cenotes with little children

[RubyOnTheWater]

I've been reading several threads and I think we are leaning towards the cenote at DZ. It will be 4 adults and three children 7, 5, and 3. The little ones aren't swimmers but are there spots shallow enough for an adult to hold them and stand with them in the water? I have seen some youtube videos that make it look like lots of fish can be seen in the cenote, is that true? Is it worth trying to snorkel in?

 

What would be the most budget friendly way to get the 7 of us to a cenote and back?

[RubyOnTheWater]

I just wanted to come back and say we loved going to the cenote. We could have spent all day there! We hired a taxi after we got off the ship. I think we would consider doing that again just to have them take us to the cenote, but I would not hire a taxi to take me anywhere if I didn't know EXACTLY where I wanted to go. He did not speak english at all and wasn't the easiest to communicate with. We ended up adding a visit to Merida on as well and we said we wanted to do shopping and eat at a local place but when he dropped us off for our time in Merida he insisted that we have a "tour guide" with us the whole time and this guy wanted to pick where we ate and then had us pay for the meal. It was an awkward situation. Maybe I just didn't know what to expect. We don't travel much and the only experience I had with a taxi on vacation before was hiring a specific driver for the day in Cozumel and this was definitely a very different experience.

 

But back to the cenote here are my tips:

 

- you could bring a bag but not a backpack into the park.

- if you go on your own without a tour guide when you get to the end of the trail and see all the open area with the ruins the cenote is to your right.

- there is not a bathroom or changing area that we saw nearby the cenote so if you want to swim be prepared. There are bathrooms at the park they are just not near the cenote, they are at the place where you drop off your backpacks before you go in.

- the water was GORGEOUS, it was my favorite part of our whole vacation. There were tons of little fishies all around that would swim up to you and nibble on you. The water was clear and the lilly pads were so pretty!

- there was a pretty large shallow area for people who don't love swimming but still want to get in the water.

 

My only regret is that we spent part of our time in Merida instead of just staying at the cenote, the time went by way too fast. As much as I didn't love our taxi experience I think that was the cheapest way for us to get to the cenote and we enjoyed getting there before the other tour groups and having the whole place mostly to ourselves during our time there.

 

I would love to go back to that area of Mexico for a land vacation where I could hire a driver with good reviews and take a tour of all the cenotes in the area with no worry about missing a boat.

[mrsfuzzmo]

FYI, there are a LOT of cenotes open to the public in the Riviera Maya area. They are gorgeous. Some are open and some are caved. Absolutely beautiful. We try and go to one or two different ones on each vacation there.

[RubyOnTheWater]

I would love to go on a week long vacation in Mexico and spend half my time exploring the cenotes nearby, it was just so beautiful!