7 Mexican Cenotes in Strange Places — From a Costco Parking Lot to a Historic Airbnb

In the city of Merida, the capital of Yucatan, the cenote in the Costco parking lot was discovered during the warehouse store’s construction. Buy your enormous rotisserie chicken and 30-pack of toilet paper and then check out the cenote before you hop back in the car. It’s surrounded by a maintained garden and tastefully lit at night.

The cenote at Chablé Resort & Spa, an old hacienda-turned-vacation paradise, sits right outside its spa and makes itself quite useful: If you book The Fountains Flow, one of several treatments that incorporates the sacred water, you’ll first partake in a Maya-inspired welcome ritual on the banks of the cenote.

Lots of schools have a chlorinated pool for the swim team, but very few have their own cenote, as private school Instituto Bancario in Merida does. Allegedly the kids aren’t allowed down there, but someone introduced six turtles to swim among the fish.

It even had its own rum distillery at one point, but was abandoned after the Mexican revolution. Kind of cool that you can book a crash pad with a cenote in it. OK, it’s hardly a crash pad: In addition to your private cenote, at this 19th-century estate in Espita, you’ll also have a library and a citrus orchard.

At the beautiful Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Xcaret Park, walk down the sloping aisle to a giant Virgin Mary image carved into a tree trunk, presiding over the pews. Beneath her tangle of roots, the altar perches on a cenote. The chapel is a popular wedding venue. And if you stay at Hotel Xcaret Mexico, you’ll get a free boat ride to the park, as well as free entry.

Tulum is as known for its natural beauty as it is for its chichi bohemian vibe. And what could unite the two better than glamping? Next time you’re craving a white-sand beach getaway, forego the standard hotels and stay at Nativus Jungle Glamping. Sure, you’ll sleep in a tent, but the tent is equipped with air conditioning, breakfast will be delivered straight to your door, and of course there’s a gorgeous cenote to swim in.

OK, it’s not an actual pet cemetery, but this underground cenote is worthy of inclusion because it’s widely known as one of the most beautiful and its story is fascinating: They call it Pet Cemetery because the people who discovered it found it teeming with skeletons of wild animals, including a camel species that has been extinct for thousands of years. If you’re into scuba diving, strap on your tank and a headlamp and swim through the cavern among stalagmites and stalactites.