Between Flores and Palenque via Naranjo
The disadvantage of this route is that it does not take you past Yaxchilán and Bonampak.
This following is an account from the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree that I believe to be credible.
This is to show how
I crossed from Flores to Palenque, because I've seen many asking about crossing
via El Naranjo and Rio San Pedro. I took a bus from the market in Santa Elena
(town on mainland where Flores lies) heading for El Naranjo (6AM, 3h, 4US$) but
there are several buses, probably starting at 5AM. When I arrived El Naranjo I
found a boat after 10min (5 US$, 45min) heading to El Ceibo in Mexico, (remember
to get your exit stamp out of Guate on the river by El Naranjo first, the boat
should stop there whenever it brings tourists). It looks like it's a lot of
people crossing here, so it shouldn't be hard to find a boat and people who want
to cross. Then in El Ceibo, you can take a pickup (paid 2US$) or walk to get to
Immigrations / buses, but that day the road was very muddy so I took a pickup.
Get your entry stamp there, then bus to Tenosique (3US$, 1h15m) then change to
microbuses heading for Palenque (1h45m, 5 US$) Note that the buses leave from
the outskirts of town, so I took a cab out there from the center (1.50 US$). It
took me in total 9 hours to get from Flores to Palenque because I had to wait
for buses and our bus got stopped 4 times by the police / army (They are looking
for drugs and people from Central-America trying to sneak into Mexico and then
go to USA)
In total I paid less than 20 US$, and the travel agencies charge 30 US$ for the
trip, but going via Bethel / Frontera Corozal (Heard many bad stories of the
company who arrange this trip, San Juan Travels too). The boat ride was pretty
cool too, at some points it had quite strong currents and some waves.
Well, it's probably
not more hassle than via Bethel as far as I know. The road to El Naranjo was
around 98% paved, and went trough a cool landscape and many villages, and there
are many buses to El Naranjo from Santa Helena. I didn't see any tourists either
way, but the immigración office told me there are quite a lot tourists passing
here. When I left the border, a huge air conditioned tourist bus arrived.