The Yucatán Peninsula is home to a magnificent geological wonder: the cenote. Whether you’re visiting Yucatán or Quintana Róo, I hope you’ll want to visit at least one or two. And if you’re based in Mérida, then this is the ultimate list of cenotes near Mérida to help make your trip as magical as possible!

This article focuses on the cenotes you can visit easily from Yucatán’s capital city, the stunningly beautiful Mérida. I’ll explain what a cenote is and then provide a list of some of the best cenotes to visit from Mérida, what you can expect and how to find them.

Mérida is a great location if you’re looking to explore the best cenotes in Yucatan, as this gorgeous modern city with a historical centre offers all the amenities you could need as well as easy access to cenote areas.

📌 There are hotels and restaurant options for every budget and almost every requirement including utterly delicious street food.

📌 Mérida’s arts and museum scene is thriving too.

📌 Mérida is a fabulous base for visiting Yucatán’s beaches as well as all the cenotes and ruins.

📌 A trip to Yucatan isn’t complete if you haven’t swum in a cenote.

🚂 The Maya Train should be operational in early 2024, which offers yet more exciting experiences in this region. Mérida will be one of the main stations.

_{There may be affiliate links in this article meaning that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click and make a purchase.} 

What is a cenote?

Not everyone who visits Mérida has heard of cenotes since they aren’t widely found across the world.

The word cenote (pronounced se-no-tay) comes to us, via Spanish, from the Mayan word dzonot, ‘sacred well’. Geologically speaking, a cenote is a sink-hole caused by collapsing limestone bedrock, exposing the groundwater below. The Yucatán Peninsula is absolutely covered with cenotes.

Cenotes were used by Mayans as sources of fresh water, and as such they would build their cities near them. They considered the cenotes to be both water sources and an entrance to the underworld.

Did you know that there is a cenote in the Mérida Costco carpark? You can visit it but it’s only for admiring, not for swimming.

There are thought to be as many as 6000 across the peninsula but barely half have been officially explored and documented. Every cenote is different so don’t assume that because you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. You’re never done.

There are four types of cenote:

🌎 Open – these can resemble lakes and ponds. Generally near ground level. The most ancient cenotes are fully open

🌎 Semi-open – not entirely covered. This may mean small openings that allow shafts of light to enter, larger openings for stairs as well as cenotes that are part cave, part open.

🌎 Deep open –  no cave roof, requires steps down to reach the water.

🌎 Closed – a full cave experience.

While many cenotes are deep and require visitors to descend a staircase to reach the water, even some deep open cenotes can be perfect for a day out with young children.

➡️ Let’s talk safety in Yucatán for a second. Yucatán is Mexico’s safest state, making it a perfect spot for a vacation. If you’re interested in reading more about whether Yucatan is safe and how to look after yourself while in Yucatan, you know I’ve got you covered!

How to visit cenotes from Mérida

If you have a car then absolutely all of the cenotes listed below are accessible without a guide or special vehicle. Renting a car for your time in Mérida is a great idea as the roads are decent and driving is absolutely safe around the peninsula. If you’re not keen on driving then a tour is the next best option as public transport can be slow and confusing. There are many great cenote tour options. Tours can work out as a great option since they generally combine more than one activity in a day, for example, a ruin and a cenote.

Best cenotes to visit from Mérida

Some of the cenotes recommended below are pretty popular and well-known to visitors, others are much less well known, and as such, have fewer facilities and have a wilder feel but offer a more remote and magical experience.

Hacienda cenotes near Mérida

📌 Haciendas were the Mexican version of plantations. They were owned by rich foreigners and worked by locals who were generally not treated well.

📌 Today the haciendas have been converted into hotels, restaurants, function halls and experiential places.

📌 If you want to learn about the history of haciendas in Yucatán then I recommend a trip to Hacienda Sotuta de Peon where you can learn all about this part of Mexico’s history on their fascinating tour. There are, of course, cenotes on their land that you can visit.

Hacienda Santa Barbara

✔️ By far the most well-known and most visited by tourists are the Santa Barbara cenotes. A trip to Hacienda Santa Barbara won’t disappoint anyone.

✔️ There are four cenotes on site. The entry ticket you choose gets access to various options (as well as transport there on the horse-drawn trailer).

✔️ I love Santa Barbara cenotes and regularly use this place as a ‘starter option cenote’ when guests come to stay as it’s so well maintained.

✔️ All cenotes are accessed via stairs and all are deep water. The newest opened cenote (in 2023) has an elevator for people with reduced mobility. This is the ONLY cenote with lift access on the whole peninsula.

It is required to wear life jackets in these cenotes (provided).

Cenote Cascabel is well-lit, you can swim in a circle around a platform with some shallow areas Getting into the cenote is probably the hardest of the three as you have to duck under a tree to reach the stairs. I’ve been multiple times and have seen people opt not to enter this cenote but never fear, the other two are far more accessible. The water is only 10m deep in this fully closed cenote.

Cenote Chaksikin is much bigger and has more swimming space and a wonderful jumping platform. It is semi-open and the water is around 16 m deep.

Cenote Cenote Xooch’ is huge, fully open to the sky and has a platform from which you can swim. The water is astoundingly clear and very deep (40m). With awe, I watched someone swim all the way to the bottom of the cenote during my first visit here.

Cenote Pool Coom 30m deep with artificial waterfalls and plenty of space to swim in this fully open cenote that is fully accessible.

Santa Barbara is a more developed site than many cenotes near Merida.

🛟 There are life jackets available in all sizes and lifeguards in every cenote.

🛟 There are lockers and showers.

🛟 There is a small shop selling swimming gear and towels for those who show up unprepared.

🛟 The restaurant prepares delicious food. You can ether purchase a day packet that includes lunch or buy a la carte.

🚗 How To Get There: The Santa Barbara complex is near Homun, about an hour’s drive South-East of Merida.

Book a tour to the Santa Barbara Cenotes and  Mayapan ruins

Cenotes Cuzama

Cuzama Hacienda is a great option for a cenote day out.

✔️ This collection of three cenotes is actually pretty well known as a day trip from Merida, and it really is a fantastic way to see different styles of cenote in one trip.

➡️ Read more about the Cuzama cenotes here

✔️ There are three cenotes on the Cuzuma site, including one that is less suitable for small children or nervous swimmers as the water is accessed directly from the wooden ladder.

✔️ The cenote is lit around the ladder but if you swim away it gets dark.

✔️ The cenotes are accessed via a horse-pulled wagon along an old railway line. To enter the first of the cenotes, you climb down a fairly sturdy set of stairs onto a ledge from which you jump into the water.

✔️ The second cenote is accessed by a smaller ladder. One cenote has a good platform for jumping into the water.

🚗 How to get there: Take the 184 until it turns into the 10, carry on into Cuzama. Turn right at the church onto calle 14 and keep going to the old hacienda.

🚍 yTake a bus to Cuzama from the Noreste terminal in Merida and then take a taxi from there for the final three kilometres.

Book at tour to the Cuzuma Cenotes

Hacienda Mucuyche

Hacienda Mucuyche is one of the other most well-known cenote options in Yucatan.

✔️ This ex-hacienda offers a tour experience that includes a guided group tour around the old hacienda in either English or Spanish. The tour is actually very interesting. After the hacienda tour it’s time to head to put on your swimming stuff and head down to the cenotes (still guided).

✔️ The two cenotes are linked by a person-made channel that is as delicious as the photos suggest. At the end of the channel, you get out, grab a mask and enter the second cenote. Wow. This is a special cenote for sure. It feels as if you’re swimming over a cave you’d normally walk through. It was truly a fabulous experience even if I don’t personally enjoy guided tours very much.

Top Tip: Don’t be like me, take a waterproof camera or a go-pro. I thought I wouldn’t need it as I’ve been to dozens of cenotes. I really regretted it.

✔️ There are changing rooms and lockers on site.

✔️There is a decent restaurant on site and also a shallow, heated pool that is a lot of fun to play in.

✔️ It’s required to join a guided tour to visit here I recommend booking a spot in advance otherwise you might be waiting around for a tour that isn’t full.

Book a guided tour to Mucuyche today

San Ignacio Cenote

While this isn’t quite a hacienda cenote, I’ve included it in the hacienda section because there is a hotel on-site and because it just isn’t a ‘wild’ cenote. 

✔️ San Ignacio is a small cenote in a big area with lots of facilities. Apart from the restaurant, there are lockers, bathrooms and showers.

✔️ There is also a playground and a farm that you can visit.

✔️ According to the website, the cenote is an underground cave pool with a year-round temperature of 26 degrees Celsius.

✔️ The deepest water is 8m and at its shallowest, it is around 1.4m.

✔️ There is the option to swim in the cenote at night too.

🚗 How To Get There: This cenote complex is in Chocholá, a forty-minute drive from Merida.

Mexico has so much to offer people looking for water based vacation ideas. It really isn’t a choice between beach or cenote, there’s so much more to throw into the mix!

Wild cenotes near Mérida

Some of the best cenote experiences I’ve had in Yucatan have been in completely wild cenotes. When I say ‘wild’ I mean barely set up for tourists. Generally, these types of cenotes are found on the outskirts of small pueblos, they cost as little as $25 pesos per person and there may, or may not be, life jackets for hire. Entrance to wild cenotes is often down rickety old ladders or staircases and the whole experience will definitely leave you feeling as if you went exploring and did something unusual!

🛟 I have noticed recently that these more rustic cenotes are smartening up their act: they’re fixing ladders, providing changing rooms and requiring life jackets.

🛟 Prices are starting to rise accordingly, although around Mérida they remain lower than around Valladolid or around Cancun, Playa del Carmen or Tulum.

🛟 The truly wild cenotes can be found by chatting to locals or by searching google maps. Some of the less ‘wild’ wild cenotes have their own Facebook pages as they gear up for tourism.

Cenote Yaal Utzil

Take a trip to this cenote as part of a day trip to Mayapan.

✔️ Entry into the water was from some rocks at the bottom of the steps.

✔️ There is a small rope to aid exit from the water.

✔️ There are two jumping platforms, one at about 10 metres and one from the very top.

✔️ The cenote itself is around 12 metres deep on one side and about 25 metres on the other. There is a visible difference in water colour making it obvious where it gets markedly deeper.

✔️ There are life vests for hire and there is a bathroom on site.

✔️ The owners also sell home-cooked food and cold drinks for reasonable prices.

🚗 How To Get There: Yaal Utzil is in the Mucuyche area about one hour’s drive from Merida.

Cenote Kankirixche

This cenote is just 4km from Yaal Utzil.

✔️ It has changing rooms, toilets and life jackets for rent on-site.

✔️ It’s a semi-open cenote with stair access.

✔️ At its shallowest, it is 2m deep and 50m at its deepest.

✔️ This cenote would work well paired with a visit to Uxmal and the Choco-Story museum.

✔️ The water can be chillier than other cenotes since it is a fully closed cenote.

🚗 How To Get There: It’s 4km from Yaal Utzil so can be approached in the same way although it’s also perfectly possible through Muna on the way home from Uxmal.

Parador X’Tohil

This collection of four cenotes is a classic horse and cart tour, like many of the others in the area.

✔️ First cenote: there is a Maya pyramid at the entrance. This cenote is easily accessed and has a mix of deep and shallow waters.

✔️ The second cenote is not really for swimming in as it’s in a very deep and dark cave. Prepare to be wowed by the stalagmites and stalactites here though. The water is clear and stunning and it is possible to swim but people tend to visit this cenote to marvel at the formations rather than swim.

✔️ The next two cenotes on this tour are not for the uninitiated: the first has a rope swing that you use to swing out and drop into the water. This could be fun for slightly older kids but potentially hard with little ones. The final cenote is accessed by climbing down through huge tree roots masquerading as stairs. The water is fairly shallow.

🚗 How To Get There: Parador X’Tohil is some 4 km before Cuzama on the highway from Merida, just 2km after Eknakan village.

Dzibilchaltun

In mid 2024 the site of Dzibilchaltun is open but the cenote remains closed to swimmers. 

✔️ This is actually primarily a Maya archaeological site but it also happens to be pretty much the closest swimmable cenote to Merida, which makes it a great twofer if you are new to Merida or have guests in town.

✔️ The cenote itself is small and entirely open to the elements, which makes it an easy starter cenote for small kids or nervous swimmers.

✔️ One end is really shallow, about 50cm, and the other end is extremely deep and has rocks that people use for jumping into the water.

It’s worth being aware, or at least, warning small kids, that the fish do nibble gently at you in this cenote.

🚗 How To Get There: Easy thirty-minute drive from Merida. It is possible by public transport.

Are you also planning on exploring Merida? Want to read what long time resident Mexico Cassie thinks are the important things to see and do in the city? Of course you do!

Cenote Telcahquillo

Right in the centre of this small town near Mayapan archaeological site, is a small cenote. You won’t realise it’s there if you don’t know where to look.

✔️ The cenote is tiny and shallow. I could stand everywhere and here was the first time I ever let my kids not wear a lifejacket in a cenote.

✔️ If you’re in the area, have never seen a cenote and are in any way nervous, this could be a good starter cenote.

✔️ It smells a little damp but it isn’t dirty. There is space to leave stuff on the side.

🚗 Drive into the centre of Telchaquillo and park opposite the church. There, in the square, you’ll see two fenced-off areas. The first is the opening to the cenote, the second is the entrance. If you hang around the entrance someone will come and take your pesos from you per person and open the gate. Head down the stairs and you’ll see a very small but pleasant enough cenote.

Cenote Yokdzonot

I visited Yokdzonot after a day trip to Chichen Itza with my parents, husband and kids. We opted not to visit Ik Kil, which is where most people go after Chichen Itza. Instead, we drove for twenty minutes to this great spot where we swam, undisturbed by other tourists, after eating a lovely meal in their little cafe.

✔️ I love this cenote for a couple of reasons: 1) it’s run as a women’s collective; 2) people don’t really go there making it perfect for a quiet family trip.

✔️ The site has a small restaurant, a playground, bathrooms, life jacket rental and apparently also a zip line and rappel wall.

✔️ The cenote is classed as deep-open and is accessed by a pretty good staircase. I wouldn’t let go of a small child’s hand on the stairs but I also wasn’t particularly worried about the kids.

✔️ The water is 80m deep and is accessed via a platform about 1.5m above the water and then a ladder or a big jump.

🐾 Yokdzonot is one of the few cenotes that welcomes dogs on to the grounds (they still can’t swim, we’re afraid)

🚗 How To Get There: The cenote is located very close to Chichén Itzá, directly on the Merida-Valladolid road at the 100 kilometre mark (Highway 180). If you’re in the area, public transport is available from Piste.

Book a tour to Chichén Itzá and Yokdzonot today

Cenote K’ax Ek, Tinum

We found this cenote in January 2019 on our way home from Valladolid. It is a little further afield than most others in this article but it’s also the biggest cenote on the Yucatan Peninsula. It took my breath away when I saw its size.

✔️ This is a classic open cenote. It’s so large that photos made us think it might be a lake rather than a cenote but of course there are no lakes in Yucatán.

✔️ The cenote is accessed via some very sturdy concrete steps with good handrails.

✔️ While it’s *only* 25 metres deep, its size is quite incredible.

✔️ There are changing rooms on site (very basic), bathrooms and a small shop selling locally made items. Don’t expect to buy snacks or drinks here.

✔️ You can rent life jackets, although as always, we had our own with us for the kids.

🚗 To get here you drive through the jungle, following a well-signposted path, for about thirty minutes. We picked up the signs at Tinum. Do note that google maps will tell you that you’ve arrived at the cenote a good 15 minutes of driving before you actually have.

Read more about cenotes to visit on a day trip to Chichén Itzá

Cenote Noh-Mozon, Pixya

✔️ I love Pixya’s cenote so much, I actually wrote an entire article about it. This is the most rustic and simple cenote I’ve visited to date.

✔️ Here, for the first time, I really understood that a cenote can be essentially just a massive hole in the ground. This cenote is completely open and is accessed by an incredibly rickety staircase.

✔️ This cenote has a little ledge at the bottom and a ladder into the water. There is a jumping platform some ten metres above the water.

🚗 How To Ge There: Head to Telchaquillo along the 184 for around 40 minutes. Head through Telchaquillo to Pixya and then pick up your guide for the last part of the journey.

For a really detailed description, do read my article, but basically follow your guide into the jungle in your car. Drive along for twenty minutes or so being absolutely convinced you’re insane to follow strangers into the jungle until you reach the cenote entrance.

Cenote Suhem

Also in Pixya is Cenote Suhem, another large, open cenote that will take your breath away. We actually camped in the jungle next to the cenote here to make a weekend of a trip to a cenote.

⛺️ You can read about that experience in the article I wrote for Yucatán Today. This gave us the fabulous opportunity to swim in the same cenote at distinctly different times of day: afternoon, dusk and early morning. At dusk we swam with swallows dipping and diving around us and swimming in the fresh morning air while birds of prey flew overhead was really quite an experience too.

✔️ At Suhem there is an old staircase that makes a great jumping platform for the more daredevil among us (not me, ha). I prefer marvelling at stunning reflections to throwing myself into deep water.

✔️ The cenote is around 12 m deep, which isn’t as deep as many open cenotes.

✔️ With advance warning, you can book a delicious meal on site.

🚗 How To Get There: Cenote Suhem is not impossible to find alone but when you camp there you’re met at a point in the village of Pixyá (not far from Telchaquillo and Mayapán).

Did you know there is a secret jungle cenote near Dzilam de Bravo?

Cenotes at El Corchito

Just by the second roundabout along the 27 between Progreso and Chicxulub Puerto is El Corchito. This is actually an ecological reserve with three swimming holes in it.

✔️ The swimming areas are reached by small boat.

✔️ Sunscreen and food are not permitted. Food is prohibited because of the greedy and fearless raccoons and coati and sunscreen because it pollutes the water.

✔️ The three pools are shallower than most cenotes – two are around 2.5m deep and one is shallow enough that both my kids could stand in it.

✔️ We had a great time here exploring the three pools and checking out the wildlife.

✔️ We included our visit here as part of a larger day trip to explore around Progreso.

✔️ I highly recommend getting here as early as possible to beat the crowds (if you’re visiting on the weekend).

✔️ Open 9 am – 5 pm

Homun Cenote Circle

Homun is a small town about 45 km from Merida that is particularly well known for its cenotes. There are hundreds around here but only 15 are officially registered for visitors to swim (or so I was told).

🚗 If you’re driving drive along Calle 19 out of Homun in the direction of Huhi and look out for a small sign on the left-hand side of the road indicating the cenote circle. The road is unpaved but perfectly good enough for a car or bike, as long as you drive slowly as the road can be surprisingly busy with visitors. If you don’t have a car, consider taking a tour.

➡️ Read more about the Homun and Cuzama cenotes

Cenote Canunchen

✔️ This is one of our very favourite cenotes because it has a huge rope swing that is fit for adults and brave kids. We always have a great time swimming and swinging here.

✔️ Enter via a ladder and then a spiral staircase. Exit is a straight-up staircase.

✔️ This cenote has bathroom facilities on site.

Cenote Hool Kosom

✔️ This is a pretty cenote with an island in the middle and one roof opening for light.

Santa Cruz

Between Homun and the cenote ring, on calle 19 (direction Huhi), on the left-hand side of the road is cenote Santa Cruz. I particularly like that this is run as a cooperative and that the people in the cooperative see themselves as the guardians of the cenote rather than the owners.

✔️ I highly recommend this site because the owner and staff are so incredibly kind and welcoming.

✔️ The cenote itself is very small and, in the words of the owner, ‘perfect for children rather than adults’. I’d agree with this. If you’re visiting with family and have small kids who have never been to a cenote, this would be a good starter cenote.

✔️ The cenote is basically a small cave with water at the bottom.

✔️ I’d recommend water shoes here though as the floor of the cenote is rough in some spots. The stairs down are very well maintained and sturdy.

✔️ What sets this cenote apart is that it also has a temescal (you can read about our Oaxaca temescal experience here or my Tapalpa temescal experience here) and a tirolesa (zip line). The zipline costs $60 pesos per person, starts from 14 metres above ground and travels for around 150 metres. Both my kids loved flying down it with their dad.

Book a day trip to the Homun cenotes today

Tips for visiting cenotes

🛟 Some cenotes will ask you to shower before you enter the water in an attempt to keep the water clean. We have experienced this in a few different cenotes. Please don’t refuse!

🛟 There is no shame in wearing a life jacket if you’re in any way unsure or nervous. I am a very strong swimmer, I was a lifeguard as a teenager and (don’t laugh) did competitive lifesaving as a sport throughout school and university yet I still choose to wear a life jacket pretty often. My reasoning is that a) I want to be absolutely certain I can handle anything my kids might need from me, and b) I don’t know this water. We always carry our own life jackets for our children. We don’t know what will be on offer even when there are life jackets for hire and I don’t want my kids in something I don’t trust.

🛟 Take water and snacks for after as most cenotes don’t come with an attached restaurant. Cenote swimming can be exhausting.

🛟 If you’re interested in what’s below the surface, take a snorkel and mask. I have never been cenote diving but I imagine it’s an incredible experience given how great it is with just a snorkel.

🛟 Take as little as possible with you if you’re going to a cenote with no lockers. There may, or may not, be anywhere to leave anything. We tend to take one tiny bag with a car key, some money and our waterproof camera. We leave the tiny bag on the side and everything else in the car.

🛟 The water in cenotes is often incredibly deep, in fact, sometimes people don’t really know how deep. It is absolutely not safe to put little kids in rubber rings or armbands in cenotes. Well secured life jackets only. As noted above, freak drownings do happen – around one person a month drowns in a cenote in Yucatan. Please be careful. I wouldn’t let this statistic stop you from having a wonderful time, but be careful.

🛟 As you’ll see if you scroll through any of my articles or photos about swimming, my kids are always in their Scuba Choice Life Jackets. We love them because they are very secure, there’s no way they’re coming off in the water and they can be inflated to exactly the right amount for each child and situation. Handily, they also deflate to almost nothing so they’re super easy to chuck in a bag.

I hope you’ve found this article useful. If you have, please do give it a share and perhaps even donate a small some in order to help me maintain my website.

Have a great time exploring Yucatan’s cenotes and do let me know if you come across one I might not know about.