Gran Cenote
About
Located three miles from downtown Tulum, Gran Cenote is one of the most popular sinkholes in Mexico. It comprises an open-air cenote surrounded by caves and offers 1,500 square feet of swimming surface with crystal clear waters. Swim, snorkel, or dive with turtles and colorful fish here. You can even swim into the caves as bats fly overhead. There are also plenty of wooden platforms where you can chill amid the lush nature and take lots of pictures. You can join a guided tour to explore Gran Cenote together with other beautiful cenotes in Tulum. – Tripadvisor
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • Genesis M
    6 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A gem !
    A true gem of Mexico ! Worth the price. Location : close to the town of Tulum ( not the hotels) Price: Fair Ambience: Good not so packed. Try to get there early to avoid the tours. Tours: Dont really need one to visit. Requirements : no suncreen, no bronzer, no funny business.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 19 October 2023
  • astrid m
    11 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Expensive but nice
    $30 US per person, expensive for family of four. There are bathrooms and outdoor showers but no change rooms so come in your bathing suite. Bring snorkeling gear if you have it to see the turtles and fish. Water was a little on the cool side compared to the ocean. Staff who welcomed us and gave instructions was great! Lockers to store your stuff was inexpensive. Life jackets were sadly mandatory.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 10 December 2023
  • christina b
    228 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful
    Only Accept Pesos or Cash. Price was higher than advertised. $30 USD No ATM. Lockers and Goggles available. Nice bathrooms inside. Staff at entrance didn't speak English. Not friendly. My first experience at a Cenote so I can't compare it to others. It is much like the pictures advertise. Several entry points to the Cenote so you can spread out. Water is chilly this time of year but I found it to be refreshing. You also have to take a cold shower before entering to help preserve the ecosystem. Water is clear and beautiful. Turtles, small fish, and bats. Definitely recommend. Relaxing.
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 14 February 2024
  • Abi Parghi
    Irvine, California13 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Best Experience
    We swam in the open-air cenote and explored the surrounding caverns, with two snorkeling pools on either side. If you see turtles at Gran Cenote, keep your distance and avoid startling them. The entrance fee is $500 MXN - Mexican Pesos(CASH ONLY).
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 1 March 2024
  • russellbrown181
    Hednesford, United Kingdom608 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Expensive but fun
    £28 to get in which includes your life vest & snorkel & mask (bring ID as without it you have to oay £1.50 to hire) lockers will cost you £1.50. It’s amazing swimming with the turtles & fishes & seeing the bats flying around in the caves. The water is pretty chilly but certainly cools you off after a hot day. Definitely worth visiting, the reason for my 4* review is that once you’ve swam around a bit & chilled you’re done in a couple of hours so it’s expensive really.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 1 April 2024
  • Atomic Adventures
    Las Cruces, New Mexico145 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Not Gran But a Beautiful Cenote
    We spent a few hours at this cenote to cool off. It was a lovely and picturesque setting. You'll get some neat pictures. There are two areas that feel like caves and one that's a bright oasis. The overall area is a bit small, you could enjoy it in a single hour. The water is nice and cool and perfectly clear. You do need to shower before entering this cenote and you have to wear a life jacket. I would down rate it for this requirement but it's one if the best cenote sites in the tulum area. It's also 500 MXN ($25 USD) to swim here. Lockers were 100 MXN. Not needed if you are in your swim gear and leave everything in your car. Also people leave their towels and bags out in the open and nobody messes with them, just don't leave valuables out and you'll be fine.
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 11 August 2024
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4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles4,366 reviews
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Bruno B
Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP10 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020 • Friends
It is a beautiful place where you can swim in a very clean and blue water. But It is small. It is a experience where you can spend atmost 1 hour/1,5 hour, and it charges 15 dollars per person.
It is strange for me the fact that Mexico has private beaches and private rivers. Specially because the ones responsible for it don’t make a lot of investiment in the place. It has bathrooms and stairs to the underground pool. Just that. Not a reason to pay that much.
The ticket cabin guy made my 67 years old father wait in the sun to let some Americans come down from a bus and cut the line to let us in. It was terrible.
And when he let us in, he didn’t have change back, let us wait again for about 20 minutes in the sun and didn’t get the change back.
In all Mexican attractions there are a thousand vendors trying to push cheap things for a very high price. They are really pushy and annoying. I tried to buy a umbrella to protect me from the sun in a small street vendor who was charging four times the price I saw in the supermarket. Outrageous!
The waiters, room keepers, drivers, bell boys are really pushy when it comes to tipping (“propina” as they say).
In the airport be careful when getting a taxi. There is no Uber and there is no regular taxi there. Just the ones with “different pre arranged prices” (twice or three times of what they charge outside). I had a really bad experience trying to get out of the airport. They tried to overcharge me, then I decided to talk to a taxi driver which was delivering some people, so that he take me back downtown when he was traveling back on his only route. The guy didn’t even talked to me, because he was afraid of the airport taxi people.
Apparently in Mexico they prefer to take advantage of the tourists instead of taking advantage of the tourism itself. I don’t recommend to anyone visit Mexico, unless you are extremely patient and don’t mind being charged two or three times the value of the purchased item.
If you like beautiful beaches and nature, go to Thailand instead. It will be cheaper and more pleasant, I am sure.
Written 20 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Erin H
Mexico City, Mexico14 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021 • Family
The sign at the entrance and online information both say that Gran Cenote closes at 4:45. This is false. The greeter at the entrance told us that they ask you to get out of the water at 4:20 “in order to prepare for tomorrow”. This is a ridiculous and deceptive business practice. If they are asking people to get out of the water at 4:20, they should put on the sign and online information that the cenote closes at 4:20. I am irate, as we planned our day carefully and arrived at 3:45 in order to have one hour at the cenote. They were not willing to give a discount even though they were closing ahead of the time indicated on the sign. I think it is ridiculous that this is the most expensive cenote in the area, and that they are so deceptive in their practices. If they are going to charge so much, they should at least give good service.
Written 2 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Thiru
Chennai (Madras), India267 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
The Cenotes were great, you can actually spend a half a day easily here. but you pay for everything and at the end you literally get thrown 15-20 minutes before the time they say they close. it was irritating for us because we went there with about 90 minutes left to closure and we started getting whistles and reminders in 60 minutes and next 10 minutes we were out.
Written 14 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Maria F
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020
We tried to visit and it was a terrible experience. We waited for 20 minutes to be told that five our our $20 usd bills were “unacceptable”. The man would take them then go to a window to give the cashier.

He slipped back the $20’s and kept asking for different ones. The best part was he brought us back different bills and said our money was unacceptable. What a SCAM.

My first horrible experience in Mexico.
Written 23 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jeremysandor
Montreal, Canada2 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
Went on a weekday afternoon and was maybe a little too crowded, but ultimately fun to cool off and see some turtles. I would recommend bringing or renting the snorkel stuff cause there's a whole lot more to see underwater. Don't forget to really get wet before going in. The guys at the entrance won't let you in until you're seriously soaked. It was annoying, but you have to respect the wildlife and not ruin it for everyone else with sunscreen and other cosmetics.
Written 10 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

rantati7
Helsinki, Finland2,396 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020
There are two sinkholes connected to each other’s by a tunnel. Was there at 10 o’clock and there were not that many people. The queues / lines seem to start building after 12 o.clock. Entrance is 300 pesos per person which I think is too much for the place where you’d probably spend around 1 hour. Do not try to bring in any alcohol. They search your bags and the grounds are watched by guards. I’d you need to rent a locker it’s 50 pesos and snorkel rental is 80 pesos. There are turtles and a few small fish swimming around the larger pool. The other side (for wannabe Instragam starts) is just sandy bottom without less interest.

I would rate this as an average cenote and maybe due to its location close to Tulum the price is in my opinion high for what you get.

We tried to get to Garden of Eden that is normally closed only on Saturdays but was now also closed on Monday morning. Entrance there would have been 200 pesos.
Written 23 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ejl1987
New York City, NY35 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021 • Couples
Water and scenery were really nice however beware of the “option” of paying $15 USD to get in. They first tried to get us to pay more because we were not using pesos even though it clearly states $15 USD. When we refused to pay more than the stated amount he proceeded to look over our money with a fine tooth comb and then claimed he wouldn’t accept it because it was “ripped”. It is almost impossible to have money that is not even slightly worn. Even the most slight bit of ware on the money caused him to say he wouldn’t accept it. They refused to let us in. Luckily a couple behind us in the line offered to exchange usd for pesos.
Written 30 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

kaleighn1292
Woodstock, GA188 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
What can I say that no one else hasn't? This place is GORGEOUS!! Yes there are other smaller less known cenotes that I'd love to visit on another trip to Tulum, but if you're short on time or you want to make sure you'll be able to get a taxi back to your hotel this is the most convenient and it is incredibly beautiful too! Get there when they open or right after if you want to share the place with only a handful of other people. When we were getting ready to leave around 10:15am it had gone from maybe 20-30 people to well over a hundred. Also, when you get there and finish showering I'd suggest going to get snorkels and a locker immediately then walking back up the main stairs and to the lesser known second staircase to the right of the main one. It almost looks like you shouldn't go over there, but DO! It's less crowded (even when the amount of people on the other side was over 100) and it's so so pretty! Definitely worth a few hours even on a short trip!
Written 13 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Linda
3 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2020
We paid 300 pesos, the most expensive on our trip. It isn't very big but it had a little bit of everything to see in a cenote. They spray bleach on the sole of your feet upon entering the premises and showers are mandatory. Lockers and life vests are available for an extra fee. Beware of all the Instagrammers and their photographers disrupting what I hoped to be a relaxing experience.
Written 3 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rowan H
Cairns, Australia1,674 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Couples
Visited the Gran Cenote recently. It has some big pros and big cons.

From a pro perspective the cenote is very beautiful. Blue and turquoise waters make for outstanding photo opportunities. It also features a couple of cave systems that can be explored as well as a fairly long stretch of water that can be swum in. Being located only 4km from tulum it is fairly accessible. It has a large array of wildlife including numerous resident turtles, bars and fish.

In terms of cons there are two big ones - the first is the fairly high admission fee of 500 mexican peso. This does entitle the purchaser to access to a life jacket and also a snorkel (Note with the snorkel that you have to bring a form of ID to get this otherwise they will not lend to you). There are lockers available for 30 peso to lock up your things The second con is that this is a fairly popular attraction and as such gets filled quite quickly. The easiest way around this is to get here at the opening time of 0800am.

Logistically to get here from Tulum you can get the collectivo going to Coba for 20 peso. You can flag that same collectivo down (may be a bit of a wait) from the other side of the drop off point to get back into tulum for the same price.

Overall a worth while visit if you can absorb the high admission cost.
Written 6 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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GRAN CENOTE (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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