Even though I’ve been visiting Cancun and the Riviera Maya for approximately nine years, I just recently became aware of the many cenotes located in this part of Mexico.  Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. (For those of you who don’t know what a cenote is, it is basically a limestone sinkhole filled with fresh water–cenotes were the primary source of fresh water for the Mayans and supposedly the entrance to the “Underworld” where Mayan Gods would visit and select souls would reside.  For more general info on cenotes, read my other blog article here).

One particular area rife with cenotes is located outside the town of Puerto Morelos (Puerto Morelos is about a 15 min. drive south of the Cancun airport). It is called Ruta de Los Cenotes, or the Route/Road of the Cenotes.  This road is approximately 20+ miles long and is readily accessible off the main highway which runs north and south between the airport and Tulum.  To access Ruta de Los Cenotes, just take the exit labelled “Selvatica”–Selvatica is a larger eco park with cenotes and activities to enjoy which is located along Ruta de Los Cenotes.

While planning my cenote visits for my last vacation during mid November 2020, I wanted to visit cenotes of my choosing rather than pay for a tour with someone else’s choices; luckily I found a private driver who was willing to take myself and my travel partners to anywhere we wanted to go.  My three criteria for choosing someone for the job were a willingness for us to do our own thing, affordable price, and ability to speak good English since neither myself nor any of my party spoke fluent Spanish.  The driver I found met all my criteria–in case you’re interested in doing something similar, our driver’s name was Juan Jose Vicente Tiquet, and he owns a company called Friends Travel Cancun.  You can find him on Facebook by typing his name in the search bar; you can also reach him by email at reservations@friendstravelcancun.com. His vehicle was fairly new, he was able to pick us up and drop us off at our resort, he wore a mask because of COVID, he was polite and professional, he had free bottled water for us, and he answered all my questions in English.  He was even willing to extend our reserved time without an additional fee since we were having so much fun we wanted to stay longer (we just tipped him more and he was very happy with that).  I would highly recommend him.

Cenote La Noria

On this trip I chose to visit Cenote La Noria and Cenote Verde Lucero–La Noria is a cave cenote with a fairly large ceiling opening, while Verde Lucero is an open cenote surrounded by jungle greenery.  (Since I had never experienced a cenote before, I decided to get some exposure to a couple of different types of cenotes).  La Noria is located around Km. 20; the road to its entrance is right across from the entrance to Cenote Kin-Ha.  If you don’t easily see the sign for La Noria, just follow the sign for Kin-Ha off of Ruta de Los Cenotes.

When we first arrived, Cesar warmly greeted us and took the time to thoroughly explain everything we could take advantage of at the location (in addition to swimming in the cenote, visitors can bicycle through the jungle with a guide, zipline, ride an ATV, or go horseback riding).  Since we had another cenote we wanted to visit, we only chose to swim–the entrance fee for that was $15 USD p/person.  We were given life jackets (these are optional–you have to remove them to jump into the cenote) and shown the cenote entrances; Cesar accompanied us down the stairs to the water’s edge and gave a short history of the cenote and cenotes in general.  Cenotes in this part of the world are typically anywhere from 72-76 degrees Fahrenheit unless you are diving–it is a bit cool when you first enter but you quickly adjust to the temperature.  We were the only visitors at the time we entered, we had the whole cenote to ourselves.  Cesar did mention that it was typical for them to only get a minimal amount of visitors each day since La Noria is not one of the more popular cenotes.  After our experience there, I cannot understand why it’s not one of the MOST popular cenotes in the area; but perhaps that’s a blessing in disguise for visitors since being alone in this cenote was a rather mystical, religious-type experience.

La Noria today is a bit different than the pictures you typically see on the web.  They have taken down the main wooden stairs from the ceiling opening and replaced them with solid stairs on the far end; they have also removed the short zipline.  There are three ways to enter this cenote–the solid stairs, the very small opening with steps carved into rock, and by jumping 20+ feet from a very well designated spot from the ceiling opening.  Inside there is a central platform on which to stand, a swing which you can’t really swing from, and another rope with a buoy at the end from which to stand. FYI:  I forgot to bring my water shoes on this trip and wished I would have had them for the cenote, the wooden platform in the middle of the cenote is rather slippery and they would have come in handy to supply more stability.  There were some small fish swimming about as well as swallows and the occasional bat flying around–nothing to be alarmed about, it’s all part of the experience.

Overall, this is a beautiful and serene cenote; the water changes color based on how much sunlight enters from the ceiling opening. While the cenote was initially dark and mysterious looking when we first arrived, the water turned various shades of turquoise as more sunlight filled the interior space; patches of light on the cenote walls also began to shimmer as more sunlight was reflected off the water–it was magical, and I’m not one prone to hyperbole.  When done with swimming in the cenote, La Noria also offered the chance to have some genuine Mexican food with wood-fired ingredients–they have recently expanded their food and drink items to include more local fare.  We had to be off to the next cenote, so unfortunately we had to decline. Next time for sure.

Here’s a short list of amenities also included at this cenote:

• bathrooms with flush toilets
• life jackets
• picnic tables
• hammocks
• lockers
• tables and chairs

We were not made to shower prior to entering this cenote (showering is supposed to be mandatory at many cenotes so as to keep the water pure and clean from pollutants).  While I didn’t see a shower, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

Cenote Verde Lucero

Our next stop was Verde Lucero (the “green bright star”) which was located around Km. 17 along Ruta de Los Cenotes, so technically we were already traveling back to Puerto Morelos.  Verde Lucero, as stated above, is an open cenote–akin to swimming in a lake if you know what that experience is like.  Perhaps that’s why I was not as enamored with this type of cenote–I grew up in Minnesota with over 13,000 lakes and it was always a “meh” experience then as well.  While we all still had a lot of fun, it lacked the mystical element that La Noria offered, however.  It was about the same admission price as La Noria, $15 USD p/person.  Locals are supposed to get a reduced admission price.  We also didn’t have to shower prior to entering the water; again, I did not see a shower but that doesn’t necessarily mean there wasn’t one.

Here’s what’s offered at Verde Lucero:

• A fun zipline where you have to jump off the bar from which you’re hanging prior to reaching the end of the line–it’s a very bumpy stop if you don’t jump in time.  Don’t worry, though, the staff assisting you with the zipline will tell you when to jump.
• two jumping platforms, one is at the opposite end of the cenote (a higher jump), the other is by the zipline entrance.
• two “standard” ways to enter the water–two sets of stairs, one by the main entryway, the other is way off to the left.
• two lengthy ropes in the water–one to hang onto and the other underneath the water is for your feet.  There are no other platforms from which to stand in this open cenote.
• bathrooms
• hammocks
• tables and chairs
• life jackets

There’s not much in the way of food here, so bring your own water and snacks.  Also, there’s no lockers so your belongings would have to remain at the top of the main stairs.  To avoid situations like these, I typically bring a lockable bag with a chain on certain beach vacations so that I can secure and lock up my valuables and not worry about them (check out the KYSS brand, they are sturdy and awesome; the only drawback with them is that the chain isn’t as long as I would like).

By the time we got to Verde Lucero, I was totally into vacation mode and didn’t spend as much time shooting pics or taking video.  See my Instagram account (allinclusivegal) for short videos on both cenotes (I’m still in the process of posting them there so keep checking back).  For those of you more interested in what this cenote is like, here’s a video (not mine) which shows the zipline, cliff jumps, and overall look of the cenote.

Take a few moments to view my picture gallery of the cenotes below; just click on any of the thumbnails to see a larger version of the picture.

What do you think?  Have you visited any other cenotes, or have you visited these two?  What was your experience?