During my 2 months backpacking in Yucatan I visited Valladolid Mexico 3 times. The laid back vibe of this sleepy town is contagious and on top of that it has some of the most beautiful Yucatan cenotes around. Cenote Suytun is one of them and in this blog I will tell you all about it. I visited cenote Suytun two times and these are all my tips. In this blog you will also find a Suytun vlog.
In my blog about all the Valladolid cenotes I already mentioned Cenote Suytun among many others like Ik Kil, Zaci, Xcanche and many more. Blame it on Instagram but cenote Suytun got very popular over the years and is definitely one of those amazing places to visit in Yucatan. I am pretty sure you have seen the pictures of this closed cenote on social media and probably that is why you are heading to Suytun as well. Let me tell you how to get that cool Instagram picture too.
Cenote Suytun vlog
This is a video of me visiting cenote Suytun on my second visit including some footage of my first visit and it clearly shows you the difference and the best time to visit or stay away!
1. Where is cenote Suytun
Cenote Suytun is 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of Valladolid, Mexico. It is pretty near the city center and therefore easy to get to. Suytun is located just a couple meters off the main road 180 going East towards Coba and Tulum.
2. How to get to cenote Suytun
The easiest way to get there is if you have your own car of course. During my Yucatan road trip I visited cenote Suytun with my car and the drive from Valladolid city center is only about 10 minutes. If you are coming from Tulum it is almost 100 kilometers (60 miles) and will take you 1 hour and 15 minutes. Playa del Carmen and Cancun are more than 2 hours away.
The best way to visit Suytun is when you stay in Valladolid Mexico. From there you can take a taxi, colectivo, rent a scooter or even walk. Don’t laugh! I met an adventurous couple that walked for about 1,5 hours they said.
Rent a scooter in Valladolid
Just one block from the main square in Valladolid there is Scooter Rent Valladolid and they rent out scooters for 100 Pesos ($5) per hour or 500 Pesos ($25). May you just want to visit cenote Suytun then renting a scooter for 2 hours is enough. If you are up for an adventure then I would recommend you to rent a scooter for the day and explore some off the beaten path cenotes around Valladolid like: Xcanche, Aua Sac, Agua Dulce and Palomitas.
Taxi to cenote Suytun cenote
I tried my best for you to fix a taxi for a cheap rate but I couldn’t find anyone who would do it for less than 100 Pesos ($5). On the way back you will easily find taxis on the side of the road. So no need to pay for a taxi that waits for you.
Colectivos
Colectivos are shared vans and can be found in the city center of Valladolid next to the bus station. They leave when they are full. Catch one in the direction of Chemax or just tell the people you want to go to cenote Suytun. The price is less than $1! The people from the colectivos are super friendly and will drop you right at the cenote Suytun entrance.
3. Cenote Suytun opening hours
The opening hours for the Suytun cenote are from 9:00am to 5:00pm, last entrance is at 4:30pm. You can rent Cenote Suytun for private events. This is their official website.
4. Cenote Suytun entrance fee
Cenote Suytun is the most expensive cenote near Valladolid as they charge an entrance fee of 120 Pesos ($6).
5. Bring cash
Credit cards are not accepted and you will have to bring cash to buy a ticket. This also counts for the souvenir shops and the nearby restaurant.
6. Parking
There is a parking lot and at least parking is free at cenote Suytun. There aren’t many places in the shade though. The parking lot is an indicator of how busy it is at cenote Suytun!
7. Best time to visit cenote Suytun
This sounds cliche of course but come early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Especially if you are after that amazing Instagram picture! Cenote Suytun is a very popular spot and can get extremely busy during the day. My first visit at cenote Suytun was around 4:00pm, my second one around 11:00am. In my vlog you have seen the difference. As I said the parking lot is an indicator and if you see big tour busses on the parking lot then you better come back another time!
8. Lockers and changing rooms
If you are planning to go for a swim at cenote Suytun then you may want to use the bathroom facilities at the entrance. Using the changing rooms is free. A little further down where you enter the cenote there are also lockers for rent. Lockers cost 35 Pesos ($1.8) and you can also rent a towel here for 35 Pesos.
9. Swimming at cenote Suytun
For those who do not only come for that cool instagram picture can also go for a swim. Mind you that wearing a lifejacket is mandatory and you will need to pay 30 Pesos to rent one. Swimming in cenote Suytun never seemed something I really wanted to do so I just sat on the side with my feet in the water. There is always a life guard on duty.
10. Depth cenote Suytun
Cenote Suytun is one of the most shallow cenotes and the depth ranges from 1 to 5 meters (3 - 16 feet). Diving is not allowed!
11. No cliff jumping
If you like cliff jumping then this is not your place. There is no cliff jumping at cenote Suytun. There are life guards on duty that will blow their whistle as soon as you go somewhere you are not allowed to. If you like cliff jumping then cenote Zaci is the best cenote around Valladolid.
12. Most beautiful Valladolid cenote
To many people cenote Suytun is the most beautiful Valladolid cenote, but I disagree! To be honest when I walked in the first time and it was not busy at all I was blown away. It felt like walking into a movie scene, so spectacular. And yes cenote Suytun is beautiful, but the platform is handmade of course and the light beam like you see on many Instagram pictures is not real most of the times. I really like cenote Suytun when it is quiet, but only for the picture. Within 15 minutes you have seen this place!
13. Cenote Suytun Instagram picture
First of all I have to warn you that you are not the only one who want to get this picture so be prepared to stay in line. I was lucky and only waited in line for like 5 minutes to get my pictures. I brought my tripod and got help from someone to click the shutter. When it is a little busier expect to wait in line for at least 15-20 minutes. When it is super busy don’t even pay entrance fee as you will never get a good picture of you on the platform.
This was on my first visit when I left around 4:15pm. Expect everyone to wait politely and in general most people need like 1 minute approximately.
14. Light beam cenote Suytun
The natural light peaking through the hole in the roof hits the platfrom between 12:00am and 2:00pm. Then of course it is also the busiest time of the day to visit cenote Suytun. On top of that to get the light beam like you see in many Suytun pictures you will need dust or smoke. It is of course not allowed to create your own smoke so be prepared to photoshop! In the picture below there was a performance of local Mayans also creating a lot of smoke therefore the light beam was almost perfect.
15. Cenote Suytun tours
Being such a beautiful cenote I can understand it gets busy at times. But when tour groups hit cenote Suytun this place is a no-go! You have seen it in my Suytun vlog and I guess there were about 300 people at the same time inside the cave. Cenote Suytun is a popular stop for people on a day trip from Playa del Carmen or Cancun to Chichen Itza. Day trips from Playa del Carmen including Chichen Itza and cenote Suytun cost $60. Just like I said in my cenote Ik Kil blog, come early to avoid tour groups. I sincerely hope cenote Suytun will start thinking about what it is doing to its cenote. Over tourism can kill your business in the long run.
16. No preservation, not ecotourism friendly
Like most cenotes around Valladolid, cenote Suytun is not really eco friendly either. Actually the only cenote who did a great job preserving the nature was cenote Xcanche (Ek Balam cenote). At cenote Suytun there are no signs at all about not wearing sunscreen, insect repellent, make up, etc. There aren’t even any showering facilities!
As told by one of the staff members the money goes towards the community and cenote Suytun is not a private property. I reckon they have at least about 300 guests per day on average that makes this cenote a cashcow with a yearly revenue of more than $600,000 USD, just from the cenote Suytun entrance fee. For that money cenote Suytun could do much more about preserving the cenote! Shame on you…
17. There is a second cenote
The first time I visited cenote Suytun I had no clue there was a second cenote and no one of the staff told me either. It is just 50 meters behind the shag where you pay entrance fee. It is included in your ticket but no one goes there. In my cenote Suytun vlog you can see how extremely busy it was but when I went to the second cenote I was literally all alone.
You are not allowed to swim in the second Suytun cenote and you don’t want to either. The water is very murky. There are heaps of catfish in this open sky cenote and it actually looks really cool.
18. Restaurant cenote Suytun
The restaurant at cenote Suytun is not worth going to when you ask me as it lacks soul and there is no view. It is actually catered towards the tour groups that come here and enjoy a buffet lunch. The restaurant is buffet only 110 Pesos ($6) and pretty affordable actually. You buy the combi tickets (cenote + buffet) at the entrance: 230 Pesos ($12).
Next to where you pay entrance fee you can also buy beers (35 pesos), snacks and soft drinks (30 pesos).
Yucatan travel blog
After more than 2 months traveling in Yucatan I wrote more than 30 blogs full of travel tips about the Yucatan Peninsula. Most of my time I spent hopping around the Peninsula. Some of my favorite places were: Isla Holbox, Rio Lagartos and Merida Mexico. In the following link you can find more than 30 Yucatan travel blogs.
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