Cenotes are underwater caves that resulted from sinkholes and are located in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The ancient Mayan believed that these cenotes were gateways to the underworld and some were even used for sacrificial offerings. If you are visiting Cancun or Mexico in general, you must visit some of their beautiful cenotes! There are thousands to choose from and each one is unique in its own way.
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Tours
You can visit cenotes without going on a tour. Just make sure to know where you’re going and be safe. We decided to book a private, custom tour through Boutique Tours during our stay in Cancun. What we liked about this particular company was that we could choose which cenotes we wanted to visit making this completely customizable.
For our group (5 people), it cost $725 USD in total. You will pay partial through Paypal and then the rest in cash at the end of the tour.
The tour included all entrance fees, drinks, lunch, transportation, snorkeling equipment, life vests, guide, etc. Of course you can bring your own food, drinks and snorkeling equipment as well. If you book through BTM make sure to check if they will still provide you snorkeling equipment or if you have to bring your own (due to COVID-19). We went in October 2019 so that wasn’t an issue then.
Our tour lasted about 7 hours and Leo (our extremely knowledgeable and friendly tour guide) picked us up at 7AM from our resort. The cenotes we decided to visit were: Suytun, Gran Cenote, and Tak Bi Ha.
He even took us to a really good local taco spot!
Suytun Cenote
This cenote was about a 2 hour drive from our resort in Cancun so it was our first stop. Suytun is open everyday from 10AM to 4PM and costs 120 pesos ($6 USD). For all of the cenotes that you’ll be visiting you’ll need to wash off in their outdoor shower beforehand. It was raining and cold but we still had to wash ourselves before going into the cenotes.
What makes this cenote so appealing is that with the right lighting, it’ll look like you are witnessing a sacrificial offering! When we arrived, there were a couple people there already taking pictures. So we just waited a bit to be able to take our shots on the walkway.
You can also swim in the water here if you want to. They provide you life jackets.
Gran Cenote
Gran Cenote is one of the more popular cenotes and is open everyday from 8AM to 4:45PM. The entrance fee is 180 pesos. When we arrived after Suytun, it was already packed with people.
You can go snorkeling here and you’ll also be able to see some turtles! Because this cenote is an open-air cenote, there are a lot of mosquitos. And they bite. A lot. We actually still have scars from the mosquito bites!
Taak Bi Ha Cenote
This was the last cenote we visited for the day. You also go snorkeling here but the water was extra cold! At some parts of the underwater cave, it is completely dark. So if you didn’t have a light, you wouldn’t be able to see where you’re swimming! Also, if you stop swimming even for a second, you’ll feel just how cold the water is. We also saw scuba divers at this location.
Once you’re done snorkeling, you can admire the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites inside the cave.
There are so many other cenotes you can visit that offers something different. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to see all of them! The next time we visit Cancun or Tulum, we’ll definitely explore more cenotes.
