Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas

The Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas is one of the newest and most accessible boat launches. It opened in 1970 but has been extensively improved in the ensuing years. Not the closest to the light rail station, one can arrive directly from avenida Hermenegildo Galeana. About 220 boats set off from this launch.

It’s classified by the Xochimilco Tourism Board as one of the boat launches for the Traditional Tourist Route, so you can expect to see and experience most of the classic Xochimilco sites, sounds, and foods along your way.

• If you want the Ecological Tour from Nuevo Nativitas, it takes from five to six hours.

Nuevo Nativitas is one of three boat launches that share the same stretch of coast. Collectively, the entire embankment is known as Nativitas. You can also find the Embarcadero Las Flores and Embarcadero Zacapa.

As it’s bigger and newer, the Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas has a slightly more developed land-side experience. This includes parking, a big crafts market, and lots of little restaurants. There’s even horseback riding, and honeysuckle plant specialists in among the many vendors of plants and flowers.

Along the way, you’ll see the famous Island of the Dolls, many of the chinampas still used for farming and greenhouses. Depending on the tour conductor, you can get one with a lot of explanatory detail. You can also a take a tour that includes lunch (paid separately). You may also see that lots of Mariachi musicians, and some multi-boat parties. Remember, the regulations covering the boat launches and use of the canals and boats have gotten stricter. But for smaller parties of visitors and leisure travelers you should have no trouble using and enjoying the canals of Xochimilco.

• See the other boat launches here. 
• Nuevo Nativitas is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.