A cenote is a natural limestone sinkhole filled with clear groundwater, and around Tulum more than a dozen you can swim in lie within about 40 km of town. The closest, Cenote Calavera and Gran Cenote, are 3 to 5 km out on the road to Cobá. Most charge about 100 to 500 pesos, in cash.
Ranked by this site for a first visit: how close each one is, how clear the water is, and whether you can swim without a guide. Distances are by road from Tulum town centre.
From town: 5 km west, Cobá road (Hwy 109)
Type: Semi-open, cavern
Snorkel two clear open pools joined by a cavern, with freshwater turtles, wooden walkways, showers and lockers. Life jacket compulsory.
From town: 22 km north, Hwy 307 km 124
Type: Cavern
Swim and snorkel the two "eyes", take a guided snorkel into the Bat Cave, or cavern dive with a guide if you hold Open Water.
From town: 3.3 km west, Cobá road (Hwy 109)
Type: Semi-open
Jump about 2.5 to 3 m through holes in the rock roof, or climb down the ladder. Deep water: not for weak swimmers or young children.
From town: 10.8 km north, Tankah (Hwy 307)
Type: Open mangrove channel
Snorkel or kayak a shallow, brackish channel linked underground to the sea. A crocodile lives here; check the swimming rules on the day.
From town: 9.2 km west, Cobá road (Hwy 109)
Type: Open
A round, pool-like cenote about 3 m deep with a small zipline into the water, a waterslide and a restaurant. Easy with children.
From town: 8.8 km west, Cobá road (Hwy 109)
Type: Open, cave for divers
A lily pond about 3 m deep at the surface, with a beginner cavern dive below. Next door to Zacil-Ha.
From town: 4.8 km south-west, Hwy 307
Type: Open
Two quiet open cenotes facing each other across the highway, with jump spots and cavern diving. Close enough to cycle.
From town: 22 km north, Dos Ojos park road
Type: Cave
Stairs down into a cave cenote hung with stalactites. The river-like section needs a local guide with a lamp.
From town: 25 km north, Hwy 307
Type: Cavern
A guided cavern snorkel run by the site operator, Cenotes Sac Actun, with wetsuit, mask and life jacket.
Next door: Cenote Cristalino, Jardín del Edén
From town: 40 km north, near Puerto Aventuras
Type: Open
Open pools beside Hwy 307, closer to Playa del Carmen than to Tulum, with two more open cenotes next door.
From town: 16 km south, Hwy 307
Type: Deep cenote, divers only
Scuba only, with a guide. A hydrogen sulfide cloud around 30 m down looks like a river. Operators ask for Advanced Open Water.
From town: 53 km west, Cobá road (Hwy 109)
Type: Underground
Three underground cenotes near Cobá village, usually reached by stairs. Pair them with the Cobá ruins.
Road distances come from OpenStreetMap routing (October 2026). Allow more time than a route planner suggests, especially on the dirt roads into Dos Ojos and Taak Bi Ha. Types follow the way guides describe each cenote: open to the sky, semi-open under a rock overhang, cavern (in a cave but within sight of daylight) or cave.
3.3 km
Cenote Calavera, on the Cobá road. Gran Cenote is 5 km out on the same road.
100 to 500
Typical adult entry at cenotes near Tulum in 2026 travel guides, checked October 2026. Cash.
8 am to 5 pm
Most open between 8 and 9 am and close between 5 and 6 pm.
24 to 25°C
Roughly the same all year and cooler than the sea, according to dive guides. No measured Tulum study was found.
A cenote is a pit in the limestone where the roof of an underground cave has fallen in and exposed the groundwater below. Slightly acidic rain dissolves the rock and leaves hollows underground, and in time their roofs collapse. The word comes from Yucatec Mayats'ono'ot, a place with water you can reach.
The Yucatán Peninsula has almost no rivers on the surface, so cenotes were the Maya's year-round water supply. Archaeologists believe the Maya also saw them as openings to Xibalba, the underworld. An estimated 10,000 dot the peninsula.
Tulum's cenotes are entrances to long flooded cave systems near the coast, where rainwater floats on heavier seawater. That boundary, the halocline, shows up as a blurry, shimmering layer when you swim or dive through it. They are not part of the ring of cenotes over the Chicxulub crater, which lies about 300 km away in Yucatán state.
You can visit every swimming cenote on the list on your own. Angelita and The Pit are for divers with an operator, and Sac Actun is a guided tour.
Six well-reviewed tours that swim at cenotes around Tulum, from a three-cenote morning to community-run cave cenotes. Check what each price leaves out: some charge cenote fees in cash on the day. The tours page lists all 21 cenote tours.
4 hours
A morning run from central Tulum to Gran Cenote, the jump platforms at Cenote Zemway and the mangrove edge of Casa Cenote, with snorkel gear, towels and transport between stops.
No pickup: meet on site
from$135
Check availability8-8.5 hours
The most-reviewed cenote combo in the area: a guided walk round the clifftop Tulum ruins, then swims at open Cenote Mariposa and semi-cavern Chen-Ha; site and park fees of about $40 are paid in cash on the day.
Pickup: Riviera Maya hotels
from$29
Check availability6 hours
Young guides from the Chemuyil community lead you on jungle trails to three dark cave cenotes with headlamps and wetsuits, then back to the village for a home-cooked meal.
No pickup: meet on site
from$56
Check availability6 hours
A ten-person van tour that reaches Casa Cenote before the crowds, moves on to Taak Bi Ha, and finishes with lamplit snorkeling in a private underground cenote after a vegetarian jungle lunch.
Pickup: Tulum
from$169
Check availability4 hours
A budget park visit at Yax Muul on the Tulum-Playa highway: a copal blessing from a local shaman, a 12 m rappel into a cavern and swims in four open and enclosed cenotes.
No pickup: meet on site
from$28
Check availability5 hours
A private car tour to two very different cenotes, Xunaan Ha and Sac Actun, one a cave and one open to the sky, with a regional meal before the drive back.
Pickup: Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos or Puerto Aventuras
from$189
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
For cenotes by bike, stay in Tulum town: it is about 4 km from Gran Cenote, and the ADO bus terminal and colectivo stops are there. To wake up beside a cenote, look along Hwy 307 north of town. The beach Hotel Zone puts you on the sea but 7 to 12 km from Gran Cenote.
Where to stay in Tulum: town, Aldea Zamá, the beach or near the cenotes
The cenotes sit among some of the Riviera Maya's best-known day trips.
A walled Maya port on a cliff above the Caribbean, at the edge of town. Foreign visitors pay 265 pesos in total: 100 for Parque del Jaguar plus 165 for the ruins and national park (federal decree in force from 20 July 2026).
A shallow lagoon about 8 km from central Tulum, around a cenote that drops more than 80 m. The deep centre is roped off.
The UNESCO-listed biosphere reserve south of Tulum. Tours from town float a canal between two lagoons near Muyil or take a boat out to Punta Allen.
A bay north of Tulum protected for green, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles since 2016. Keep at least 3 m from the turtles.
A Maya city 52 km north-west of the Tulum ruins on Hwy 109, with three cave cenotes near the village.
The inland Maya city with the Sacred Cenote. Tours from Tulum take 11 to 12 hours and usually add a cenote near Valladolid.
Every cenote on the list, plus how cenotes form, the Maya story, swimming rules and diving.
A cenote is a natural pit where the limestone roof has collapsed and exposed the groundwater below.
For the Maya, cenotes were the main year-round water source on a peninsula with almost no rivers, and places for offerings and burials.
You can swim and snorkel in most cenotes around Tulum.
Most cenote diving near Tulum is guided cavern diving: you stay within sight of daylight and need Open Water certification plus good buoyancy.
Gran Cenote is a semi-open cenote 5 km west of Tulum on the road to Cobá: two clear pools joined by a cavern, with wooden walkways and resident turtles.
Cenote Dos Ojos, the two eyes cenote, is a pair of cenotes joined by a large cavern in Parque Dos Ojos, about 22 km north of Tulum off Highway 307.
Cenote Calavera is a semi-open cave cenote 3.3 km from Tulum on the road to Cobá, close enough to cycle.
Casa Cenote, also called Cenote Manatí, is an open mangrove channel at Tankah Tres, about 11 km north of Tulum by road, linked underground to the sea.
This Cenote Azul is an open cenote of clear, shallow pools beside Highway 307 at Xpu-Ha, near Puerto Aventuras, about 40 km north of Tulum.
Cenote Cristalino is an open, mostly shallow cenote beside Highway 307 at Xpu-Ha, about 40 km north of Tulum and next to Cenote Azul.
Cenote Jardín del Edén, also called Ponderosa, is a large open cenote off Highway 307 about 3 km from Puerto Aventuras and 40 km north of Tulum.
Cenote Zacil-Ha is a small, round, open cenote about 3 m deep, 9.2 km from Tulum on the road to Cobá, next door to Cenote Carwash.
Cenote Carwash, also called Aktun Ha, is an open, lily-covered pond 8.8 km from Tulum on the Cobá road, next to Zacil-Ha.
Cenote Angelita is a deep vertical cenote, about 60 m, beside Highway 307 about 16 km south of Tulum.
Sac Actun is a flooded cave system under the jungle north and west of Tulum, with about 378 km of surveyed underwater passages.
Cenotes Casa Tortuga is a cenote park on Highway 307 at km 239, about 14 km north of Tulum, where a guide leads you through open and cave cenotes.
Cenote Tankah is not one place.
Cenote Cristal and Cenote Escondido are two quiet open cenotes facing each other across Highway 307, about 4.8 km south of Tulum town.
Choo-Ha, Tamcach-Ha and Multum-Ha are three underground cenotes near Cobá village, 53 to 55 km from Tulum on the Cobá road and a few minutes' drive from the Cobá ruins.
Where to stay, entrance fees, the map, getting around and when to come.
Stay in Tulum town if cenotes and a budget come first: Gran Cenote is about 4 km away.
No cenote near Tulum publishes an official price.
Tulum's cenotes sit along three roads.
Cycle to the Cobá road cenotes: Calavera is 3.3 km from town and Gran Cenote 5 km.
Tulum is about 120 km south of Cancún airport on Highway 307, 1.5 to 2 hours by car.
Tulum's airport, Felipe Carrillo Puerto International (TQO), opened in December 2023 about 21 km south-west of town, roughly half an hour by road on Highway 307.
The best time to visit Tulum is December to April, the dry season, with daily highs of 29 to 31°C and the least rain; March is the driest month.
Sargassum, a floating brown seaweed, usually reaches Tulum's beaches between April and October, heaviest from June to August.
Tulum is in Quintana Roo, which the US State Department rates Level 2, exercise increased caution, in the advisory reissued on 29 May 2026.
December is one of the best months for Tulum: dry, with average highs of 29°C, lows of 19°C and 42 mm of rain, and hurricane season over on 30 November.
January is Tulum's coolest month: average highs of 29°C, lows of 18°C and about 60 mm of rain, with the sea at 27°C.
February is one of Tulum's driest, most settled months: average highs of 30°C, lows of 19°C and about 42 mm of rain.
March is Tulum's driest month, with only about 33 mm of rain, average highs of 30°C, lows of 21°C and the sea at about 27°C.
The ruins, beaches, Sian Ka'an, Akumal and day trips inland.
The top things to do in Tulum are swimming in cenotes such as Gran Cenote and Calavera, 3 to 5 km from town, and walking the clifftop Maya ruins.
The Tulum ruins are a walled Maya port on a cliff above the Caribbean, inside Parque del Jaguar just east of Tulum town.
Tulum's beaches fall into two stretches.
Sian Ka'an is a UNESCO World Heritage biosphere reserve of about 528,000 hectares that starts 11 km south of the Tulum ruins.
Laguna Kaan Luum is a shallow lagoon off Highway 307, about 16 km by road south-west of Tulum town.
Akumal is a small bay town about 26 km up the coast from Tulum, best known for snorkelling with sea turtles.
Pick Tulum if cenotes, the Maya ruins on the beach and a smaller town matter most: the nearest cenotes are 3 to 5 km from the centre.
Cobá is a Maya city in the jungle 47 km west of Tulum, about 45 minutes by car on Highway 109.
Chichén Itzá is 156 km from Tulum, about 2.5 hours by car on the inland road through Valladolid.
Ik Kil is a deep, round open cenote 3 km from Chichén Itzá, about 157 km from Tulum.
Cenote Suytun is a cave cenote with a round stone platform, about 8 km east of Valladolid and 94 km from Tulum.
The closest cenotes to Playa del Carmen are Chaak Tun, a cave cenote in town 6 km from the centre, and the Río Secreto underground river 8 km south.
There is no official ranking. Near Tulum, Gran Cenote and Dos Ojos get the most Google searches: about 3,600 and 2,900 a month in the US under their main names (keyword data, October 2026). Further inland, Ik Kil near Chichén Itzá gets about 6,600. The Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá is the famous one in history: Bishop Diego de Landa wrote in the 16th century that people were thrown into it in times of drought.
Yes, at the cenotes that sell swimming tickets, such as Gran Cenote, Dos Ojos, Calavera and Zacil-Ha. Shower first and wear no sunscreen or repellent. Life jackets are compulsory at Gran Cenote and Dos Ojos. Stay inside the marked areas and never swim into a cave past the guide line. Angelita and The Pit are for scuba divers with a guide only, and crocodiles live in some mangrove cenotes, Casa Cenote among them.
None of the sources checked for this site gives an official reason. Most cenotes near Tulum are run by ejidos (communal landholding groups) or private owners, open between 8 and 9 am and close between 5 and 6 pm. Last entry comes earlier: around 4:15 pm at Gran Cenote, by some accounts. Plan to arrive by mid-afternoon.
About 500 pesos per adult, the figure most 2026 travel guides give (checked October 2026), though a few quote less. There is no official online price list, so the board at the gate is the final word. Bring cash pesos: some guides say the gate is cash only and others report a card reader. Snorkel hire and lockers cost extra.
For a first visit, Gran Cenote: it is 5 km from town, the water is clear enough to snorkel with turtles, and it has showers, lockers and life jackets. For a bigger cavern, go to Dos Ojos, 22 km north. For jumping, Calavera. With children, Zacil-Ha. Certified divers can go deeper at Angelita and The Pit, both with a hydrogen sulfide cloud around 30 m down.
They are different days out. The Tulum ruins are a walled Maya port on a cliff above the sea, at the edge of town, and a foreign visitor pays 265 pesos in total, Parque del Jaguar included (from 20 July 2026). Chichén Itzá is an inland Maya city with the Sacred Cenote, and INAH, the national archaeology institute, said in 2025 that it draws more visitors than Tulum. From Tulum it is a long day: tours run 11 to 12 hours and include a cenote near Valladolid. With one free day, do the Tulum ruins and a cenote. With two, add Chichén Itzá.