From Maya temples to a makeshift car wash, these four cenotes offer outdoor adventure, fascinating history, and traditional culture. Cenotes, like this one in Tulum, dot Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

The cenote sits just outside the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Mayapán, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Mérida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán.

For many Maya, cenotes were a connection to the underworld and, with pools varying in size, nature and depth, they seem like the perfect backdrop for these kinds of beliefs.

Maya mask sculpture at the pyramids of Copan, Honduras. Martin E Hill Photography (2010) Tooth enamel from the skulls of 1000-year-old Maya human sacrifices were isotopically analyzed with the ...

Traveling Safe to Riviera Maya for Caverns, Cenotes and Mayan Ruins. Image: Tulúm, Riviera Maya, Mexico. (Foto de Flickr/Jake Bellucci) by Noreen Kompanik Last updated: 5:50 PM ET, Sun May 2, 2021 "I ...