Cenote X'batun — Attraction in Yucatán

After looking at the reviews here to get information, we visited the cenotes and wanted to provide our thoughts and hopefully provide information you need in one place.

First, there are two cenotes at this location. We arrived at 9am which is when it opened (despite listing that said it opened at 8am). We were the first ones there and got to enjoy both of them to ourselves! They are both wonderful and breathtaking in their own way. One of them sits in a more open area with views of the sky surrounded vines hanging down the walls. The clear water that reflects aqua color is breathtaking. A part of the cenote is covered with flowering lily pads that adds to the wonder of the view and enhances the experience. The other cenote is accessible via wooden steps and in more set into a cave. There is a long wooden dock along the shore with ladders to climb in/out of the cenote. The ceiling is home to birds in their clay nests. The water also reflects a turquoise color. I would highly recommend a snorkel for both cenotes to get a better view of the extended caves that the cenotes encompass.

Second, the drive to the cenote may seem like you are in the middle of nowhere. Once off the main road, you drive along a narrow roads where you need to stop to let others pass by and a city that feels lost in time. I think it is Hacienda Cacao. The ruins of the city are a site to see and you pass by. As you enter San Antonio Mulix, you see a sign indicating the price of the tickets. The cost was $100 pesos per person for 45 minutes in each cenote for a total of 90 minutes. You can also rent life jackets and snorkels (we paid 60 pesos for the snorkel). The entrance to the cenotes are a little further up the road. Once you get in (someone at the gate collects your ticket), you can drive to either cenote. To maintain the beauty of the cenotes, you cannot take food or drinks into the cenote and you must rinse off before you go in. Additionally, no sunscreen is allowed to avoid polluting the water with a film of sunscreen.

Hopefully...

Wonderful cenote. Probably one of the most beautiful ones I have seen (and that is a lot). Pretty accessible, no 4x4 necessary. You access via the pueblo of Cacao, and when you get to the entrance, you have to pay entry fee for the two cenotes, Xbatun and Dzonbacal . You can only access either cenote by paying there. They give you a card that you will give to the guard sitting at the gate about 900m further down the road. Fee: 75 mxn for nationals wirh valid ID & 150 mxn for foreigners. Considering that you get to see two beautiful and clean cenotes that are well taken care of, this is a pretty fair price. Xbatun was my favourite, it literally looks like it is out of a movie set. Accessible for everyone, I would say, as the stone stairs are in perfect condition and not...

Compared to other cenotes we visited, this one was quite small. Water is not clear like in others. There were even some water lilies on one side of the water. Entry into the water was a little bit difficult as there was no platform or stairs. You pay in the village right before and then continue on a dirt track for about 3 km. Entry was around 150 pesos for 2 cenotes, X'batun and Dzonbacal. The place is popular with locals. When we arrived at 2 pm, they told us that X'batun is quite full and we should first do Dzonbacal. Upon arriving at the cenote, two locals take down your name before you go down to the water. They cross it out again when you leave. Facilities are quite basic, we ended up changing in the car. Small...