Cenote Suytun and the Valladolid cenotes from Tulum

Cenote Suytun is a cave cenote with a round stone platform in the middle of the water, about 8 km east of Valladolid in Yucatán and 94 km from Tulum. In October 2026 the operator sells online tickets at MXN 250 for adults and MXN 200 for children aged 5 to 11, bought at least a day ahead, covering Suytun and its second cenote, Kaapeh. It opens daily from 9:00 to 17:00 Yucatán time, with last entry to the cenotes at 16:00.

The photo everyone wants is the shaft of sunlight hitting the platform. The operator is blunt about it: the beam is natural, and it cannot promise you will see it.

Suytun prices and hours in 2026

Ticket	Includes	Adults	Children 5 to 11
Online, bought a day ahead	Suytun and Kaapeh cenotes	MXN 250	MXN 200
Ticket + food	Cenotes and lunch (12:00 to 16:30)	MXN 400	MXN 350
Day pass	Cenotes, pool, walking trail, one meal	MXN 420	MXN 370
Guided tour (extra)	Both cenotes	MXN 50
Guided tour (extra)	Both cenotes and the Ruta del Alux trail	MXN 100

Checked October 2026 on the operator’s site, cenotessuytun.com. Online tickets are non-refundable and valid for a year.

The site doesn’t list a price for walking up and paying at the gate on the day, and it warns that same-day online purchases may not get a place. Capacity is capped at 150 people. Guided tours leave at 10:00, 12:30 and 15:00 from the café.

Hours: every day 9:00 to 17:00, last entry to the cenotes 16:00. In September the operator also runs a night visit on Fridays and Saturdays, 18:00 to 20:00.

What Suytun is like

There are two cenotes on the property, and both are reached by a tunnel with stairs.

Suytun is the one in the photos: a round chamber under a rock dome with a single opening in the roof, stalactites and stalagmites, and a circular platform in the water. The Yucatán state tourism board calls it a “young” cenote.

Kaapeh is semi-open, with a natural opening in the roof that lets daylight reach the water, and a sculpture of Kukulkán carved by local artisans.

Two things decide what you see in the main cave:

• The light. The beam appears when the sun is high and the sky is clear. Season, sun position and cloud all affect it, the operator says.
• The water level. It rises and falls with rain and hurricanes. The platform may be fully dry or partly under water, and the operator says there is no “normal” level.

The old 60-minute limit in the main cenote has been dropped, so you can wait for the sun if clouds are passing.

The stairs are wet. The operator asks visitors to hold the rails and keep phones away while going down, and suggests that people over 60, or with reduced mobility, heart or breathing problems, or pregnancy, think about whether to go in. Pets aren’t allowed.

Tulum to Valladolid and Suytun

By car. Tulum to Suytun is about 94 km, which a routing engine puts at 1 hour 24 minutes with no traffic; allow 1.5 hours or a little more. Suytun is in Yucatán, an hour behind Tulum, so the 16:00 last entry is 17:00 on Tulum time.

By bus. ADO runs from Tulum to Valladolid, about 1.5 to 2 hours according to booking sites; check times and fares on ado.com.mx. From Valladolid, Suytun is about 8 km, roughly 11 minutes by taxi.

By tour. None of the tours from Tulum in our list stops at Suytun. Three Chichén Itzá day trips stop in Valladolid, listed below, but their cenote swims are at Chichikan or Xux-Ha.

Pairing Suytun with Chichén Itzá

Suytun fits on the way to or from Chichén Itzá, about an hour further west. Do the ruins at opening, swim at Ik Kil near the ruins, then stop at Suytun on the drive back if you reach it before 16:00 local time. Or go straight to Suytun first thing at 9:00, when it is quieter, and do Chichén Itzá after.

Other cenotes near Valladolid

Cenote	Where	From Valladolid centre
Suytun	East of town, Ticuch road	8.7 km, 11 min
Zací	In town	0.6 km, a short walk
Samulá and X’keken	Dzitnup, west of town	6.7 km, 10 min
Oxman	Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman, west of town	6.8 km, 9 min
Ik Kil	By Chichén Itzá	45 km, 45 min

Distances by routing engine, October 2026. We couldn’t find current official prices for Zací, Dzitnup or Oxman, so check the board at each gate.

Suytun and the cenotes near Tulum

Suytun is a cave cenote most people visit for the platform photo, and it is a long drive from Tulum. Near Tulum the cenotes are shallower and better for snorkelling. Gran Cenote and Cenote Calavera are a few minutes out of town on the Cobá road, and Dos Ojos is a cavern you can snorkel. The Tulum cenotes homepage lists them all, and cenote entrance fees compares prices.