Cenotes Near Playa del Carmen: The 7 Best, With Prices, Hours and How to Get There

Where are the cenotes near Playa del Carmen?

The cenotes near Playa del Carmen fall into four clusters: the Puerto Aventuras trio 16 miles (25 km) south (Azul, Jardín del Edén, Cristalino), Chaak Tun 3 miles (5 km) west of downtown, the Ruta de los Cenotes 25 miles (40 km) north near Puerto Morelos, and Dos Ojos and Gran Cenote 30 to 40 miles (48 to 65 km) south toward Tulum.

A cenote is a natural sinkhole in the Yucatán limestone, filled with fresh water filtered by the rock, at a steady 75 to 79°F (24 to 26°C) all year, with 100 feet (30 m) of visibility or more. And never any seaweed: cenotes are the fallback plan when the beach turns brown, as we explain in our guide to sargassum in Playa del Carmen.

Four ways to get there:

• Colectivo. White shared vans leave Calle 2 Norte between 15th and 20th Avenue every 5 to 10 minutes, heading to Tulum. Say the name of the cenote to the driver. 40 to 60 pesos (about $2 to $4). To come back, stand at the edge of Highway 307 and raise your arm.
• Rental car. 600 to 1,000 pesos a day (about $32 to $54). Essential for the Ruta de los Cenotes.
• Taxi. 400 to 600 pesos each way (about $22 to $32) to Puerto Aventuras, 900 to 1,200 pesos (about $53 to $71) to Dos Ojos.
• Organized tour. $70 to $130 per person for 2 or 3 cenotes, with transport, guide and gear included.

Cenote Azul: the easiest and cheapest cenote from Playa del Carmen

Cenote Azul is the one to pick if you have half a day and no car: 25 minutes by colectivo, 150 to 200 pesos entry (about $8 to $11), and turquoise water that shelves gently enough for anyone.

• Distance and access: 16 miles (25 km) south, km 266 of Highway 307, just before Puerto Aventuras. Colectivo toward Tulum 40 to 45 pesos, ask for "Cenote Azul", then 1,000 feet (300 m) on foot.
• Hours: 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, daily.
• Depth: 1 foot (30 cm) in the entrance pools, 20 to 26 feet (6 to 8 m) in the main basin. Jumping is allowed from a 13-foot (4 m) ledge.
• Provided: life jacket 40 to 50 pesos, locker 50 pesos, toilets, snack bar. No masks for rent at the gate on some days, so bring your own.
• Best for: families with young kids, average swimmers, a first cenote.
• The catch: it is the busiest open cenote in the area. After 11 am on a weekend it feels like a public pool. Be there when it opens.

Jardín del Edén (Ponderosa): the biggest basin, for jumping and diving

Jardín del Edén, also called Ponderosa, is the largest open-air cenote in the area: a pool the size of a soccer field, up to 50 feet deep, shared between divers and cliff jumpers.

• Distance and access: 16 miles (25 km) south, 1,600 feet (500 m) from Cenote Azul, west side of Highway 307. Same colectivo, 40 to 45 pesos.
• Hours: 9 am to 5 pm. Closed some Saturdays depending on the season, so check before you go.
• Depth: 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 m) at the edges, 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) in the middle. Jump platform at 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4 m).
• Provided: life jacket (included or 50 pesos), lockers, picnic tables. Mask and snorkel 100 to 150 pesos.
• Price: 200 to 250 pesos (about $12 to $15), diver supplement 100 to 150 pesos.
• Best for: confident swimmers, snorkelers, cavern diving students. It is the most accessible site in our guide to diving in Playa del Carmen.
• The catch: there is no shallow area where you can stand, so it is a poor choice with children who cannot swim.

Cristalino: the quietest of the three Puerto Aventuras cenotes

Cristalino is the low-key one of the trio: same water, same distance, half the crowd, plus a cave section where you swim under the rock.

• Distance and access: 17 miles (27 km) south, km 269 of Highway 307, across from the Barceló hotel. Colectivo toward Tulum 40 to 50 pesos, ask for "Cristalino", then 650 feet (200 m) of dirt track.
• Hours: 8 am to 6 pm, daily.
• Depth: 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 m) near the entrance, 26 to 33 feet (8 to 10 m) in the open section. Jump platform at 10 feet (3 m).
• Provided: life jacket 50 pesos, lockers, toilets, sun loungers 70 pesos. Bring your own mask.
• Price: 150 to 200 pesos (about $9 to $12), 200 pesos for divers.
• Best for: couples, anyone who wants Cenote Azul without the crowd.
• The catch: the site is small, an hour covers it, and the water clouds up in the afternoon once the bottom has been stirred.

Chaak Tun: the caves 15 minutes from downtown Playa

Chaak Tun is the only true underground cenote within a taxi ride of downtown: three caves, stalactites, black water lit by your headlamp, and a mandatory guided visit of about two hours.

• Distance and access: 3 miles (5 km) west, at the end of Avenida Juárez. Taxi 250 to 400 pesos (about $15 to $24) each way, no colectivo.
• Hours: 8:30 am to 4 pm, last entry 3 pm. Booking recommended from December to March.
• Depth: 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 m) in the swimming areas.
• Provided: everything, including wetsuit, helmet, headlamp, mandatory life jacket, mask and snorkel, water shoes, locker and shower.
• Price: 800 to 1,100 pesos (about $47 to $65) depending on the package, the higher one usually including a meal.
• Best for: photographers (the light beams in the first cave are the signature shot of the region), families with children aged 6 and up.
• The catch: four to five times the price of an open cenote, and the visit runs on the guide's clock. If you are claustrophobic, skip it.

Cenote Zapote and the Ruta de los Cenotes (Puerto Morelos)

The Ruta de los Cenotes is the one area that justifies renting a car: 22 miles (36 km) of road between Puerto Morelos and Leona Vicario, a dozen cenotes open to the public and far fewer tourists than in the south.

• Distance and access: 25 miles (40 km) north to Puerto Morelos, then 9 to 12 miles (15 to 20 km) along the cenote road, so 50 minutes to 1 hr 15 to Zapote. Without a car: colectivo toward Cancún (40 to 50 pesos) to Puerto Morelos, then a taxi at 400 to 600 pesos each way.
• Cenote Zapote: an open shaft 150 feet (46 m) across, famous among technical divers for its "hell's bells", mineral formations found nowhere else, 100 feet (30 m) down. Swimming 200 to 250 pesos (about $12 to $15), multi-cenote packages with zip line 600 to 800 pesos (about $35 to $47). 8 am to 5 pm. Life jacket and locker included, mask for rent.
• Also on the road: Verde Lucero (200 to 250 pesos, zip line), Siete Bocas (250 to 300 pesos, very photogenic), Kin Ha (200 to 250 pesos, including one underground cenote).
• Best for: travelers with a car, technical divers.
• The catch: the access tracks are sometimes badly rutted, and without a car the taxi bill costs more than a guided tour.

Dos Ojos: the best cavern snorkeling, on the Tulum side

Dos Ojos offers the most spectacular snorkeling on the whole Riviera Maya: two "eyes" joined by a cavern, stalactites within arm's reach, 300 feet (100 m) of visibility and the entrance to an underground network that connects to Sac Actun.

• Distance and access: 30 miles (48 km) south, km 124 of Highway 307, 10 miles before Tulum, 45 minutes to an hour. Colectivo toward Tulum 50 to 60 pesos, ask for "Dos Ojos", then 1.2 miles (2 km) of track, or 25 pesos for the on-site shuttle. Parking included.
• Hours: 8 am to 5 pm, daily.
• Depth: 26 to 33 feet (8 to 10 m) in the swimming areas.
• Provided: life jacket included, snorkel gear 70 to 150 pesos or included depending on the package, lockers, snack bar.
• Price: 350 to 400 pesos (about $21 to $24) for self-guided access. Guided Bat Cave tour 700 to 850 pesos (about $41 to $50).
• Best for: snorkelers, certified divers (the most famous cavern dive in Mexico).
• The catch: the price has doubled in five years, the water is cooler than in the open cenotes, and the section under the rock frightens children under 8.

Gran Cenote: turtles 4 miles from Tulum

Gran Cenote is the most photographed cenote in the region and the only one where you will almost certainly swim with freshwater turtles. It is also the most expensive.

• Distance and access: 40 miles (65 km) south, on the Tulum to Cobá road, 1 hr to 1 hr 15. Colectivo toward Tulum (50 to 60 pesos) to the town center, then a taxi at 150 to 200 pesos or a rental bike. Best combined with the Tulum ruins.
• Hours: 8 am to 5 pm, last entry around 4:45 pm, daily.
• Depth: 6 to 16 feet (2 to 5 m) in the open sections, 33 feet (10 m) maximum.
• Provided: life jacket included and mandatory, locker 30 to 50 pesos, mask and snorkel 80 to 150 pesos, showers, hammocks.
• Price: 500 pesos (about $29), flat rate since 2023, 300 pesos for children aged 4 to 12.
• Best for: photographers, families with children aged 4 and up, beginner snorkelers.
• The catch: 500 pesos for a 90-minute visit is the worst time-to-price ratio on this list. From 10 am the Cancún tour groups queue on the stairs. Be there at 8 am or do not bother.

Comparison table: the 7 cenotes near Playa del Carmen

Rate used: about about 17 pesos to $1.

What a cenote costs near Playa del Carmen, and how to pay less

A cenote near Playa del Carmen runs from 150 pesos (about $9) for an open cenote in Puerto Aventuras to 1,100 pesos (about $65) for a guided cave tour, and a full day at two cenotes by colectivo comes to 500 to 700 pesos per person (about $27 to $38), transport included.

What pushes the bill up is gear rental (life jacket 40 to 50 pesos, mask and snorkel 70 to 150 pesos, locker 30 to 50 pesos) and card fees of 3 to 5 percent. Most cenotes take cash in pesos only, and there is no ATM along Highway 307.

To pay less: a mask bought for 300 pesos at a supermarket pays for itself in two cenotes, the colectivo costs ten times less than a taxi, and the Puerto Aventuras cenotes are half the price of the Tulum ones. To chain Dos Ojos, Gran Cenote and the ruins in one day, a $90 to $130 tour often beats taxi plus entries. Transport fares from the airport are in our guide to Cancún airport to Playa del Carmen.

The best cenote for your kind of trip

There is no single best cenote, but for each type of traveler one of them clearly wins on a specific, checkable criterion.

• With children under 6: Cenote Azul. The only one with 1 to 2 foot pools where they can stand, a 50-peso life jacket and a 25-minute ride.
• For snorkeling: Dos Ojos. No other cenote reachable without a tank puts stalactites three feet from your mask with 300 feet of visibility.
• For diving: Jardín del Edén first, Dos Ojos next. Edén is 25 minutes away and bottoms out at 50 feet, which makes it the standard first cavern.
• For photography: Chaak Tun for the light beams, Gran Cenote at 8 am for the turtles, before the groups stir up the bottom.
• No car and a tight budget: Cristalino. 150 to 200 pesos, 45 pesos of colectivo, half the crowd of Azul.
• To escape the tourists: the Ruta de los Cenotes. A car, three cenotes in a day, and sometimes the place to yourself on a Tuesday in May.
• One day only: Dos Ojos in the morning, Tulum ruins in the afternoon. That is the route in our guide to things to do in Playa del Carmen: two headline sights, one colectivo.

Cenotes are worth doing all year. From June to October the rains cloud the open cenotes for a few hours, but not the cave ones, which is one more argument for a rainy-season trip. The full calendar is in our guide to the best time to visit Playa del Carmen.

The rules inside a cenote

The rules are the same everywhere, they protect a closed ecosystem where a smear of sunscreen lingers for weeks, and a guard can and will pull you out of the water.

1. Shower before you get in. It is mandatory, and it removes sunscreen, deodorant, repellent and sweat.
2. No sunscreen at most sites, not even the reef-safe kind. Wear a long-sleeved rash guard instead. Same for insect repellent.
3. No jumping outside the marked platforms. The rock rises in places you cannot see from the edge, and almost every serious accident comes from an improvised jump.
4. Do not touch the stalactites. They grow about 0.4 inches (1 cm) per century.
5. Wear the life jacket where it is required, even if you swim well. No fins in the caverns.
6. No alcohol, no food in the water, no drone without written permission.
7. Respect closing time. Guards clear the water 30 minutes before the gate shuts.

Stick to the platforms and the life jackets and nothing will happen to you, which is the same point we make in is Playa del Carmen safe?.