Visiting the Cenote Hubiku Near Chichen Itza

During a recent trip to Cancun, I was able to scratch one really fun item off my bucket list — I was able to swim in a cenote (underground cave) for the first time. And yes, it was just as cool as it sounds! I visited the Cenote Hubiku, which lies deep in the jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula.

[photo source ©CadeButler]

Learn what it's like to swim in a cenote (underground cave) deep in the Yucatan Peninsula. Click To Tweet

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Getting to Cenote Hubiku

I went on this particular trip with my best friend, Christopher, so you'll see him in many of my photos. Christopher and I stayed at The Westin Cancun Resort & Spa in Cancun, and we selected a guided bus tour from one of the pamphlets at the hotel's concierge desk. Our tour was an all-day trip that included Cenote Hubiku, a jungle tour to meet local artisans, a buffet style lunch, a visit to UNESCO World Heritage site Chichen Itza, and a brief stop in the beautiful town of Valladolid, Mexico.

The Cenote Hubiku was about a two hour and fifteen minute bus ride from our hotel in Cancun. If you plan to rent a car and drive yourself, note that there are few places to stop for food or fuel. Take snacks, bug spray, lots of water, and make sure to fill up with gas prior to departure. Definitely wear comfortable shoes!

You also need to take pesos to pay for the few areas where there are toll roads. If you plan to swim in a cenote, bring a bathing suit. There are private places to change once you arrive, so there's no need to wear one under your clothing and be uncomfortable during the rest of the tour.

When I say we were deep in the jungle, I'm not kidding. The few homes we passed on our drive to Cenote Hubiku were tiny with thatched rooftops and no doors. 

Arriving at Cenote Hubiku

Upon arriving at the cenote, we had to walk through a touristy shop filled with vendors hawking their souvenirs. It's a bit annoying, to say the least! Unfortunately that's pretty standard practice for tourist attractions in Mexico. If you decide to purchase anything, it helps if you speak Spanish and can haggle in the vendor's native language. Even if you don't speak Spanish, you should still attempt to get a lower rate as items are overpriced and mass produced.

Once we made it past the souvenir shop, we were stopped by a photographer who wanted to take a picture of us. We obliged, and later you'll learn why he needed it!

After the photo, we had the option of swimming in the cenote or visiting the Don Tedeo Tequila Museum and sampling tequila. Since I have a habit of making very bad decisions when I drink tequila, we wisely opted for the cenote!

Being Respectful in a Cenote

Cenotes were considered sacred areas to the ancient Mayans; their openings were believed to be a gateway to an underworld inhabited by Chaac — the God of Rain. Although the cenotes are spectacularly beautiful, the surface below many of them is littered with bones from both humans and animals.

It is commonly believed that the remains were from sacrificial offerings during Mayan eras of extreme drought. Both people and animals were tossed into the deep waters and left to drown in an effort appease Chaac and bring much needed rain. Divers have also discovered gold and jewels.

When entering a cenote, please keep in mind that you are a guest in a sacred place and act accordingly.

Before we could enter Hubiku Cenote, we were required to visit a shower area where we rinsed off, changed into bathing suits, and stowed our clothes in a locker. With hoards of tourists visiting Mexican cenotes each year, this process is necessary to remove sunscreen, oil, and perfume residue from the body so the cenotes will remain clean and pure for many years to come.

Life jackets are available near the lockers if you're concerned and think you may need one, and towels are provided with the entry fee. (Note: Our entry fee was included with the tour, but if you're visiting on your own expect to pay a nominal fee to enter.)

A cenote is actually a sinkhole that extends to the groundwater table. It is formed when limestone collapses to expose a window into beautiful underground river systems.

Getting Sidetracked by Monkeys

Prior to walking down the steps into the cenote, we were able to play with a few adorable little monkeys. That ended up being my favorite part of the cenote trip! (I seem to have a habit of running into monkeys during my travels.)

Click on any photo to learn more and view it larger.

As you begin the trek down the stairs into the cenote, there's a platform halfway down where you can pose with men dressed as ancient Mayan warriors. Christopher took full advantage of this to show off his fiercest warrior pose.

It's a good idea to bring pesos along during the tour, because there are numerous tipping opportunities.

Inside the Cenote

The Cenote Hubiku is semi-open, so when you're inside looking up, you'll see a large hole with sunlight streaming through to illuminate the water below. There are also long vines hanging down from the ground above and the water is very clear. It's difficult to tell just how cavernous it is inside the cenote from a single photo, but I tried capturing a panoramic shot on my cell to give you an idea.

Here's a wide angle shot of the Hubiku Cenote, where you can see the large opening above and some of the vines hanging down.

Once in the cenote, Christopher jumped in the water first. He said it was refreshing, so I decided to give it a try. I'm pretty sure he stretched the truth just to get me in the water, because cenote water is very cold!! I wimped out long before he did and climbed out.

Swimming in the cenote was Christopher's favorite part of the trip, and he stayed in as long as our guides allowed. His advice was to float on your back and look up towards the ceiling, because it's very surreal. In case you're wondering, this particular cenote is about 150 feet deep!

Click on any photo to learn more and view it larger.

Although it's difficult to see them in the pictures, Cenote Hubiku is full of tiny black catfish. We saw hundreds of them! They didn't bother us, we didn't bother them, and it was pretty peaceful to watch them swimming all around us.

Tequila Souvenirs from the Trip

Once we finished our swim and headed back to our tour bus, we discovered we'd picked up a few additional passengers. They came bearing tequila from the museum and received a hearty welcome from our entire tour group! They proceeded to pour samples of flavored tequila and passed them out to everyone — even the teenagers.

Next they produced bottles of tequila personalized with the photo they'd taken of each of us when we arrived on site. Well played, tequila marketing team; well played.  Of course we purchased one.

Christopher planned to take our personalized bottle home as a souvenir of the trip, but a crafty TSA agent had alternate plans for it. Unfortunately, it was confiscated at the airport. Somewhere in Mexico there's a drunk TSA agent, and I'd like to imagine him toasting us as he drank.

Advance Planning for Your Trip

 If you're interested in making reservations prior to your trip, you can save slightly by doing so. Our tour was through Experiencias Xcaret, which is a reputable touring company that has a 4.5 star rating on Trip Advisor. You can pre-book your tour by clicking on this photo to get to their site (affiliate link):

You can read more about our trip to Cancun here, including the fun times we had rescuing baby sea turtles. Have you visited a cenote before or do you plan to in the near future? Please let us know in the comments if you have any questions or want to share your experience and advice with others. Happy travels!

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