Within the tourist panorama of the beautiful Yucatan, we are going to see if we surprise Yucatecans and strangers with 7 not-so-known tourist places in Yucatan. I hope they are motivations for everyone, do we want to join with yours?
Yucatán is a state that brings together several internationally known wonders such as Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, beautiful colonial cities such as white Mérida, Valladolid and Izamal. Yucatan is known for its ancient Mayan cities, cenotes and caves, beaches, haciendas, flamingos, to name a representative animal, and its rich gastronomy and traditions.
The Yucatecan is proud of its land and traditions, and this makes it a state of friendly and welcoming people.
7 LITTLE KNOWN TOURIST PLACES IN YUCATÁN
For those of you who want to get off the best known routes, I hope to surprise you with these 7 not-so-known tourist places in Yucatan that you are going to love. Enjoy walking through these lands, always with due respect for the environment and people.
1- THE DEEPEST CENOTE OF YUCATÁN
Despite this cenote holding the depth record of all the cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula, it is one of the little-known tourist places in Yucatan. In Yucatan there are thousands of cenotes, most of them are not indicated: if there is no economic interest behind them, we simply pass them by. To get to most of the cenotes you have to ask, you must have the desire to go exploring.
We found Cenote Sabak Ha near Yunku. At the junction of the town you must take a dirt road that is indicated with a small canvas. From here you must travel about 2 kilometers. You will see a first detour to the left, that is not it, it is the next one that leads you to the Sabak Ha cenote. It is difficult to give directions from here, but if you want to know it, without any doubt you will?
Cenote Sabak Ha is an open cenote where you can swim, and also dive. The Yucatan Sustainable Development Secretariat (SDS) tells us «the color of the water is green due to the decomposing organic matter that is floating, which produces tannic acid, however after 15 m of depth the water becomes crystalline with a visibility of up to 50 meters; the water mirror is 60 meters long by 30 meters wide and has a depth of 120 meters recorded, the maximum is still unknown. " (SDS source)
AS A CURIOSITY: El Zacatón is a cenote located in the municipality of Aldama, south of Tamaulipas. At 339 meters deep, it is considered the deepest water-filled chasm in the world.
2- THE ONLY HACIENDA HENEQUENERA IN ACTIVE WESTERN MÉRIDA
We love the haciendas in Yucatán that continue to work with henequen in shredders just as they did a century ago. They are true windows to a historical era that for better and for worse marked an era. It is very interesting to know this part of history in one of the few living farms that defibrate henequen today. The best known of all the active farms is the Hacienda Sotuta de Peón where they organize very complete tours.
For us, Hacienda San Miguel Chac was one of those pleasant surprises along the way. It is the only active ranch in the west of Mérida, just 7 kilometers from Hunucmá. A place that preserves the activity of the old machines that remind us that programmed obsolescence is an ideal invention for capitalism. It is a walk to delight us in time, and even more so if you visit the hacienda by the hand of Saul, the Hacienda's guide.
The stories that Saul tells us are a fundamental part to appreciate and fully enter this window of history. We strongly recommend that you contact him before going to visit him as he is not always there. We leave you the information of contact of Hacienda San Miguel Chac.
3- CAVES WITH HUNDREDS OF ROCK PAINTINGS
We know that the Mayans consider the caves sacred entrances to the Mayan underworld, to Xibalbá. This sacred space is a place of origin, life and death, they are spaces where you can face challenges, collect sacred water, bury your loved ones and perform sacred ceremonies. The Yucatan Peninsula has hundreds of caves and grottos, some of them sacred to the Mayans. Many other equally beautiful are not considered sacred, due to the fact that they do not have certain evidences that thus define them, such as mortuary remains, ceramic remains, cave paintings or other evidences that I forget.
Within this whole panorama, the Grutas de Santa Rita stands out thanks to the hundreds of painted hands that are inside. Most of these painted hands on the walls of the grotto are near a body of water. They probably held ceremonies near the water, asking that the sacred good supply their crops. You are in a natural temple, it is something very exciting.
Local guides accompany you on this fascinating journey to one of the sacred places of the ancient Maya, where you can learn about culture and enjoy the beautiful formations that nature gives us in the Grutas de Santa Rita. You can bathe inside the cave at a depth of 12 meters, it is a wonderful adventure.
We leave you the information of contact of Grutas Santa Rita
4- ARCHAEOLOGICAL ZONE OF KULUBÁ
Few people go to Kulubá, and it is a beautiful place. The curious thing is that there is little left for them to do it for a fee, and when that is the case, more people will visit it. but so far I put it on this list of little known places. In the blog we are updating the lists, do I like to do these things?
It is a large settlement, with beautiful details and structures that catch you. An area of the vestige much more exposed, and another part immersed in a jungle area. two landscapes in one in Kulubá, something that I also like a lot. The arrival by dirt road with the image of the structure of the temple of the horseshoe on the right is a cool one.
Hopefully the next opening by INAH as a place of payment, does not change much the adventure charm that Kulubá gives to visitors. This wonderful ancient Mayan city is another of the good surprises of little known tourist places in Yucatan. It is somewhat difficult to arrive, so we leave you the complete information of the archaeological zone of Kulubá.
5- NATURE AND DISCOVERIES IN SAN MANUEL KM.11
Suddenly you find beautiful surprises along the way: a family that lives in San Manuel Km. 11 have developed a tourist product taking advantage of the beautiful jungle: between cenotes they offer you a walk where you will most likely see spider monkeys. So fantastic are these tourist places in Yucatan?
A path through the Mayan mountain of about 2 kilometers leads us between the beautiful Kukulkán cenote, a water reserve for many animals that take shelter in it, and the Juul K'iin cenote, where you arrive by a beautiful walk among jungle sounds. They are working on the site to prepare it for camping. If you are a lover of camping and nature, you have come to the perfect place. I leave you the information of the route, the town and contact with Ma'aloob K'iin, the family business.
In addition, the town of San Manuel km.11 there is a wonderful history of exploration that you can learn in the community museum. Here are part of the findings of a National Geographic expedition, one of those stories to talk to locals.
6- THE TEMPLE OF THE CROSS TUN, MAYAN TEMPLE
To all those who like the human, the anthropological or the cultural history, the Temple of the Holy Cross will be a treasure on your way. In this temple located in Xocén we can observe the pre-Hispanic beliefs of the Maya in syncretism with the Catholic beliefs. Both beliefs define the space, it is not a Catholic temple, but a Mayan one (despite its Catholicism). I know it's a bit tangled, but syncretism is like that, a tangle of beliefs.
A temple full of details, a temple where you can listen to your voice, where entering with respect you are welcome. It is something unique to coincide in a procession to the temple and share with the Mayan people the food that they take to the temple as an offering. It is a tradition to distribute the food offered among all, they give it to you in the church and a dining room is formed around the temple. Meeting place and sharing food.
If you like to live closely the Mayan communities, here you will find your perfect hosts with Xocen Birding Trail, local nature guides, experts in bird watching, and with whom to enjoy sharing a traditional dish in their family home, learning about some ancient professions such as the local midwife.
As you can see, there are tourist places in Yucatan that take you further than you expected.
7- THE PINK WATERS OF DZEMUL
If there are some famous pink waters in Yucatan, it is the pink waters of Las Coloradas. Las Coloradas is a destination that for a few years in Yucatán has become fashionable, the photo on Instagram with that intense pink color is very appealing to humans. Las Coloradas is the most important salt mine in this area of Mexico, that is why they are the most spectacular pink waters since they have several locks in a very wide territory.
What many are unaware of is that there are more pink waters along the Yucatecan coast. The Maya extracted salt to market since ancient times. Salt was extracted at various points along the coast, such as in Celestún, Sisal and the coast from Progreso to Dzilam Bravo. One of the most powerful archaeological sites on the Yucatecan coast was Xcambó, a place known for the extraction of salt. Very close to Xcambó we find the pink pools of Dzemul, an ideal place to see the pink salt. We leave you information on how to get to the pink lagoons of Dzemul.
The route of salt is linked to the route of the pink flamingo. All along the coast from Celestún to Las Coloradas, flamingos and salt share territory, they call it the Costa Smeralda. And believe me that this Emerald coast is tinted pink in various points, we encourage you to discover it.
Did you know them all? Which ones did you think of for the list? Hopefully we make you want to browse and go out and enjoy touristic spots in Yucatan. We love this land and enjoy its natural riches. In our walk we try to be respectful with the environment, trying to make our ecological footprint the smallest possible with healthy behaviors with the environment and people.
Yucatán is a territory that preserves many small treasures in the form of Mayan vestiges, cenotes, towns, caves and cultural traditions. It has been a cultural and natural cradle for thousands of years, an immense playground.
Good way,
- Offers on flights international and national ..
- Find the accommodation with the best offers from Booking.com.
- Stay with airbnb and get 25 € discount.
- Contract activities, tours and excursions organized.
- Rent a car with the indispensable and necessary best discounts.
- Secure your transfers of arrival or departure to the airport.
- Travel safely with IATI and take advantage of 5% off.
If you prefer, you tell us your idea of the trip and together we organize it.
Hi how are things? We traveled at the end of April with my husband and my 2-year-old baby to Playa del Carmen. I would like to contact me to help me plan some tours, since we do not like the tours of many people.
The idea is to rent a car from the airport and from there visit the typical places like Chichen Itza, cenotes and whatever you recommend we can do with a 2-year-old girl.
I appreciate you passing me info, prices and what you think to start putting together.
I pass you my whatsapp 0059894459017
Thank you
Hello Silvana, how are you? Part of our job is to offer travel advice, I'll give you the information in case you are interested in the service: https://www.elcaminomascorto.es/viajes-mexico/asesoria
Best regards,
Hello good afternoon, we are a group of 4 people and we travel to Yucatan in September.
Arriving in Cancun, we rent a car and our intention is a 10-day route with the last two days relaxing.
Any recommendation, we don't like crowds.
We want authentic things and some jungle.
Hello Maria, you are going to love this land???
For this type of recommendations we provide an advisory service where we speak with travelers directly, I link you in case you are interested: https://www.elcaminomascorto.es/viajes-mexico/asesoria
For more specific questions without problem we answer you in comments?