Cenote Hubiku — Attraction in Yucatán

We visited Cenote Hubiku after receiving very good recommendations from the staff at our hotel in Valladolid, who kindly gave us a courtesy coupon that included vests and a locker when visiting the site. At the entrance to Ejido de Ek Balam, the people in charge of the tourist office and the entrance offered us information about the archaeological zone and the cenote, where we made the payment for the package that included the entrance to the cenote, the food buffet, and vests and a locker in the cenote (courtesy of our hotel). After a warm visit to the archaeological zone of Ek Balam, we went to Cenote Hubiku, where upon entering the cenote to sweem they tried to surprise us by saying that we had to pay for the locker. When arguing with the person in charge, she tried to support her argument by showing me an image of the payment receipt altered with an electronic cross-out on a cell phone photo of the payment receipt and an added comment that said in Spanish, "the locker was added by mistake." When I mentioned that I did not agree with this alteration and that it seemed to me that she had altered it, I suggested that we go to the entrance window of the cenote park to see the original document that had been given at the entrance. The person in charge refused and I suggested that I would go then to ask the person at the entrance to accompany me to clarify the matter at the cenote itself. When I was preparing to go up the stairs to go to the entrance, the person in charge caught up with me and gave me the key to the locker without giving any further explanations or arguments. I comment and share this, because apparently we were not the only tourists (especially those who do not speak Spanish or do not speak it fluently) who were surprised by this action. It seems that this is a way of operating to make some extra money (individually). This is sad, because it tarnishes the good name of the place and the exceptional work of many other people who work in the area and in the cenote park itself. I turly recommend taking photos of your payment receipts and not being intimidated by anyone who tries to surprise you with an extra payment. Otherwise, the cenote is extremely beautiful and you can swim very comfortably. The showers and changing rooms are clean and the buffet (especially the cochinita pibil) was delicious. The visit to the archaeological zone of Ek Balam in combination with the Hubiku cenote is very pleasant and I highly recommend it. Be very careful with...

I've been to 4 different cenotes in Riviera Maya and this one is probably one of the better cenote experiences while on an excursion in Riviera Maya, especially if you're having lunch there. The Cenote Hubiku itself is a beautiful large round partially open cenote, with a big round underground pool that you can safely swim in, and a small opening at the top which provides for an amazing ray of light effect around midday. It reminds me of Ik Kil, except it has much less visitors in any given day so the experience is a little more authentic (although it's a pretty popular stop on Chichen Itza excursions and tends to have more visitors than most cenotes closer to Cancun and Playa Del Carmen). They rent life jackets, and nowadays showers are mandatory before walking down the long stairway into the actual cenote, so bring money if you're not comfortable swimming without a life jacket. The water is always cold in cenotes, so the trick is to jump in quickly and your body gets used to it within a few seconds. The buffet lunch was also included, and it offered an appreciable selection of traditional mexican food, as well as pizza and spaghetti for those that want something simpler. Our guide Sergio suggested we try out a typical mexican lunch; burritos with refried beans and other good stuffings inside. Drinks weren't included but they only cost 30 pesos (~USD$1.50) so it wasn't that bad. Don't buy stuff in their main store, especially if you're going to Chichen Itza later; everything is grossly overprices and you'll buy the same thing at 1/10th or even 1/50th the price at Chichen Itza. Only exception are the handmade customized traditional Mayan calendars (with dots and bars) which you can have made for a special date (wedding, anniversary, birthday) but at CAD$31 I felt they were a bit overpriced; I wish they would sell it for USD$10 that way they'd probably make a higher volume of sales (I'm sure when a full bus arrives and a few people from the bus start buying them, everyone will buy 'em for...

Cenotes are sinkholes formed in the limestone and they can be found all around Cancun and the Yucatan Peninsula. I only visited this one, but if I come back, I think I will do a Cenote crawl, because they can all be so different but they all seem uniquely beautiful. “Hubiku” in the Mayan language means either “the Great Lord” or the “Iguana’s nest” (I guess translating Mayan to other languages is not that precise or something like that…). Aside from what the heck it means, this is a beautiful place and definitely worth visiting. Cenote Hubiku is on the road to the famous ruins of Chichen Itza, which are maybe about 20 minutes farther up the road. It took about an hour and a half to 2 hours to get to Hubiku (on a very well-paved and clearly marked highway). There are many tours that leave from Cancun and surrounding areas that bring you to Hubiku & other nearby locations, but I must say that I recommend that you rent a car and drive here yourself, so you can come at a time when it’s not full of a busload of tourists. It’s also much, much cheaper. The local Mayan-Mexicans care for the site and they have a wonderful souvenir shop. When you approach the the entrance of the cenote, you descend a stairway cut into the rock. At the top, you will be dying from the heat and humidity, but with each step you take decending into this underground lagoon, you can feel the temperature decreasing, and at the first sight of the the water, you almost feel cold. Upon entering into this otherworldly cavern, you notice that there is an orifice above that lets the light stream in to the cavern. The next thing you notice is the immensity of the space and the color of the water, which is a transparent turquoise. The only sound you notice is the sound of water raining down through the eye of the roof and the echo it makes inside. The cool, fresh...