Horseback Riding, Ziplining, and Cenotes, Oh My!

Last weekend in Cancun, Harrison and I signed up for a cenote tour that also included ziplining and horseback riding.

If you’re anywhere in Quintana Roo (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, etc.), you simply must visit a cenote. Or two. Or three.

Cenotes

Cenotes are one of the natural wonders that this part of Mexico offers.

There are thousands of cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula, and a lot of the Mayan temples were built around these ancient structures.

Once you visit a cenote, it’s easy to understand why! These caves are full of wonder, awe, and the prettiest waters.

Three types of cenotes

The three different kinds of cenotes are open, closed, and semi-open.

These are basically what they sound like.

• Open cenote: more like a big swimming hole
• Closed cenote: an enclosed cave cenote
• Semi-open: partially open cave, so not totally covered by cave

So then, how do you get into the cenote? That’s where locals or your tour guide come in.

Often times there is a stairwell or pathway that will lead you to the cold waters. There’s also the option of jumping if you’re brave!

We visited a semi-open cenote, and our fearless tour guide had so mun fun diving in repeatedly.

Harrison jumped in twice, but I took the stairs. It’s much scarier than it looks!

How to find a cenote

As I mentioned earlier, there are a ton of cenotes in the area. There are a few options you can use when finding a cenote. The safest ways to see them are by tour guide or car rental.

If you’re seeing a cenote as part of a tour, you won’t have much say in which cenote you’re going to see. But at least you’ll have someone to show you the ropes. It is also already paid for upfront as part of your package.

If you’re going by car, you can go to any cenote that you could want! The only thing is if someone isn’t there to show you where to go, it wouldn’t be difficult to get lost. You also pay when you visit each cenote if you’re on your own.

Our cenote

The cenote we visited was called Cenote La Noria. It was part of our tour package which included ziplining and horseback riding.

Cenote La Noria was actually on our tour guide’s land- he purchased it for his tour business. Carlos, our tour guide, set it up such that you have the cenote and ziplining in one location, and then horseback riding a little bit further down the road on his land.

Cenote La Noria was really cool, but like any cave, it was also a bit creepy! The waters are an eerie glowing blue, and as you can see from my pictures, my camera didn’t really know what to make of the cave! Shots with me in them turned me into a glowing white figure.

There were also bats flying around! They didn’t bother us, but still… creepy!

Ziplining

The rest of the tour was awesome.

Carlos has a six-line zip-line set up on his property, which included an awesome canopy walkway.

Ziplining over a jungle is as thrilling as it sounds!

Something to know beforehand: your clothes will most likely get dirty while ziplining.

I was fortunately in a black bathing suit, so it didn’t bother me, but Harrison’s white shirt is going to need a bit of TLC.

Horseback riding

The last part of our tour with Carlos was horseback riding. I am a huge fan of exploring new places by horse.

Though they weren’t as obedient as horses I’ve ridden in the past, it was still a fun time riding horses on the dirt roads in Quintana Roo.

We even get to ride our horses through a lake, which was definitely a new experience for me!

All in all, we had a really fun time adventuring through cenotes, treetops, and on horseback.

When we were done with our activities, Carlos had one of his men cut down a coconut for us to enjoy.

Fresh coconut… I highly recommend it!

Have fun exploring!

Safe travels!

Jasmine