Hanging vines
From rim to water.
Shinya Suzuki — CC BY 2.0 · Shinya Suzuki — CC BY 2.0 · Shinya Suzuki — CC BY 2.0 · Shinya Suzuki — CC BY 2.0
A round sinkhole open to the sky, one of the most beautiful and most photographed cenotes: about 60 metres across, with the water surface 26 metres below ground and the water itself about 48 metres deep. Long roots and vines hang from the rim down to the water, with small waterfalls trickling between them. You go down a stairway carved into the rock to the swimming platform, with a circle of sky framed in green above you and light falling on the deep-blue water. Visitors jump into the water from a platform a few metres up. The Maya held this cenote sacred, and archaeologists have found old bones and jewellery at the bottom. Today it is part of a visitor park with a restaurant, changing rooms and lockers. It is very close to Chichén Itzá, so it is the usual swimming stop after the ruins and fills with tour buses around midday. Life vests are compulsory and you must shower before going in.
From rim to water.
Above blue water.
Into deep water.
Near Pisté, Tinúm municipality, on the road to Valladolid, about 3 km from Chichén Itzá
Arrive at nine when it opens, before the Chichén Itzá buses around noon, or after three in the afternoon when the tours leave.