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Marina
Solutions
Itinerary Excursions
Cenotes
Cenotes are natural
sinkholes, and the Yucatan Peninsula is the only place
in Mexico where you can find them. The most famous is the
Cenote Sagrado, or Sacrificial Well at Chichen-Itza. A
cenote is created when the limestone of the peninsula,
weakened by rain, gives way to the water table below. Some
are the size of a Jacuzzi, others are as big as a lake,
and many are used for swimming. The loveliest in state
of Quintana Roo are all located off Carretera 307 (state
highway); distances are from Cancun:
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NO NAME (96 KM). The
sign for the turn-off is on your left, just past
the entrance to Puerto Aventuras. Swimming allowed
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TANKAH (131 KM). A
wooden sign on the highway just after the Tulum Ruins
leads to the Casa de Cenote Restaurant; the cenote
is just behind it. Swimming allowed.
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CENOTE AZUL (375. 4 KM). This is the
deepest cenote / sinkhole in the world. Food, drink
and live music offered at cenote-side restaurant.
Swimming allowed.
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THE TAJ MAHAL. Located 3 miles south
of Playa del Carmen. At first it might seem overacted
and inappropriately named, as you descend a small concrete
staircase into a large depression in the ground with
a horseshoe-shaped river of cold, shallow water. However,
access to the Taj Majal can only be gained by swimming
two meter down and under a wall of rock, before emerging
into a cave on the other side. The cavern is the size
of a small theater and two
shafts of light from the cavern roof illuminate the
clear water.
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CALAVERA. Located almost 2 miles from
Tulum on the road to the beautiful archaeological
site of Cobá, the Calavera (skull) cenote features
a cavern, open to the sky, with a ten-foot drop to
the water’s surface. It gets its name from
the three holes, two small and one large at the bottom,
which give it a skull-like appearance.
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GRAN CENOTE. Located 3.7 miles from
Tulum on the road to Cobá. It is actually
several cenotes that line the edges of a thirty-foot-deep
football field-sized, oval depression. Visitors descend
to the bottom by means of a series of platforms linked
by hand made wooden stairs. The caves are among the
most beautiful in the zone, with both sandy and rocky
floors, green and blue water, and cave ceilings dripping
with stalactites.
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