Everything You Need To Know About Visiting The Hibuku Cenote, Riviera Maya, Mexico
One of my unexpected favourite things that we did during our time in Mexico (apart from swimming with the sea turtles in Akumal) was visiting the Cenotes. These mystical, eerily deep, icy cold pools of water had an otherworldly charm, and were the perfect place to cool off on a hot day.
The first of the cenotes we visited in the Riviera Maya was the Hibuku Cenote. We stopped here on our way to Chichen Itza, as part of a coach tour.
What Facilities Are At The Hibuku Cenote?
This is a pretty touristy set up. A gift shop, a large restaurant, and even a spa are named amongst the facilities.
There are changing rooms, lockers, and shower facilities, with all visitors that want to swim in the cenote asked to shower before they go down the stairs into the cenote itself.
Note for anyone with mobility issues: there are around 50 stairs that you’ll have to walk down (and then back up again!) if you want to swim in the cenote.
Rent a locker key before you descend (this will cost $1USD) and then you can hire life jackets half way down the stair case – these are $2 USD per jacket.
Four our family of 4 we needed 2 lockers to fit in all of our clothes.
We then hired 2 lifejackets – one for each of the boys. Mike and I are both strong swimmers so we didn’t need life jackets for ourselves. However there were plenty of adults wearing them, if that would make you feel more comfortable!
The cenote itself was one of the plainest that we saw. The walls had been half coated in concrete, which no doubt made them safer for tourists but did wipe out some of their charm.
But the water was a near-impossible blue colour and the pool was large which meant even when there were plenty of tourists swimming it didn’t feel crowded.
This is an enclosed cenote, which means that it is covered BUT there is a large, round, vine-covered hole in the roof which lefts the bright daylight flow into the cavernous structure.
Opening Hours And Entry Costs
We spent around an hour swimming in the icy cold water, then the boys lazed in hammocks, warming back up in the sunshine. Our admission included lunch in the large restaurant.
This was a buffet restaurant serving simple but traditional Mexican dishes. I ate a couple of different salads and pork tacos. We then paid for our drinks at the table. There was entertainment in the restaurant as we ate: some musicians and some warrior dancers. It added to the fun of the meal, and of the whole experience.
Entry to the cenote costs 100 pesos. If you want to add the buffet lunch then this will cost 250 pesos. There are also options to add a visit to the onsite Tequila Museum, spa treatments, and of course to carry on your journey to Chichen Itza of Valladolid.
I can’t comment on any of the other services offered here, as the only ones we tried were the cenote swim and the lunch. But if you’re in the area then the cenote swim was wonderfully refreshing, and well worth the experience. This was our first cenote swim of our Mexico trip, but it wouldn’t be our last!
The Hibuku cenote is open daily from 9am until 5pm. If you’re not visiting as part of a coach party then it might be worth getting in touch to ask when the best time to visit (when they don’t have any coach parties) is.
