Secret and private cenotes near Tulum

Last Updated on July 5, 2023 by Ellen

Cenotes are all over the Riviera Maya, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be invited to a few off the beaten path that most people haven’t seen. There are thousands of them.

Cenotes are most simply put – a natural pool where the limestone has sunken, exposing groundwater. They can be found in caves, or they can be open, like a lake. Some are deep, some are shallow, and they widely vary in size.

One cenote I experienced is between Tulum and Coba on private property. It will not open to the public. The cenote on my friend’s land and has been in his family a long time. They want to preserve it.

This cenote has great energy. After we left, that night, I was reviewing pictures from the day when I noticed odd, inexplicable images within the pictures.

I take several photos in quick succession and then pick the best ones and throw away the rest. In this series, I took three photos. I remember thinking the first one had my husband’s face half in shadow, so I moved ever-so-slightly to take the next pictures. They were taken seconds apart.

The first one has no markings or strange objects that I noticed. The second one has the black mark, and the third one has the misterioso monstruo.

These are not edited, I promise. What do you see?

In the third picture, I call it the UFO – ‘unidentified floating object.’

The property owner is mystified over the images. My husband and I had just been swimming before I took these pictures, and then he went back in after his cerveza. Neither of us saw anything remotely like what is pictured in the third photo.

There are some Mayan myths, apparently, that large serpents guarded some cenotes…

Another special cenote I’ve been to is still a ‘secret’ to the public and it is closed to the public. It may or may not eventually open for tourists. I hope it does open.

It’s a special place where I felt a powerful energy. I don’t want to say more than that in case it ever does open for mass visitors.

This secret cenote is part of a much larger underground river system, but it’s not easy to find and it’s not like your traditional snorkeling cenote. But that’s exactly part of the reason why it’s special – it’s not like any other cenote I’ve seen, and I’ve seen many.

I had to wade through the cave you see in the third picture to get to the “special spot.” It was a little hair-raising because of the bats swooping around just inches over my head. But once I got to the other side  —  it was totally worth it. Every hair on my arms and neck were raised. The rest of me was under water.

There still is so much to see, and so much more to learn and experience around Tulum and Coba and the Riviera Maya. That’s part of the overall magic in the region.

Heck. God’s wide world, vast and unknown to me, is all magical. That’s why I’m a vagabond spirit.

(*Update, November 17, 2017: locals who own the property with one of these private cenotes is willing to open his property for private events, such as weddings or other celebrations. Please contact me for details.)

(*Update, October 2019: one of these private cenotes is still available now and then for special events. Contact me for details.)

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