The best 3 cenotes to visit in Yucatán
Are you thinking of planning your next vacation in México? We´ll share with you the best 3 cenotes to visit in Yucatán. What are cenotes? A cenote it’s a term which has its origin on the maya word tz’onot which means water wll or abism. A cenote is a manantial water deposit with a certain depth, something like a natural pool.
For the mayas, the cenotes were sacred places where they did rituals!
There is a lot of types:
- Open Cenotes.
These types are rounded by stone walls, without ceiling and are deep.
- Semi-open Cenotes.
These are almost like the open one,but this has a ceiling from where the lights enter.
- Cave Cenotes.
The cave cenotes usually don’t have any way for the light to enter, but if they had it, it would be really small, it is kind of difficult to get into this type of cenote.
- Cenotes open to the ground.
These cenotes are completely open, they seem really like a natural pool, rounded by plants.
It is estimated that they exist 3,000 cenotes in the Yucatán state in México, here i will mention the ones that i consider to be the best 3 cenotes to visit in Yucatan, with family, friends, alone, to have a good adventure day or just knowing parts of Yucatán history.
1.- San Lorenzo Oxman.
This cenote is located in the hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman (Valladolid), this is one of the open cenotes,meaning that it’s not a cave, but the sun goes through the water, making a really good plan for the afternoon, with his crystallized water!
Also, it’s an ideal place to spend the day, to rest, and recharge, the hacienda has a pool, bar, and a restaurant with costs not included on the access fee.
The schedule to visit this cenote is from 9am – 5pm. The access fee in pesos is: $80MXN which is 4 dlls (cenote only), $150MXN wich is almost 8 dlls (access to the cenote + 50 mxn for the restaurant)
These fees might change.
Cenote Oxman
2.- Cenote Ik Kil
Located on the outskirts of Pisté, a town very close to Chichen Itzá (5km) this cenote is known because it is the closest cenote where you can cool off in it, after visiting the 7th Wonder of the world of the maya civilization.
*By the way, the schedule to visit Chichen Itzá begins from 8am to 5pm monday until sunday, the approximate access fee is $533MXN or approx 27 dlls foreing visitors and $237MXN local visitors and on sundays local visitors fee is free!
Ik kil is one of the most touristy cenotes in the state, it would not be difficult to find foreing visitors and local visitors there.
It has a restaurant with a wide parking for visitors, the cenote is open every day.
The access fee is in pesos $150MXN adults which is almost 8 dlls, kids $100MXN which is 5 dlls and the rent of a towel or lifejacket is $30MXN each which is almost 2 dlls, buffet $160MXN which is 8 dlls. Parking is free.
Things to be aware
- It is not permitted to access with backpacks, they have to be left in the locker.
- If you go after visiting Chichen Itzá, maybe you could obtain some discount cards offered to the tourists.
Cenote ik kil
3.- Cenote Lol Há
This cenote is located in Yaxunah, a yucatecan region, approximately one hour and half away from the well known city, Mérida, Yucatán.
Lol Há is a type of open cenote and is one of a group of seven cenotes in Yaxunah, also a good idea to visit the others.
In this case, Lol Há has an ideal hole for the adventurers which have a desire to jump up from the high into the crystallized waters of this beautiful cenote. In my experience it is a jump for the people who want to record adventure videos, travel videos, etc.
The Lol-Ha cenote is open every day from 11am to 5pm. The general access fee is $25 MXN, Almost one dollar, and the lifejacket fee is $10 MXN per person, less than one dollar.
Cenote Lol -Ha
To finish this top 3 of the best cenotes, we invite you to keep on searching more about México, so you can experience the majestic scenery, the gastronomy, the people and the activities to do.
I recommend that if you plan to visit cenotes or beaches, do it in march, april or may, considering the ideal weather.