Cycle to the Cobá road cenotes: Calavera is 3.3 km from town and Gran Cenote 5 km. Take a colectivo up Highway 307 for Casa Cenote and Dos Ojos. Taxis have no authorised 2026 tariff, so agree the fare first. Uber barely works. A hire car is the easiest way to reach several cenotes in a day.
To get to cenotes from Tulum, use a bike for the Cobá road cenotes, a colectivo for those on Highway 307, and a taxi or hire car for everything else. Cenote Calavera is 3.3 km from the town centre and Gran Cenote 5 km, both easy rides. Casa Cenote and Dos Ojos are 11 and 22 km north on Highway 307, where shared vans stop on request. Taxis have no authorised tariff in 2026, so fix the price before you get in, and do not plan around Uber.
Each option below lists the cenotes it reaches. Road distances come from routing on OpenStreetMap data from the town centre, checked October 2026; our Tulum cenote map puts them all on one page.
Cycling is the cheapest way to see the cenotes closest to town.
| Cenote | Road distance from town | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Calavera | 3.3 km | On the Cobá road, first stop |
| Cristal and Escondido | 4.8 km | Highway 307 south, across the road from each other |
| Gran Cenote | 5.0 km | Cobá road, past Calavera |
| Carwash | 8.8 km | Cobá road |
| Zacil-Ha | 9.2 km | Cobá road, next to Carwash |
The Cobá road is a working highway. Riviera Maya News reported a crash at a cenote entrance on it and an official warning about vehicles turning in and out of the cenote driveways, so ride on the shoulder and watch for cars slowing to turn.
A dedicated path, the Ciclovía Maya, is planned from Tulum’s beaches towards Cobá, past Calavera, with bilingual signs and e-bike charging points. Tulum Times wrote that it was scheduled to open officially in March 2026 after a pilot from January. Its article, last updated in October 2026, still gives March as a future date, so we cannot say the path is open.
We found no dated source for bike rental prices, so we do not quote any. Rental shops are in town; compare a few. Some hotels lend bikes free: Little Gem in La Veleta does, and Kore Tulum on the beach road lends them from 08:00 to 18:00, first come, first served.
Colectivos are shared vans that run up and down Highway 307. They stop where you ask, including at cenote entrances along the highway such as Casa Cenote and Dos Ojos.
| Route | Fare | Time | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playa del Carmen to Tulum | 60 MXN | About 1 hour | Tulum Times, 24 Aug 2026, updated Oct 2026 |
| Tulum to cenotes on 307 (Casa Cenote, Casa Tortuga, Dos Ojos) | No published fare | Drop on request | Ask the driver |
| Tulum to Gran Cenote or Cobá | No published fare | Ask the driver | Not confirmed |
| Tulum airport | No service | Colectivos do not serve the airport |
Fares are not posted officially and we could not confirm any fare to the cenotes, so ask the driver before you board and pay in pesos. Tulum Times has reported overcharging on Tulum to Playa vans, and unions urged passengers to make formal complaints.
At Dos Ojos the van drops you at the park’s highway gate; the cenote is a few kilometres in, which one dive blog put at about a 30-minute walk. And coming back means flagging a van on the highway shoulder, so leave yourself time before dark.
There is no authorised taxi tariff in Tulum in 2026, only the last official one from 2019 and a union list the state has not approved:
| Tariff | Minimum | Town to the archaeological zone | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official tariff, 2019 | 31 MXN | 49 MXN | Last authorised tariff |
| Tiburones del Caribe union, 3 Sep 2026 | 50 MXN (24 zones, maximum 300 MXN) | 90 MXN | Not authorised by IMOVEQROO |
On 3 September 2026 the Tiburones del Caribe taxi union posted its own rates. IMOVEQROO, Quintana Roo’s mobility institute, said the tariff was not authorised and that taximeters would come, without a date. The same report cited a 2 km ride on the coast charged at 800 MXN (Grupo Animal, 8 September 2026). Neither tariff lists Gran Cenote or Dos Ojos. A travel guide from April 2026 reported US$5 to 8 for a taxi from town to Gran Cenote; treat that as a reported figure, not a price.
Agree the fare in pesos before you get in, carry small notes, and ask your hotel what a ride should cost. The UK Foreign Office advises using sitio taxis from authorised ranks or asking your hotel to call one. Our Is Tulum safe? guide has more.
Uber has been legal since 2023, but Tulum Times described it in August 2026 as close to unusable in Tulum. Taxi drivers have protested against it in the region; the UK Foreign Office notes that licensed drivers blocked roads near Cancún’s hotels. Do not plan a cenote return trip around an app.
A hire car is the easiest way to string together Dos Ojos, Casa Tortuga and Casa Cenote, or Cobá and its cenotes, in one day. Tulum Times put rentals at US$22 to 50 a day in August 2026, and mandatory Mexican liability insurance raises the price significantly, so check whether a quote includes it. Riviera Maya News has warned about unregulated agencies renting stolen cars, so rent from a known company at the airport or in town.
Parking is the other cost:
If you have no car and want more than the cenotes on the Cobá road, a tour with pickup solves the problem. The picks above all collect you in Tulum; the van tour is the one for a cenote day without a car, and the ATV park tour is the cheapest. Many tours meet at a point in town instead, so check the pickup line before booking. All options are on our tours page.
Arriving from Cancún? Our Cancún to Tulum guide compares the ADO bus, Tren Maya, shuttles and driving. Flying into Tulum’s own airport, 21 km south-west of town, is covered in Tulum airport. Where you sleep changes all of this: the where to stay in Tulum guide explains why town is the easiest base without a car.
Pickup from Tulum town and the hotel zone, then Casa Cenote before the crowds, Taak Bi Ha and a private underground cenote in a ten-person van.
6 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 availabilityThe cheapest cenote tour with Tulum pickup in our list: a rappel into a cave cenote, an ATV drive and zip lines at a park near Tulum.
5 hours
An adrenaline package at the Maya Adrenaline park near Tulum: rappel into a cave cenote, drive your own ATV, ride a 1 km zip line and a water zip line, then a Mexican lunch.
Pickup: Tulum
from$78
Check availabilityA private car from Tulum to two cenotes in the Sac Actun system, Xunaan Ha and Sac Actun, with a regional meal.
5 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.
6 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 availability5 hours
An adrenaline package at the Maya Adrenaline park near Tulum: rappel into a cave cenote, drive your own ATV, ride a 1 km zip line and a water zip line, then a Mexican lunch.
Pickup: Tulum
from$78
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 availability9 hours
A ten-person day from Tulum: bike or walk the Cobá ruins, look for spider monkeys at Punta Laguna, eat with a Mayan family and swim at Cenote Esmeralda.
Pickup: Tulum
from$184
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
Cycle to the ones on the Cobá road: Calavera is 3.3 km from the centre and Gran Cenote 5 km. For cenotes north on Highway 307, such as Casa Cenote and Dos Ojos, flag a colectivo on the highway and ask the driver to stop at the entrance. At Dos Ojos the van stops at the highway gate and the cenote is a long walk in. Taxis and tours with pickup cover the rest.
Uber has been legal in Quintana Roo since 2023, but Tulum Times described it in August 2026 as close to unusable in Tulum, and taxi drivers protesting Uber have blocked roads near Cancún's hotels, according to the UK Foreign Office. Plan on taxis, colectivos, a bike or a hire car instead, and do not count on getting a ride back from a cenote by app.
There is no authorised tariff in 2026. The last official tariff, from 2019, starts at 31 MXN. In September 2026 a taxi union posted its own rates of 50 to 300 MXN across 24 zones, which the state mobility institute said were not authorised. That union list raised a town-to-ruins ride from 49 to 90 MXN. Agree the price in pesos before you get in.
Rent one if you want three or four cenotes a day, or Cobá and Dos Ojos on your own schedule. Tulum Times put rentals at US$22 to 50 a day in August 2026, but compulsory Mexican liability insurance raises the price significantly. Gran Cenote's car park fills by mid-morning, and there is no public parking in Parque del Jaguar by the ruins. In town, a bike is easier.
Yes. Gran Cenote is about 5 km west of the town centre on the Cobá road, and Calavera, at 3.3 km, is on the way. Carry water and cash for the gate. A Tulum to Cobá cycle path, the Ciclovía Maya, was due to open officially in March 2026, but we could not confirm it is open, so expect to ride on the road shoulder with traffic.
Tulum's cenotes sit along three roads.
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.
Stay in Tulum town if cenotes and a budget come first: Gran Cenote is about 4 km away.