We stopped by for a quick visit, but did not swim. Looking back on it, we wish we did. This cenote…read morewas more secluded than most and a beautiful setting. We parked by the entrance and checked in. We then walked around the stairs down to the waters edge. It looked quite deep and was a little chilly. You could see quite a few fish, some rather large. It was definitely one of the nicer cenotes we saw on our trip and I would highly recommend taking a swim.

We had the whole place to ourselves! It was so quiet and peaceful, really recommend taking the…read moreinnertubes to float in the water. So much wildlife to see and the water is so lovely!

We chose this one over the one nearby near Cancun because if it's overstimulation of tourist…read more Very pleasant afternoon no staff or volunteers were overbearing we were basically left on our own which was perfect Stunning stone limestone carvings and quite high central pyramid upon a condor was perched as I looked over the whole Yucatán

Love love love this. I loved learning about the history of this place. Be careful climbing up the…read moresteep steps. They didn't look like much until I started getting closer and closer. They are very steep and no railings on either side. Remember, whatever goes up, must come down. Be careful!!! Beautiful area, a lot of history and information given.

Beautiful beautiful beautiful…read more This was an amazing site to visit. Being able to come here, have a Mayan guide tell us the history of their people and land was amazing. We came in January and it was still hot. I suggest when they offer you the umbrella and drinks, take it. The sun/heat was brutal.

This was one of the most amazing sites of my whole life and I've been to a few. It is so well…read morepreserved and beautiful. I honestly can't do this place justice. Our guide Felipe was amazing. Felipe is a private guide I've used on numerous occasions over the years. He actually lives in Cozumel so the trio might have been more expensive than using someone else, but his education and sharing of knowledge at times bright tears to my eyes. This whole trip bright tears to my eyes. Even now, sitting at home I'm stuck with just how magical this place is. There are many Mayan buildings and they are still excavating and restoring. They are just amazing. We got to hug a Tree of Life Tree. We got to see wild orchids. There were two dogs that apparently live there and seem happy and not wild. My daughter and her friend climbed to the top and it was high. Just such an amazing trip. It was about $25 per person to get in,

Safe, entertaining and fun!…read more We stopped here for a half an hour as one of the tour stops from an excursion. I was sad we only had 30 minutes! This little park is in the center of the village and is a beautiful landmark. It's jam packed with history and has a lot to offer. A quick walk around inside the fence will take you less than ten minutes but you can enjoy local vendors, snacks, stray pups, music and seating in a safe area. Each corner outside of the square has something to look into. A beautiful and historic church, shopping, a food market, hotels, bars and novelty shops. Safe for tourists, families and all those traveling. Drivers in the area are careful except tourist buses...they are on a mission and won't break for much.

This park/plaza is so beautiful. The center of the plaza is a beautiful church: La Iglesia de las…read moreCandelarias, and surrounding the church are food vendors, restaurants, heladerias, and cafes, as well as hostels. The park is clean, and obviously well-loved by locals and tourists alike. If you want to participate in a piece of Valladolid daily life then just come to the park around dusk and hang out with locals, or stop by the cafe for some chilaquiles and American-style coffee in the morning and chat with all the travelers and expats.

Beautiful Building! Check Out the Murals and Views from the Second Floor!…read more The Palacio Municipal is a beautiful colonial building situated on the east side of Valladolid's central square. It houses the city's government offices. I recommend climbing the stairs to the second floor (it is free), where you will find some lovely murals painted by a local artist along with a row of windows overlooking the central square, providing great panoramic views! I really enjoyed my time here.

This is like your local food court inside a shopping mall. There are various kinds of authentic…read morestreet foods in this Bazar, so you can't get more local than this. Just browse around and see what types of foods you're interested in. The downsides are that tables are first-come, first-serve. Meaning if you can't find a table after ordering your food, you're eating standing up. Lastly, you have to pay to use the bathroom. There is a gate that blocks the entrance to the bathrooms and you have to pay to enter.

Near the historic Parque Central Francisco Cantón de Rosado (the main plaza in Valladolid,…read moreYucatán), tourists and locals alike mingle in the open-air indoor El Bazar Municipal. It's like a food court with markets or it's like a market with a food court. Either way, El Bazar Municipal features covered communal seating with cheap food and cheaper restrooms. I got a soft drink (because of the intense heat) from a small store while she hit the loo. Then we did a little window shopping. Vendors offer a variety of local products like embroidered clothes, dresses, and blouses, plus ornaments, jewelry, and accessories. Ice cream, candy and sodas are available quick refreshers, but, more importantly, El Bazar Municipal is the kind of place you'll find flavorful local dishes such as Lomitos de Valladolid (Pork Loin in Tomato Sauce), Longaniza (Smoked Pork Sausage), and Polle en Escabeche (Chicken Escabeche like ceviche). Breakfast is cheap while lunch and dinner have a broader mix of cuisine including some offering comida corrida. If you are staying in Valladolid, Yucatán, Mexico, consider stopping in the centrally-located El Bazar Municipal to grab a quick snack, down a refreshing cold drink, experience local cuisine, view a wide-range of products from vendors, escape the sun, or simply use the restroom for a small fee.

As far as cenotes go, this is probably one of the BEST you can visit in the region. It's completely…read moreunderground (there is some steep stair-maneuvering involved), but once you dip into its cool waters you'll be glad for the effort to get there. We were there on a not-too-busy Wednesday afternoon and our group pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was glorious! This cenote is right next to another magnificent cenote: Cenote Dzitnup. They are both equally spectacular and I highly recommend paying the extra to do both. Just be prepared for the crazy check-in process, where "volunteers" will meet you at the parking lot to "escort" you to the ticket booth 50' away and then demand payment for their services. Just walk on past these folks ("no gracias" is a good term to learn in general when traveling in the area) and directly to the ticket booth. You'll also need 25-pesos to rent a life jacket (required) at *each* cenote. Yes, the coordination could be better here but hey, when do you get the chance to swim in a cenote? Other than the sort of stress-inducing check-in process and the stair climbing, this place is well worth the visit. Plan at least an hour per cenote. Bring towels!

While this is the first time my husband and I visited on August 12, 2019 about 1230p, I felt like…read morethere were drawbacks that weren't worth the 5 star compliments written by everyone else who went. As we came into the establishment, we realized that we only had enough money for 1 cenote. They persisted that we needed a guide being our first time there; but I mentioned that we didn't have enough pesos to even give a proper tip, because we spent most of our money at Chichén Itzá and the tolls and the gas to get us from Cancun and back. The gentleman stated that it was ok anyway. So away we went. They insisted that we needed pictures taken by them and that we could look at them later. We politely declined because we had no money to give them above and beyond the cost of the tickets. I had noticed that previous reviews had stated that we would have to have a life jacket and to rinse off. I was expecting both but had no money for a life jacket anyway. He asked us if we wanted to use the facilities and we politely declined. He shared with my husband the history of centote's; which it was fairly interesting (he decided that walking really fast and talking to my husband and not really bothering for me to catch up, was the best idea). So while my husband told me of some of the history afterwards, I didn't hear much of it straight from him. He also showed us the top of the cenote and asked us if we wanted to be a daredevil and jump down into it. Again we politely declined. As we headed down the steps, he told us to cautiously walk down since it was slippery and to hold onto the rope. We did do both. But again, I was being left behind. He did take our picture with my iPhone; so that was nice. The picture wasn't the best quality but it was nice to have anyway. Then he expected a tip. All we had was 25 pesos. While I know that wasn't a lot and I had told him, he asked "Is this it?" I really wanted to state that I could have it back and you could have nothing; but I kept my mouth shut. Anyhow, the cenote was much much cooler than we expected. It took awhile to get into the water but we finally did it. The black fish in the emerald water is actually cat fish. We were one of the few that didn't have to have a life jacket. We got some great pictures and we were glad that we did it; but I don't think we will be coming back. I did use the bathroom on our way out; and I realized that they had no toilet seats. While squatting was fine for me to do, I'm trying to figure out who takes the toilet seats and what they do with them. ‍

Climb the pyramid! This ancient Mayan archaeological site…read moreis a wonder! They don't let tourists climb the pyramid in Chtizinitza anymore (Thanks, Justin Bieber!) But you can climb this one! Plus, this one is taller! Arriving here, the parking is quite a ways from the ruins. But for a small charge, you can either rent a bike (it's flat) or pay some guy in a Mayan Limousine (rickshaw) to peddle you out there. We opted for the latter. The guy stopped along the way and pointed out fun facts and things that we'd have otherwise completely missed. Climbing the pyramid was wonderful! The stairs were all kinda helped along by the local authorities with handrails and wooden beams to help make things level and stable. There's some really cool rock carvings of their gods, and be sure to check out the ball court! Still, in the floor are the carvings of the skull and the jaguar! Whoa. These are some of the best preserved ruins I'd seen! Loved it! Watch out for snakes. There was a little tourist shop where you can get magnets, postcards and fun stuff to take home. It was low pressure shopping.

Cobá... this is the Mayan ruins that stands above and beyond all others I have visited including…read moreChichén Itzá and Tulum; simple put, it's special. Within the ground/park, we had a guide for the beginning where we viewed various parts of the ruins including multiple pyramids and some ecological interests and some very interesting games that were played by the Mayans called Pok-ta-Pok; if what was described is true, then the games are interesting but also very disturbing as they sometimes sacrifice the captain of the loosing team (sacrifices are typically by beheading). To get to the highlight of the ruins, it is quite a hike but you can use the numerous tricycle taxis. Our first time back in 2016 we took advantage of the taxi and had a 15 year old kid named Wilbur bring us to Nohoch Mul Pyramid. The more recent visit, we took the longer walk/hike. This pyramid is the largest of the mayan ruins and up until 2021 you could climb to the top; or I should say, you can "TRY" to climb to the top. The pyramid appears to look like a stairway but let me tell you, it is NOT and it is challenging. Instead of a handrail, you have a thick, heavy rope clipped to the stairs, so you are hunched over like an ape to use it. Typical stairway in a home are 7 / 11 (each step is 7 inches high and 11 inches deep); the pyramid is not like this... all are much higher and some are considerably higher than others and they are not uniform so it's hard to get any kind of rhythm. About half way up, you must look into the distance and you'll be pleasantly surprised with a view of the top of the forest canopy. I never continued higher but at the top there is a level, open area to walk (or in some cases, a place to gain your composure and catch your breath as going down is definitely not easier). Coba is an amazing experience by stepping into the same footsteps as this ancient civilization.

The food was great (traditional options) and the cenote didn't feel very crowded even though there…read morewas a tour bus. We arrived about 11:00 and when we left at 1:00 the parking was full.

This is the only cenote I was able to make it to during my short Cancún trip. My fiancée and I came…read morehere after visiting Chichen Itza. Yokdzonot is just a 10 minute drive away from Chichen Itza. If you're not on a group bus tour, this is a must visit. When we came here, we were the only people. It was an amazing experience. This cenote is maintained by locals and not many tourists know about it. When we got here, we saw some 3-4 locals got into the water and cleared up the fallen leaves. It is much cheaper than any of the other cenotes we were considering. While some cost at least 50-100 USD, this cost about 3.5 USD. And that included life vests. They also had a rappelling line above the cenote. The water was a clear turquoise blue and had mangrove roots along the edges.

We visited this Cenote after leaving Coba (1-2-20). The guard shack guy told us all about it and…read moregave us a brochure with a map. It was easy to find! We only did the Multun-Ha because we had spent so much time at Coba. This Cenote is a traditional underground pool. The hole/entrance winds down about 100 steps to the bottom dock. You can jump in; it is plenty deep. There are ropes you can sit/hold on to. Take time to just sit in the water and enjoy how SOFT the water feels on your skin. It is super clear too. It is so clear that it appears you can touch but the rocks below are very far down. The next time we visit a Cenote, I will bring goggles and a snorkel so I can look under the water for long periods of time. The rocks below are a wonder to see just like the rocks above. Be sure to make this part of your Coba trip! MOST SINCERELY!!!!

Such a magical place! This was part of a tour package and we are fortunate that our tour guide…read morechose this cenote out of the three possibilities. It was very quiet and hardly anyone but us 12 in the group were there. You take a very narrow spiral stairway down about 75 feet. I was blown away with the energy there. Breathtaking. Beautiful clear blue waters and so refreshing after our bike through the jungle and hike up the ruins. There are 3 areas to get in and ropes in the water so you can hold onto. Life jackets are available. Some people were diving and flipping off a ramp area. Waters are about 70°. I saw a few small black catfish swimming. Words do not describe the beauty. You do need to shower before you get in. There is a shower, changing and restroom area when you arrive. One of the guests said they needed to shower when we got out but our guide said the same water you are showering with is the water from the cenote lol I do not recommend you to rent a car and come here. You need an off road vehicle to get here because the road is made of rock, has holes and is very bumpy.