How many cenotes are there?

The best estimates

• Yucatán Peninsula (Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche): around 6,000 to 10,000 cenotes, often quoted (reported).
• Yucatán state: a few thousand registered by the state government (reported numbers vary, about 2,200 to 3,000).
• Quintana Roo: fewer open cenotes but huge flooded cave systems along the coast.
• Campeche: the fewest, mostly in the north.

Why nobody knows the exact number

• Many cenotes sit on private ranches and are never reported.
• Small or dry sinkholes may or may not be counted.
• New cenotes are still found, sometimes under roads and towns during construction.
• States and studies use different definitions.
• Many entrances are hidden in thick jungle.

Where cenotes are densest

The densest band is the Ring of Cenotes, an arc of cenotes along the buried rim of the Chicxulub crater around Mérida, Homún and Cuzamá. The Tulum and Playa del Carmen coast has fewer open holes but hundreds of kilometres of flooded caves linking them.

How many can you visit?

A few hundred are open to visitors, from big parks to small community sites. This directory focuses on the best-known and most-visited ones, with profiles for each.

Cenotes outside the Yucatán

• El Zacatón in Tamaulipas, Mexico, one of the deepest known.
• Belize's blue holes and the Great Blue Hole.
• Florida springs and sinkholes, sometimes called cenotes.
• The Dominican Republic and Cuba also have water-filled sinkholes.

How many cenotes in Quintana Roo?

Quintana Roo, home to Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, has fewer counted cenotes than Yucatán state, but its coast holds the longest mapped underwater caves on Earth, such as Sac Actun and Ox Bel Ha. Many cenotes there are entrances to these caves.

How many cenotes are near Tulum, Cancún and Valladolid?

• Tulum: dozens of visitor cenotes within about 30 minutes, from Gran Cenote to Dos Ojos.
• Cancún and Puerto Morelos: a handful nearby plus the Ruta de los Cenotes, with many parks along one road.
• Valladolid: around ten well-known cenotes within half an hour, including Zaci, Suytun and Dzitnup.
• Mérida: dozens within an hour, especially in Homún and Cuzamá.

How the count is changing

Mapping projects by researchers, divers and state governments keep adding cenotes to registers. At the same time, some are lost to construction or filled in. Counts quoted online are often old, so treat any single number as an estimate.

How many cenotes should you visit on a trip?

Two or three in a day is comfortable. On a one-week trip, many visitors see five to ten, mixing an open, a semi-open and a cave cenote to see the different types.