3 euros for La Torre or 6 euros to El Peñón.