What are Cenotes?
For me they will always stay as a jungle crawling beneath the surface onto mini lakes to jump in escaping the heat.
Those mini lakes are actually natural pools of water created by the erosion of limestone that surrounds them underneath the greenery. Talking numbers it’s around 6,000 of them in Yucatan and not all have been discovered yet. And the best part is that all cenotes are connected via small underground canals and rivers. It forms the real secret underworld of Mayans.
For Mayans cenotes were sacred and a primary source of water hence most of the pyramids and other settlements were built nearby them. They believed that cenotes are gateways to afterlife and gods live there too. Mayans performed various ceremonies and sacrifices literally dropping valuable things in the water. Remains of ceramic pots, jewellery, animal and even human bones including children are found in the depths nowadays.
#1 Cenote Zaci
This cenote was the first one we visited. Descending down the stairs we got into this amazing oasis, but 40 meters deep greenish murky looking water didn’t seem very welcoming to me and I was thinking what kind of invisible wildlife can live underneath there and nibble on my feet. Experiencing cenote for the first time and not being a good swimmer was a challenge for me, but I managed to get my feet wet eventually.
*Cenote Zaci is located right in the middle of little town of Valladolid and can be easily walked to from the main square – can it be more convenient? Despite being in the centre of Yucatan it’s still of the beaten path and not as touristy as others yet – you might have it all for yourself.
#2 Cenote Suytun
We had to get here early as this must be the most instagrammable cenote! We probably wouldn’t have found it if not social media but the popularity makes this place insanely busy. It’s overwhelming what an impact on nature masses of people attracted to one particular spot do. We have arrived just before opening time and yet already had people walking behind us with cameras ready to get that famous shot too and had to race who gets down the stairs first. We won. We won no longer than 3 minutes of ‘private’ time. This sounds ludicrous.
Suytun is a cave cenote where limestone roof never collapsed. It’s generally dark and humid underground, but these kind of cenotes have a hole or two where light peaks through daytime and artificial lightning is installed too for a better vision – another clue this cenote is well designed to accommodate needs of tourists.
No wonder it’s liked by everyone so much though as the stone walkway with hanging stalactites above your head and a ray of light creates once in a lifetime feeling. Water here is crystal clear and relatively shallow at only 5 meters depth. You can see and even touch the curious catfish.
*Cenote Syutun is located 9 km east from Valladolid. The tip is to be there before opening time (9 am) and you might be lucky to be the first to enter or arrive later in a day when tour buses and hundreds of bright orange life jackets leave the place serene.
#3 Cenote Ik Kil
Curtain of vines hanging directly overhead when you float in the middle was pretty spectacular. At 26 meters below the surface Ik Kil is one big hole in the ground. Water is at around 40 meters depth here and you can do cliff jumping if you dare to.
If you are fainthearted (like me) there are a few sets of step ladder to get into the water and you can rent a life jacket for a small fee at the entrance. And to make your experience even better there are ropes to handle onto in the water if you need a rest without getting out.
If you imagine it to be a secret gem at the end of a jungle path – this is the very opposite. Cenote is super popular with tour buses coming from Chichen Itza nearby and it get’s really crowded. It has the swimming pool feeling with changing room facilities, lockers to leave your clothe, showers and even restaurant on site. We arrived around midday and that was literally the worst time ever. It was no less than 50 people floating and constantly going in and out. We had to queue above the step ladder to get in! And when we did we instantly felt the traffic inside with people accidentally touching you whilst swimming pass by. It ruined the experience a bit.
*Cenote Ik Kil is around 2 h drive from Tulum and only 3 km from Chichen Itza. Arrive very early or just before closing time when bus tours leave. Or just be very patient and hope there are time gaps throughout the day when it’s less packed.
#4 Cenote Dzintup
This is actually two cenotes in one: X’Keken and Samula. You can choose whether you want to pay entrance for one of your choice or pay for both. We went for both, but ended up staying in X’Keken longer eventually. Both of them are underground cenotes and involves some dark narrow stairs climbing down. Surprisingly quite big rooms open up at the end of the stairs and ray of light coming from the little hole in a limestone roof is still our favourite cave cenote feature.
Samula
The air in the cave can get hot and humid and it’s so dark in general it’s a nightmare to take any worthy pictures if you leave your tripod in a car like we did! We have seen people snorkeling with little light torches for better vision of what’s underneath.
X’Keken
Giant stalactites and stalagmites that are both under the water and hanging from the top of the cave and tiny bats flying high above your head won me over to float here.
The name for cenote X’Keken comes from a somewhat comical legend. X’Keken means pig (or pork) in Mayan and according to the locals, there was one pig that always disappeared deep in a jungle and returned very muddy even though the land was suffering from drought. When they decided to follow the naughty pig – it took them to a cave where this undiscovered cenote was.
*These two cenotes are 7 km from Valladolid in little town of Dzintup. More popular between locals and when we have visited in late afternoon it wasn’t that many people. The water is relatively shallow here, so water shoes is a good tip as entering and getting out of the water – those stalagmites are sharp and slippery. And plenty of ropes are installed to hold on to here too.
#5 Cenote Azul
Last on our list of impressive cenotes, but certainly not the least. Winding path from the car park leads you through a jungle and at the end of it blend of emerald green and turquoise blue water immediately blew us away.
This cenote is collapsed completely and the water is on top of the ‘roof’. There are several different areas with various depths up to 26 meters and the water is so crystal clear you can see couple of meters down what’s underneath without even putting your head under water, so paradise for your eyes. Though snorkeling mask is a must here too – so many different types of fish!
Cenote Azul is filled with rock formations making it perfect to stand up and jump off or just sit and rest. And if you sit around for a bit longer you start feeling the tickle on your feet as hundreds of little fish come and nibble or suck your toes – same used at the Fish Spa salons. If you can’t handle the tickle anymore – just start swimming and they will swim away to look for more resting toes.
Those rocks felt like icebergs with a relatively small tip at the top and so much more to explore underneath.
