18 BEST Cenotes in Tulum + How to Visit - Destinationless Travel On your way back youll notice the mesmerizing light beams that dance around in the depths on a sunny day. Best Cenotes in Tulum: Cenote Carwash. You can select an area to download and use offline if you wont always have access to data in Mexico. Keep reading for a complete guide on how to call a United States 1-800 toll-free phone number from Mexico for free! It's really an amazing place and the people working there are very friendly. Originally Posted:November 30, 2016. Cenote Azul Cenote Azul is a favorite among tourists because of its shallow waters and the well-lit open roof letting in an abundance of sunlight. This tour gets raving reviews! You can also jump into the cenotes from a certain height, if you dare! In the cooler months though, the temperature of the water in the cenotes is ideal! Dos Ojos (Two Eyes) is the most impressive cenote group in Tulum, named for its two largest cenotes, the Blue Eye (a sparkling, open-air cenote) and the Black Eye (a pitch-dark cavern with stalactites and stalagmites; you'll need a guide and a flashlight to see this one). If you rent a scooter in Tulum you can easily reach further out cenotes like Cenote Zacil Ha. Entry fee: US$3 (50 MXN) for swimmers, and US$6 (120 MXN) for divers. No toilet, shower or restaurant, 3 km (2 miles) from Tulum town center on the Highway to Coba (Carretera 309) and turning right. Best Cenotes in Tulum 1. Cenote Calavera might be my favorite cenote in Tulum! Check out the current rates for Harmony Glamping. Clan-Destino Bar is perfectly located on the main beach strip of Tulum. You can also visit Cenote Dos Ojos by joining a tour. There are plenty of all-inclusive resorts and luxury boutique hotels in Tulum, but if you want to try something different, glamping in Tulum is a fantastic option. MORE:See more travel gear I love and use! Km. Carwash Cenote is named so because the cenote is close to the road and taxi drivers used to bring their cars to this cenote to wash them. Hell, you may even discover your own favorite cenote Mexico has to offer in this very guide! The lagoon is super shallow, youre able to stand in most of it, and then in the center, theres a deep dark hole in the center that plummets down to 80 meters and is popular with scuba divers. Swimming and snorkeling are some activities popular here. READ MORE:Cenote Carwash: Swim with a Baby Crocodile & More. With a depth of 60 meters, Cenote Angelita is great for diving. Read more of our Mexico content! READ THE FULL BLOG POST:Gran Cenote, Tulum A Beautiful Cenote in Riviera Maya. A little further down the road in the Biosphere Reserve, there is a platform over the lake with hammocks, which are even better to watch the sunset from if you want to make an afternoon of it. cenotes in Tulum, and you cant really go wrong with any. Diving at Car Wash Cenote is also very popular, but you should contact a diving center beforehand to organize a dive. Its so much fun to cliff-jump at Cenote Calavera, but if theres more than a handful of people there you wont be able to jump into the main (mouth of the skull) hole because it will be clogged with a loooooong line of people getting the iconic shot sitting in the swing that this cenote is known for. Some popular cenotes will even require you to shower before entering because of the oils on the human skin. Keep reading for a full restaurant review. It is perfect for swimming, snorkeling, or diving. Cenote Angelita is one of the best cenotes around Tulum for diving. The 2019 horror movie 49 Meters Down: Uncaged popularized the idea that there are man-eating sharks in Cenotes. . This natural sinkhole or pool gets then filled with rain water and with water flowing through the underground river, to which these cenotes are connected to. Dos Ojos is a famous cenote complex off Highway 307 when youre coming from Playa del Carmen towards Tulum. Cenote Carwash. Restaurante Dos Ojos and Restaurante Juanita near the entrance, North of Tulum 22 km (13.5 miles) down the highway to Playa del Carmen (Carretera 307) and turning left onto Cenote Jaguar Road, $150 MXN pesos general entry / $200 MXN pesos scuba diver entry. Perifrico, 97780 Valladolid, Yuc., Mexico. Great! This guide gives insider tips, prices, locations, and more! The majority of the cenotes in Mexico are available for visitors without a tour. Adorned with colorful rock decorations, stalactites, and the giant fallen trees, this cenote has an eerie, otherworldly vibe! Some of the less popular cenotes are set amongst the jungle with more rustic facilities. Cenote Oxman in Valladolid! ), you might spot a bat or two flying through the cenote cave. Packing light and dont want to bring too much baggage? I was first quoted high prices such as $150 for the day, and then found a friend of a friend that asked for $100. I hope this post has helped you choose the best cenote in Tulum for your needs. Even in a 100% underground cenote, the water is a refreshing temperature to swim in after being out in the Mayan Riviera heat. The dive light is a way of adding colours back into your picture is by using artificial light. A sturdy waterproof torch with a lifetime warranty. Gran Cenote: Best Cenote for Insta Photos 3. If youre staying in Tulum, then there are so many amazing cenotes in Tulum just a stones throw away, and it would be a shame not to include these incredible natural wonders in your Yucatan itinerary. Its also one of the cheapest hotels youll find in Tulum. For snorkelers, the cave inside is lit up by lights, there are bats everywhere and lots of cool crevices to explore. I chose to do it this way and I was able to visit 6 cenotes in one day. People particularly loved to wash their cars here because each new day, all the soapsuds and cleaning products would magically disappear from the cenote! Sac Actun, meaning white cave in Mayan, is the second-longest underwater cave system in the world, accessible by hundreds of sinkholes (cenotes). Check it out on our Cenote Map Tulum below! Its a 20 min bike and youll pass various Mayan villages that cater to tourists. Kaan Luum Lagoon, 2 Cenotes, Tulum Ruins + Quinta Avenida. Cenote (seh-NOH-tay) literally means sinkhole in Mayan. Scuba Diving:You MUST dive with an experienced The only issue with it is that its also probably the most famous cenote in Tulum and it gets really crowded. The last know price was $350 MXN pesos with a guide, North of Tulum 25.5 km (14 miles) down the highway to Playa del Carmen (Carretera 307) and turning left onto Cenote Jaguar Road, Every day 8:10 to 4:45 pm (last entry 4:15 pm), Toilet, shower and change rooms. Even though Casa Tortuga means Turtle House in Spanish, dont go looking for turtles because its unlikely youll see one; the name is a bit deceiving on that end! Sometimes the contaminated tap water is used to make ice in drinks and to wash fresh fruits and vegetables, and then tourists get sick from consuming things like fresh salads and smoothies. Cancun Au dpart de Cancun : Visite guide d'une demi-journe : Tulum However, what the cenote lacks above ground it makes up for it underwater. Coming from Tulum on Carretera 109 towards Coba, youll find Cenote Calavera on your right after a 5-minutes drive. It is also believed that some Gods resided in these underwater caves. Tulum Cenotes | Turquoise Tulum Hotel From the surface, it appears to be two separate sinkholes, each filled with crystal-clear blue water that makes it look as though the Earth itself is peering up at you through two enormous eyes. Although I have not personally been, I know that there is a magical gas layer 30 meters deep called halocline. Do I need to say more?Check out prices and availability for Azulik. This word literally means well. Exploring cenotes seriously quickly became one of my favorite activities in the Rivera Maya, and I am confident they will become one of your favorites too. Seeing the cenotes in real life is absolutely incredible and Im sure you will want to know what items are an absolute must-bring when spending time in these mesmerizing natural structures. There you can swim, snorkel, or even scuba dive, though swimming and snorkeling are more popular.For something less touristy, we recommend Cenote Pet Cemetery. Complete guide to the best supermarkets in Tulum, as well as how to get food and groceries delivered, and where to get drinking water. Semi-open Cenotes As the name implies, this type of cenote has some parts that are exposed like the open cenotes above, and some portions that are partially hidden by a cave. It is also known as The Temple of Doom possibly due to the appearance of small altars in the wall of the cave, one that contains pottery and bones. Sac Actun is only 4 km from Tulum but is also easily accessed from Playa Del Carmen as well. Cenote Oxman is in Valladolid, no Colectivos run to Valladolid but you can book a bus at the Ado bus station wherever youre at. Shop around a bit before settling for a driver, and ask your hotel receptionist for recommendations. It is one of the most remote cenotes near Tulum so you are more likely to have some peace and quiet. Car Wash Cenote Car Wash Location: Northwest of Tulum, 10 minutes of drive on Highway 107. They are . As we were biking from Cenote Tankach-Ha 3 massive tour buses pulled in, there was a line out the Cenote door and they said they would be spending 2 hours there. Not touristy, get there before the afternoon to avoid tour buses. If you want to visit multiple cenotes and maybe other attractions in Tulum in one day, consider getting a private driver to make the most out of your time. From street-food tours to ancient Zapotec ruins, all of my favorite things to do in Oaxaca! Youve probably seen gorgeous pictures like the one above. Cenote Escondido is across the road from Cenote Cristal. Camera: Because these cenotes feature one-of-a-kind natural beauty, it is hard to pass up the opportunity to capture them in photos. There are several car rental offices in Tulum, and you can also rent cars at Cancun Airport. Protect your feet around and inside the cenotes by wearing these super stylish booties. The Batcave Line is a lot darker and feels more like a cave dive. Snorkel equipment ($80 MXN), life jacket and locker rental ($30 MXN) available, 4 km (2.5 miles) from Tulum town center on the Highway to Coba (Carretera 309), $300 MXN pesos general entry fee (updated 15th June 2021), Toilet only. It outputs quite a bright light (400 lumens), which you will want inside the cenote caves. A colectivo is a shared minivan. After extensive time exploring countless cenotes, I have compiled a list of items you really should not forget to take. If you look up Aldea Zama Cenote on google maps theres a marker. On my first trip to Mexico, I bought a top-of-the-line snorkeling kit and I did not regret it. Some of the bigger cenotes will rent snorkel gear to you at a price, from my experience at around 50-200 pesos each time you rent. Theres a nice deck for you to sit on and a few active cichlid fish swimming around the mangroves as well as a resident cayman that I never got the pleasure of meeting. It just had a menu update for 2023 so we checked it out! I will talk about all of your options below. Its quite dangerous; Mexico cenotes have cultural and religious significance to the ancient Mayans, who believe that cenotes are passages to the underworld and consider them sacred. Toilet (sometimes). Check out my favorites in this video below! Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and other affiliated sites. This unassuming yet impressive cenote is usually pretty quiet, especially in the mornings, since it is usually more popular with divers than it is with swimmers or snorkelers. The crystal clear waters here make it a picturesque spot and a perfect place to spend your afternoon. It can be accessed from the same entrance as Cenote Dos Ojos and El Pit, so it is possible to do these cenotes on the same trip. With lots of space to swim around, this is ideal for the less experienced cavern diver. It boasts such crystal clear blue water, that fish and turtles can be seen swimming around without the need of a snorkel! If youre lucky youll spot a resident turtle swimming alongside you. According toWikipedias cenote definition; A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath.. The amazing cenotes in Mexico are extremely unique in the world and are only found on the Yucatan Peninsula. The journey takes around 35 minutes. You will be able to snorkel or dive with a guide at both Casa Cenote and Cenote Dos Ojos. Use the pier to enter the water. While cenotes are certainly beautiful, they can sometimes be a little overcrowded with tourists and visitors, which obviously spoils the serenity of the place somewhat. Renting a bike for a day shouldnt cost you more than 200 pesos (around $10). Casa Cenote is an open-air lagoon-type Cenote 20 minutes outside of Tulum. Cenotes in Tulum are not free, although you can find some which charge very little fees, like Cenote Xunaan-Ha or Cenote Carwash. Kaan Luum is a locals secret and if you go in the afternoon, youll probably have the whole place to yourself. TOTALLY WORTH IT! BOOK IT HERE, The Cenote Triple Adventure takes you to Casa Cenote, Gran Cenote and Cenote Calavera to explore the caverns, cliff-jump, snorkel and free-dive in the crystal-clear waters. updated. Paddleboard & Snorkel at Casa Cenote + Photos + Tacos! On the dive, you can hover above and dip below the gas layer if you feel comfortable. I only found out about this Cenote because I worked a photoshoot here for a musical instruments store in Tulum its truly a local secret. For advanced divers, its one of the best cenotes in Mexico to do cave diving because all of the bones and fossils are still in their original position, and the spectacular caves are highly decorated with delicate white rock formations. Sian Kaan Lagoons and Cenote Escondido 5 PLACES ONE PRICE! The water is always clean and warm. The color of the water is simply amazing, and you could spend hours snorkeling through the cenote caves. $200 MXN pesos general entry / $250 MXN pesos scuba diver entry, Toilets, life jacket rental at $20-$50 MXN pesos, 9 km (5.6 miles) from Tulum center on the Highway to Coba (Calle Carretera Federal 109) and turning left, $350 MXN pesos general entry fee / $380 MXN pesos scuba diver entry, Shower and toilet. 10 BEST Tulum Cenotes (2023 Guide) | Jonny Melon 8 Best Cenotes Near Tulum - Renee Roaming Once youre in Valladolid you can walk to Cenote Zaci, its in the town center. Yucatan & Tulum Cenote Guide for March 2023 - Island Life Mexico Mayans settled villages around these spiritual wells and believed that . Its more like a lagoon/freshwater swimming hole last I checked it was 80 pesos to get in but prices are going up fast in Tulum! You can find me doing headstands on the edges of cliffs, chasing down baby goats or perched in anuncomfortableposition trying to get thebest photo. You dont get that in the cave cenotes. Cenotes that are 100% above ground are sometimes called lagoons. There is a bar and restaurant on site. There has never been a confirmed case of Norovirus associated with a cenote, but there are a lot of anecdotal stories online from people who swam in cenotes and got funny tummies in the following days. Theres also a part of the cenote which is covered by a small rock overhang, allowing you to feel like a real explorer as you make your way through the dark to discover what lies inside. Theres also a bar and hammocks to hang out as well as a pool. but have been recommended.