Yalcobá

Yalcobá is a village in the municipality of Valladolid, in eastern Yucatán, about 24 km northeast of the city of Valladolid, roughly half an hour by road. It sits on flat land some 28 meters above sea level, and its name comes from the Maya language. The 2020 census counted 3,052 people, a big rise from 313 in 1900 and 1,392 in 1990.

The village has an old, plain church of rough stone, with a tall triangular facade topped by a small belfry opening, and a cemetery of brightly painted tombs on the edge of town. Day to day it is a quiet farming community rather than a tourist stop.

What brings visitors here is a pair of cave cenotes in the comisaría of Yalcobá. Cenote Palomitas lies about 2 km from the village and 24 km from Valladolid, and is often described as one of the largest water-filled caverns in the state; Cenote Agua Dulce is about 350 m away, a larger closed cave hung with stalactites and reached by a slightly longer walk. According to Yucatán Today both belong to the same cooperative and can be visited together or one at a time. Both are lit with electric light, since little daylight gets in.