Tourism - City Government of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

How cenotes were formed

Geological studies have shown that 65 million years ago, at the beginning of the Cenozoic Era, most of the Yucatan Peninsula was under the sea. As a result, the calcium-rich remains of marine plants and animals accumulated and sedimented over centuries, eventually transforming into the limestone substrate that is common to the entire peninsula. This massive limestone slab began emerging as a result of plate tectonics.

As weathering has acted on the limestone substrate for a relatively short time, Yucatan has very young soils. This explains why vegetation in our state is less dense than at other places. Rainwater slowly bore through Yucatan’s calcareous bedrock and created an extensive network of underground channels and cavities as it flowed towards the coasts. These cavities are called caves when they are dry and cenotes when they are flooded by water. The impact of a massive meteorite on the Yucatan area 65 million years ago affected the characteristics of the bedrock in the northern portion of the peninsula and is reflected in the geographic distribution of superficial cenotes.

The origin of the word "cenote"

“Cenote” is a modification of the Maya word "Dzonot", which means hole in the ground or well. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the word began to be applied to any deep cavity that kept water. F.G. Hall proposed the first cenote classification:
1. Jug-shaped
2. With vertical walls
3. Pond-shaped
4. Cave-shaped

The importance of cenotes to the Maya

The Maya deeply revered Nature, as they believed that they owed the resources necessary for subsistence to its benevolence. The importance of cenotes for the Maya was manifold. First, they represented the main water supply in a land that has no surface water bodies and suffers long dry seasons. As a consequence, all Mayan villages were built in the vicinity of a cenote, in order to secure a permanent water supply (or at least, one that allowed facing critical times) and, even to this day, it is difficult to find a single village or hacienda that is not near a cenote. Second, cenotes were also important for religious reasons. Archaeological research has resulted in the discovery of countless vestiges of the religious ceremonies that took place in or around cenotes.

Moreover, it is known that in each village, people assigned specific functions to different cenotes, so that those where rituals were performed could not be used as water supplies for day-to-day use. Retrieved archaeological materials, including human skeletons, pottery, textiles, jewels and sculptures are clear indicators of the richness and complexity of Maya culture,

its links to other human groups in Mexico, and the relevance of ceremonies associated to cenotes. Cenotes are world-renowned for their mythical meaning.

Rational exploitation of cenotes and measures for their conservation:

Rational use is one of the most important, though often overlooked, aspects of the exploitation of a natural attraction for tourism. Although the tourist flow to cenotes is as yet minimal, the number of visitors is steadily increasing. It is therefore necessary to reconcile the needs of publicizing the natural beauty of cenotes and educating visitors to minimize the negative impacts of tourism, so that the economic and environmental benefits to the Yucatecan population remain sustainable. Cenotes are such fragile systems, that even air bubbles expelled by SCUBA divers can erode their limestone walls as they make their way to the surface.

Some cenotes have been turned into “balnearios”, public swimming pools of sorts. One of the best examples is the Cenote Zaci, located in Valladolid, halfway in between two major tourist meccas: Chichen Itza and Cancun. Another cenote with some tourist infrastructure is the Cenote San Ignacio, in Chochola. This cenote is artificially lit and has an adjoining restaurant and other services that make for a more comfortable visit. Finally, the facilities at Cenote Sambula, in Motul, were recently remodeled. If cenotes are to be used for tourism purposes, it is important to strike a balance between making them accessible and preserving their natural features, as the latter are the main assets sought by tourists.