Cenotes of the Yucatan

A trip to the Yucatan wouldn't be complete without a visit to a cenote, one of the area's most distinctive attractions. The Caribbean coast beaches may receive more of the attention from tourists but the experience of dipping into a cenote's refreshing cool water is considerably more memorable. There are thousands of cenotes but no two are the same. Whether your choose a popular one with a parking lot and restaurant or a rustic one with just a small staircase on a farmer's property, a visit to one of these natural wonders is a must.

The origin of the word "cenote" in Spanish is the Yucatec Mayan word "ts'onot" meaning "well." The most common English translation is 'sinkhole' though I don't think it does them any justice. Most have Mayan names so keep in mind the letter "x" is pronounced "sh," so Xlacah is pronounced "sh-la-cah." They are not confined to Mexico but a huge number of them, about 6,000, are sprinkled around the Yucatan peninsula. The greatest concentration of cenotes surround the crater formed by the Chicxchulub meteor that crashed into the Yucatan's Gulf coast 66 million years ago. This is the same meteor famous for having led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Cenotes take on a variety of forms but all of them are essentially an opening to an underground water source. The Yucatan peninsula does not have any above ground rivers and the ancient Mayans relied on cenotes for their daily water. The water inside is fresh and almost all of them have small fish that will gladly peck at your feet if you stay still long enough. Cenotes can be dozens of feet deep but the water is so crystal clear you can often see the bottom. Many are cave-like with only artificial lighting and features such as tree roots or stalactites hanging down to the water. Others have holes where the porous limestone ceiling has caved in to allow sunlight through. A few are totally exposed and look almost like a lake with crystal clear water (such as cenote Xlacah inside the Dzibilchaltun ruin site). Certain cenotes have underwater passages and are popular with divers. Some, including cenote Xcanche, located right next to the Ek-Balam Mayan ruins have zip lines so you can get a view form above.

Cenotes can be found all over the Mexican states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo but if you get closer to the ring of the Chicxchulub crater they will be virtually everywhere. The towns of Valladolid and Tulum have a large concentration of cenotes around them and make for a great basecamp to explore them. The town of Homun, about 30 miles southeast of Merida, is another excellent choice. Yucatan Today, the free bi-lingual monthly magazine, has a fantastic map of the peninsula with the ring of cenotes clearly visible. There are also excellent blogs describing specific ones in detail.

Cenotes are scattered around public and private land and can be a little tricky to locate by yourself. Homun and the towns towns nearby have dozens of local tour guides who will which is a cart attached to a motorcycle that many people use to get around the smaller towns in this area. Many of these guides have printed cards with pictures and descriptions of cenotes so you can pick and choose the ones you want to see. Life jackets are available for those who can't swim. Admission prices to each cenote are usually around $1.50 US. Some of the most famous cenotes in Homun are Tza-Ujun-Kat, Santa Rosa, and Yaxbakaltun. Cuzama, a tiny town a stone's throw from Homum, is famous for a unique offering: a sort of cenote railroad. Many of the haciendas (plantations that manufactured rope) of the Yucatan had narrow gauge rails installed to cart materials from place to place. When the rope trade declined in the Yucatan many haciendas were abandoned and some of the rails were collected and brought to Cuzama. Now visitors can be driven on a rail cart by a small horse to three gorgeous cenotes. The experience is quite a bit more expensive than visiting individual cenotes and takes a little over 2 hours (including a half hour to explore each cenote) but is well worth it. There are a few ladies grilling some local specialities right near the entrance and the things I tried were fantastic.

Valladolid is a destination in it's own right for it's slow pace of life and beautiful colonial architecture. The nearby Mayan ruins and cenotes place it high up on my list of recommended stops. A big reason is that Valladolid has a large cenote, cenote Zaci, right in the center of town. There are cave-like portions with bats flying around and a sunny portion with lots of room to swim... all for under $2 US. The cenote at Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman is probably my favorite that I've been to so far. It is located a little further from Valladolid's center but is still just a long walk or short bike or taxi ride away. The Hacienda is a charming colonial building with a pool and restaurant. The attached cenote has some of the bluest water I've ever seen and a relatively small number of visitors enjoying it. Many of the most iconic and most visited cenotes of the Yucatan are within a half hour of Valladolid including Suytun, Xcanche and Ik-Kil which is near Chichen Itza.

Tulum offers many cenote options as well as a bohemian beach town vibe. If you travel to the Mayan ruins of Coba, which are a little over a half hour away, you'll have the opportunity to visit 3 subterreanean cenotes nearby: Choo-Ha, Multum-Ha and Tankach-Ha. Tankach-Ha may be the most beautiful with its blue water. It also has a diving platform. A portion of the concrete platform you would stand on when you first come down is submerged a few inches so little black catfish will swim around between your feet. Choo-Ha is cave-like with several crystal clear pools to swim in. Multum-Ha has a large wooden platform in the middle and deep clear water that reflects the cavern. The ruins at Coba are sprawling and contain one of the tallest Mayan pyramids that visitors can still climb.