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There are several visitable cenotes on the landward side of the highway near Xpu-Ha. A broad, shady pool dappled by brilliant sunlight, Kantun-Chi is near the road but still deliciously refreshing for swimming. Neighboring cenotes, Cristalino and Cenote Azul, are also beautiful.

This vast cavern is called “Two Eyes” because its two huge entrances look like eyes when seen from planes overhead. Extending over 60 km (37 miles) through a labyrinth of caverns and limestone “trees,” it has been considered the longest underwater cave system in the world – but the nearby Nohoch Nah Chich cenote may be even longer. Inexperienced divers get most from it with the Hidden Worlds tours (see Dos Ojos Cenote and Hidden Worlds).

The loveliest of several cenotes open to swimmers along the road from Tulum to Cobá. Gran Cenote has a placid, clear pool, and snorkelers can make their way through a massive, arched cavern and down along a tunnel.

The most famous of the swimmable cenotes, a vast limestone cathedral. Via a narrow tunnel you enter a truly awe-inspiring chamber with, at the bottom, a pool of perfect turquoise water. Tour groups tend to visit about 11am–noon, but at other times it’s rarely crowded.

Another spectacular cavern-pool next to Cenote Dzitnup. Past a narrow entrance there’s a huge pool of cool, clear water, and in the middle of the cave the roots of a giant ceiba tree – associated with mystical powers by the Maya – stretch straight down from the surface to reach the water far below.

As well as cenote pools and underwater rivers, the Yucatán is underlain by a huge web of dry caves, sacred places to the ancient Maya. Balankanché, near Chichén Itzá, is one of the largest and most extraordinary cave systems.

The most celebrated cenote in the Yucatán, the giant sacred well at Chichén (see Sacred Cenote), has long been said to have been a place of human sacrifice. The cenote was used only for ritual purposes, perhaps as a channel to the Underworld, since the city’s drinking water came from the Xtoloc Cenote, near the Caracol.

The wide, round cenote that provided water for the ancient city of Dzibilchaltún is still a popular swimming hole today. It gets busy on Sundays but is a relaxing place for a dip at other times of the week (see Dzibilchaltún).

These little-known caves near the Mayan ruins at Oxkintok are some of the region’s most extraordinary. The roofless main chamber is big enough to contain whole trees, and is full of birds.

An astonishing cave system not far from the Puuc cities, with the longest history of human habitation in the Yucatán. Chambers are full of bizarre rock formations, strange airflows and relics of their Mayan occupants (see also A Day in the Puuc Hills).