I visited Mexico in January 2022, my first long-haul trip after the covid pandemic, and it was the most amazing trip! One my favourite things to do here was explore the beautiful cenotes that are dotted all over the Yucatan Peninsula. If you’re visiting Mexico you have got to check some out. Read on to find what cenote are and the best cenotes in Playa Del Carmen, Tulum and Chichen Itza.
What are cenotes?
Mexico is home to thousands of cenotes, which are natural sinkholes filled with the clearest water you could imagine. Cenotes can be underground, open air or a mixture of the two and every single one is unique in it’s own way! Since the water that fills the cenotes comes from underground, it can be cooler than the sea and so cenotes are the perfect place to cool and relax on a hot day in the Yucatan Peninsula. Also, inside many of the cenotes you can see fish and at Gran there are cute small turtles (and bats) too. It’s really easy to visit multiple cenotes in a day as you’ll probably spend around 1-2 hours at each one depending on how much you’re enjoying yourself.
Over 9 days in Mexico (Playa Del Carmen, Chichen Itza & Tulum) we visited 8 cenotes. It was so amazing, as each cenote was stunning and had it’s own outstanding feature. The price for cenotes varies greatly, those more popular like Gran Cenote cost $500 MXN, whereas others such as Cenote Azul cost $120MXN. Keep reading below to find out more about some of the cenotes you must visit on your trip to Mexico!
Cenotes in Playa Del Carmen
Cenote Azul
This cenote is a popular open air cenote, there is a small walk from the car park to the cenote. But once there, you’ll walk along a boardwalk that goes right through the cenote. One side of the cenote is much shallower and great for sitting in, the otherside is better for swimming as it’s deeper. The colour of the water here when the sunshines is unbelievable it’s clear how it gets it’s name.
Be careful when getting intot he cenote as there are lots of rocks which are very slippery, so definitely bring wet shoes if you have them as they’ll come in hand here.
You’ll also see that when walking down to the cenote you’ll see a beautiful viewpoint, which is also a place to jump off into water! It’s about 3.5m high but is so much fun! When we were there, whenever there was someone who was scared to jump off the whole cenote would get involved and count them down to jump in, it was such a great atmosphere!
Cost: MXN 120
Cenote Cristalino
This is another cenote, located just before cenote azul. We were going to go here, but found out that entry was MXN170 which we thought was too much after visiting Cenote Azul and knowing how many more we were planning on visiting on the rest of our trip (little did we know that later in the trip we’d end up paying 200MXN for several others and 500MXN for Gran Cenote.)
Cost: 170 MXN
Cenotes in Coba
Cenote Choo Ha
This is beautiful cenote and an absolute must if you’re visiting Coba, it’s the perfect place to cool down on a hot day. This cenote is underground, and when we arrived we had the whole place to ourselves. The water is amazing and so clear. Make sure you also go round the back and you’ll see another set of stairs, not many people ventured round here so it was so quiet and we got this whole area to ourselves. You’ll see here that at some points there seems to be influx of people and it’s likely that a tour just arrived, if you want the place to yourself again you’ll probably need to wait about 30minutes before they move on to their next stop.
Cost: 100 MXN
Cenote Tamcach-Ha
This is another cenote just a bit further on from Choo-Ha, this one is completely underground and very deep! It’s so deep in fact that the water looks completely black, as you walk into the cenote you’ll find yourself staring at a jumping platform that is around7/8m high and as you walk down the stairs you’ll see another that is about 4m high. It was so scary jumping in!
This cenote is best for jumping and swimming as it is very large and deep!
Cost: 100 MXN
Cenote Multum-Ha
This the third cenote, near Coba, we decided to only do 2 but this one is apparently best for swimming!
Cost: 100 MXN
Cenotes in Chichen Itza
Cenote Ik Kil
If you’re visiting Chichen Itza, make sure you include a stop at this cenote, it is stunning! We didn’t visit another cenote like thhis that was a perfect open air circle, with green foliage hanging down.
Here you have to wear a life jacket and since it’s more popular there are people making sure you have showered and are wearing a life jacket. You also have to put your belongings in a free locker. Again here there is also a jumping platform, with people managing this and ensuring everyone is safe. This was one of the most beautiful cenotes we visited.
Fun fact, here we randomly bumped in Jo and Sam, who competed in Race Across The World Season 2 which was so cool!
Cost: 150 MXN
Cenote Suytan
This cenote is better known as instagram cenote, I’m not going to lie, people come here for the photo and yes so did we. We never thought we’d end up paying 200MXN for this photo. You actually line up to take your photo and it’s a whole thing but you’ve got to do it for the gram!
You can of course swim in this cenote but after visiting Chichen Itza, and Cenote Ik Kil after a quick dip and mini photoshoot we were ready for our drive back to Tulum.
Cost: 120 MXN
Tulum
Gran Cenote
This is a cenote that everyone talks about and is very popular, but be aware it does cost 500MXN to get in and if you want to do a dive you have to do this with a guide and pay more!
Gran cenote is made up of an open air cenote with two snorkel areas and caverns and cave towards the back which you can venture through and is surrounded by greenery. It is also home to turtles and bats which live in the caves so whilst snorkellling you may be lucky to spot some turtles. When we went, we saw so many turtles, they were all quite small in size but it was amazing to swim alongside them.
In my opinion, if you really want to see the bats and turtles then this is great to visit however if you’re main purpose for visitng the cenotes is beautiful scenery then I would suggest saving your money and visiting some of the other cenotes listed which are cheaper. We were lucky to have seen turtles at Akumal, and that was better than seeing turtles here in my opinion.
Cost: 500 MXN
Cenote Zacil-Ha
This was one of my favourite cenotes because we mostly had it to ourselves and is not very popular, despite the fact that it is stunning and for 10MXN you zipline halfway and jump in!
The whole area here also has a very relaxing vibe, with swings, hammocks and a restaurant and bar where you can order drinks. There is also a swimming pool with a slide, we didn’t use this as stayed in the cneote because it was so quiet, but I can imagine it being useful when the cenote is packed!
Cost: 200 MXN
Cenote Carwash
This cenote, is a large open air pond like pool, and is great for swimming. We didn’t visit here as we didn’t have time but this is a great option if you want somewhere cool to swim.
Cenote Calavera
Cenote Calavera, is a cenote that is underground and is reached by walking a couple of metres down a step ladder in one of a few openings. I saw lots of cool instagram shots here but we didn’t end up visiting due to time constraints.
Top Tips
- There are some rules for when you visit a cenote, these are:
- You’re not allowed to wear any sun lotion, bug spray. body lotion or makeup
- You must shower before you enter the cenote (this to remove any of the above if you’re wearing any & generally to ensure you’re clean when you enter)
- At some cenotes it is mandatory to wear a life jacket
- Bring wet shoes, these will come in handy, trust me. Some of the cenotes where you can touch the bottom have very rocky floors and so wet shoes will prevent you from hurting your feet and will make it easier for you to walk around
- Bring an underwater camera to capture all of jumps and swimming that you do
- Make sure to keep some snacks & water in your car or rucksack as at most cenotes there are no places to buy any snacks or drinks
