Cenotes you Must Visit in Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen has the virtue of being located int he world famous Riviera Maya, home, not only to an immense variety of plants and animals, but also to an incredible range of natural formations in which, one of the most shocking for each one of our senses are the cenotes.
The rocks that make up the soil of Playa del Carmen are easily infiltrated by rainwater through the cracks in the ground, then, this rocks gradually wear down, and after many years, large water deposits are formed inside caverns, until finally the roof of the cavern collapses, revealing its interior and creating the spectacular cenotes.
For the mayans, the ancient culture that inhabited this land, the cenotes where a sacred place where they use to practice rituals to their gods. For us and the always growing multi-cultural community of Playa del Carmen, cenotes are an incredible place to dive, swim or simply cool off, either with your partner, family or friends.
Today, we are presenting you the top 5 cenotes that you can’t miss in your visit to Playa del Carmen. All of the cenotes that proudly made it into this list are less than 30 minutes away from Playa del Carmen downtown so you won’t have any excuses to not visit them, they have already made it all the way to the top among thousands of other cenotes and existed for hundreds of years to be ignored by some tourists that don’t want to leave their hotel complex.
Jardín del Edén
Our first cenote is the one named as Jardín del Eden, Eden’s garden. It is a cenote surrounded by a vast amount of vegetation where you can find some iguanas taking the sun. The transparent water is populated by small fishes that will tickle you while they eat the dead skin off your feet.
This cenote is great for swimming, snorkeling and taking dives from the various platforms available at the place.
The entrance fee is 10 USA dollars per person, that’s around the cost of a fancy latte back in the US.
Tajma-Ha
This mention is a special one, dedicated for the diving lovers.
The experience lasts around 1 hour and you can dive for almost 44 yards. You will be able to admire fossils, beautiful and awesome stalactites and their counterpart, stalagmites, those are boring.
The entrance fee is around 8 dollars per person.
Cenote Azul
This is the ideal one for families with kids.
Shallow waters picnic zone and a 4.5 yards platform to take dives.
An open area surrounded with plants and a closed area to rest form the sun.
The prices vary with the age of the visitant, 4 years old or younger don’t pay, 5 to 8 years old 4 dollars and 6 dollars for the adults. Life jacket and snorkel equipment for 7 dollars.
Cenote Cristalino
This cenote, the cenote Azul and the cenote Jardín del Edén are so close to each other that it makes it easily to move among them and spend the whole day there.
The entrance fee is 5 dollars.
Cenote Chaak Tun
For this last entrance we have the closest one to the downtown, in the middle of Playa del Carmen.
When you visit this cenote you can go trough 3 caves, 2 of them are flooded, where you can snorkel the crystal-clear waters, walk around with a flashlight, and see a multitude of stalactites, stalagmites, fish, and ceramic handicrafts.
We have made it to the end of this post, and while this has not been an easy job to list the best cenotes in Playa del Carmen, the hardest job is left to you, decide which ones to visit and make space in the busy schedule of amazing things to do in the Riviera Maya that surely you already have.
