Travel bucket list idea:
Mayan Riviera, Mexico
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The Yucatan Peninsula is like a giant pumice stone – riddled with tiny holes, many of which are filled with glassy clear subterranean rivers riddled with stalactite-filled caverns, which break the surface as sinkholes called cenotes. There are hundreds dotted over the peninsula – some lost in thick jungle, others surrounded by Mayan ruins. Some pour into clear-water lakes like Bacalar, or the open ocean.
Swimming in a cenote – tiny fish nibbling your feet, vines and strange rock formations all around you is wonderful. Diving is spectacular; especially for those daring enough to qualify as a cave diver and venture deep into the flooded caverns.
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
This large, lily-covered pool filled with wispy water weed, terrapins, fish, and the occasional small crocodile, has water as clear as air. It’s easy to visit from Tulum, yet it’s far less busy than nearby Gran Cenote.
Best for ages 4+
Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo, Mexico
This big, open swimming hole – set in low jungle and filled with fish is safe enough for small kids, has changing rooms, life jackets and water-entry platforms. It’s easy to reach, sitting right off the main Cancún-Chetumal highway 15 minutes’ drive from Playa.
Best for ages 4+
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico
A family-friendly cenote adventure park – with cliff-jumps, rope-swings, jungle trails and onsite changing rooms and lockers. Cristalino sits right outside Playa del Carmen, making it easy to reach, and immensely popular.
Best for ages 4+
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
|![Cenote Dos Ojos [swimming, snorkelling & scuba diving]](https://cxgveiouca.cloudimg.io/familyhotelfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/Yucatan-Cancun-and-Tulum-Cenotes-Dos-Ojos3-SH.jpg?w=426&h=285&func=cover)
A stunning cenote with spectacular cave formations and glassy water, passing through caverns encrusted with stalactites. Mind-bogglingly beautiful for both snorkellers and PADI divers.
Adult price: £12
Best for ages 8+
Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico
A big restaurant, a tequila museum and a tour bus car park: this big, open-air pool near Chichen Itza is hugely popular but empty at the beginning and end of the day.
Best for ages 4+
Yucatan, Mexico
A beautiful, deep-green cenote set in lush jungle and dripping with vines; it’s close to Chichen Itza, though, so heavily visited.
Adult price: £13
Best for ages 6+
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
![Cenote Manati [snorkelling & scuba diving]](https://cxgveiouca.cloudimg.io/familyhotelfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/Yucatan-Cancun-and-Tulum-Cenotes-SH-Cenote-Manati.jpg?w=426&h=285&func=cover)
A large and little-visited cenote next to the beach north of Tulum. Filled with fish and with a resident Morelet’s crocodile. Excellent for snorkelling.
Best for ages 6+
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
One of a string of less-visited cenotes lying close to more celebrated Dos Ojos, Sac Actun sits in a dramatic cavern filled with stalactites and illuminated by a single hole in the roof. It’s on the Tulum-tour radar but arrive before 10am and you’ll have it to yourself.
Best for ages 4+
Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico
With a platform jutting into the middle of a turquoise pool under a roof of stalactites, this cenote near Valladolid town is a busy Instagram favourite. Stay at the onsite cabañas and you can book a slot just for yourself.
Best for ages 4+
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Turquoise-blue, set in a low cavern covered with small stalactites and illuminated by soft light through roof holes, this cenote is a beauty. Its remote location at the end of a long dirt road between Tulum and Akumal keeps it fairly crowd-free.
Best for ages 4+
Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico
Hidden in a stalactite-encrusted underground cavern, this cenote dazzles with its jewel-blue pool, pierced by a single shaft of light. Tiny black cave fish nibble your feet.
Adult price: £3
Best for ages 4+
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
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Lily-covered, glassy-clear and filled with terrapins and tropical fish, this cenote near Tulum is easy to reach and fabulous to swim in. Big caverns make for spectacular cave diving.
Adult price: £7
Best for ages 6+
To dive you’ll need to organise a tour. But if you only want to swim or snorkel, you can just turn up. Visiting under your own steam is a better option as you can beat the tourist crowds by arriving before 10am or after 3.30pm.
Most cenotes have designated opening hours, charge an entrance fee, and rent out lockers, snorkels and life jackets. Some have onsite changing rooms and snack bars. It’s worth buying your own mask and snorkel back home (in a shop, not online to ensure a good fit) to avoid renting well-used or ill-fitting gear, and to save cash.
Cenotes are good all year round and are generally open from around 8am until 5pm. Visit before 10am or after 3.30pm at the popular ones to avoid crowds.
The weather in the Mayan Riviera is generally good all year round, and the water is always warm enough for swimming. The rainy season from May through October sees the fewest visitors to Mayan Riviera. June through October is hurricane season. The dry season – November through April – gets busy everywhere. If you can, avoid peak season in December to January, when it gets oppressively crowded, especially around Christmas and New Year.
Destination guides including or relevant to this experience
Mexico
Talc-white beaches, reefs teeming with life, ruined temples in misty rainforests – the Riviera Maya offers a family or romantic beach holiday with a dash of Indian Jones adventure.
