Casa Tortuga Tulum — Attraction in Quintana Roo

Of note this is a review based visiting cenote during the rainy season (June 2025) and visiting on a day that was actually rainy/thunderstorming. For us it was the perfect way to spend our rainy day. Also as note I should mention I am a tourist, but even then I do agree the prices are little high.

Let’s start off with pricing. Though they don’t have a website, they do have a WhatsApp (+52 984 322 2222) that lists all their prices in pesos if you look at their catalog. There are 4 tiers - we chose the most basic tier (paquete basico) which came with a tour guide of the 4 cenotes (two that are open and two that are covered) and life jackets at a cost of 750 pesos. This 750 pesos was suppose to also include kayak rental but either due to rainy season we didn’t get to do that as went to the kayak, there was no one manning it. Of note you do absolutely need the tour if you want to do the 2 covered cenotes, as you can’t enter the covered cenotes without them. There was no option to just enter the park and explore the cenotes on your own.

Our guide was bilingual and did both the tour in Spanish and in English. First up was the covered cenote which was awesome as you could see all the stalactites hanging from the cave. It was super fun to float in between them - wouldn’t recommend if you’re claustrophobic. The next cenotes were the open cenotes - Cenote Dorca and Cenote tres Zapatos which is like a lazy river that funnels into a bigger cenote. The last cenote Cenote Wisho was so cool because you could see fossils/sea shells from when it used to be a reef and there are some points the water gets to 50 feet deep. Again you don’t have to be the strongest swimmer because you have life jackets that help you bob up and down the cenotes. The tour took about an hour and a half and after they let you go and swim only at the open cenotes and hang out if you want, but you do have to return the life jacket.

We stayed at Zamas hotel and did need a taxi to and from the hotel which cost 1600 pesos round trip (I know STEEP, the taxi prices in Tulum are ridiculous). But if you have a scooter or car there is free parking there.

Another cost to factor it besides the ticket (at minimum 750 pesos) we also had to rent lockers as for the tour the only thing you could bring along with is your sandals and there isn’t many places to put down your stuff. The locker was 100 pesos - 4 of us managed to fit our towels/backpack/water bottle into one locker to try to save money.

Some tips! Get there early (like 9-10 am) if you want the cenotes to yourself and for the least amount of people on the required guided tour. We had only about 10 people on our tour and it was really nice especially in covered cenote as you felt like you’d had it all to yourself. When we finished up at 12:30 PM, it definitely looked like a zoo with way more people.

Bring waterproof cover for your phone! There are plenty of opportunities to take pictures of all cenotes so don’t listen if they say you can’t bring your phone you totally can. Just know it will absolutely get wet so bring waterproof phone.

Wear sandals that you can easily slip on/off or water shoes. My friend preferred the water shoes so he didn’t have to take them on and off in between the cenotes.

Bring CASH as everything (tickets, lockers, guide tips) was paid for in CASH and not by card. So bring CASH

You don’t need to be the strongest swimmer, but would recommend to fully enjoy the cenotes you should know how to swim/tread water as a lot of the cenotes had many deep parts. If you only do the tour you’re fine because you can just float with life jacket, but if you go back on your own you don’t have the life jacket and need to be able to swim.

Remember no sunscreen/bug spray! Keep the cenote water clean and pristine and they do make you shower off before entering the cenotes. Do be prepared for bug bites as you travel to get to the cenotes as you go through the jungle.

Plan to be there for at least 3-4 hours to...

You only can enter as part of a group with a guide, the minimum price is 650 mxn per person. It's a place with an immense amount of people, there are no instructions given whatsoever.

1. We went to the nearest cenote - Campana. We wanted to swim through the cave, but there were so many people that it was impossible to squeeze through.

2. We went to another one - Wisho, also a cave. We spent about 5 minutes in it: we swam through the cave, and then we were yelled at by a guide of another group. Allegedly, visiting cave cenotes without a guide and vests is impossible. Amazing! I paid 650 mxn to be shouted at: no one said that there were any rules at all, and there are no indications like "Meeting point for a guided tour". The guide and desk clerk said I should have asked myself. Really? That's not my responsibility. Oh, to visit the cenotes with a guide you MUST rent a locker for your belongings for 100 mxn - couldn't you include this in the entrance ticket?

3. We never used the guided tour, as it lasts 1.5 hours, the group visits 4 cenotes, where they spend like 15 minutes, after that the guide yells “Group, get out of the water!”. And these groups rush around the territory without end, someone is constantly yelling.

4. According to the info on the website, 4 cenotes offered for visiting are Campana, Wisho, Jaguar, and Tres Zapotes. Cenote Jaguar was closed - the water there was muddy, and no one cares about him obviously. Tres Zapotes is a long cenote where you can only swim from left to right in an organized manner. Never tried it thanks to loads of people.

5. Instead of Jaguar, the Dorca cenote was available - and this is the only place here worthy of attention. This is a fairly large cenote, where, despite the number of people, there was enough space. You can jump from a height of 3 meters into the water, there are lower heights as well. But then again - I'm not sure that the water is somehow cleaned here. Tourism is on the rise and it seems that no one cares about the quality of the water. In the reviews, many write that the water is the purest. Just because it's transparent doesn't mean it's clean. Diving with a mask I saw an enormous amount of debris at the bottom: some films, plasters, hair ties. Pond algae is, of course, natural, but why not clean it at least partially? And there is a rather noticeable layer of sunscreen!

6. There is a cafe with prices yet unseen. Beer for 60 mxn is fine. A glass of lemonade for 100 mxn is a surprise. And don't even get me started on prices for food. Want to use the hammocks here? You need to buy something. But if there are two of you, then according to the wonderful laws of this institution, everyone must buy something for themselves. I'd take my beer, but should my wife forcibly pour something into herself just to sit on a hammock? There are practically no other places for recreation (benches, chairs - anything) here.

7. Finally, all cenotes are completely artificial. At least there are natural caves in Wisho and Campana, but Dorca and Tres Zapotes are just dug-out pits filled with water, designed as cenotes.

To sum up: 650 mxn is an unreasonably high price. Now let's calculate a bit. Each group of tourists with a guide is, let's say, 15 people. For the min price, this is 650x15 = 9750 mxn. They have 4 cenotes and each group starts from the different one in order to avoid a mess - a total of 9750x4 = 39,000 mxn. For an 8-hour working day, they will do at least 5 such cycles, and this is already 195,000 mxn. And this is assuming that there are only 4 guides, all visitors came without bags and bought a package for 650 mxn (which is not the case). If you make that kind of money per day (!), can't you provide your guests with basic conditions and amenities?! Don't support this "business" with your money - maybe then people here will learn to provide better service for the...

I would like to write a better review for this place, but need to call the attention of all the tourists and make an important complaint to their management. First of all, the place is well maintained and the area itself is beautiful, but the experience to visit is horrendous. This and many places in Quintana Roo unfortunately seem to take advantage of tourists by giving incomplete information to potential visitors to make them pay more when they are at the location, and I need to denounce this. I called in the morning prior to visiting and asked if I needed to make a reservation or to purchase in advance. They said no, that I could purchase the tickets at the location. So I went with my group and when we arrived we were notified that they do not accept credit cards, only cash. This means either only Pesos or US Dollars with this caveat: their exchange rate is 20% higher than the official exchange rate. At the time the official rate was 20 pesos for 1 dollar, and theirs was 16 pesos for 1 dollar. If you don't have cash you can't get in. There is no ATM machine nearby. The closest one is in Tulum which is over 10 minutes by car. If you have US dollars you have to purchase tickets at their rate, which ends up being $40 USD per person. We conceded and paid for the tickets in US dollars cash. The lady at the tickets office promised a guided tour, lunch, floating vests, snorkels and goggles for that price. What they don't tell you is that you are "obliged" to take the tour if you want to have the vests, and that there are actually no snorkels or goggles once you get in. They give you a receipt when you purchase, they also seal your hand, and you would think that the seal in your hand would be proof enough that you paid, but they don't tell you that you have to present the printed receipt at later check points before you enter, even if your hands have the seal. One of my group members thought the receipt was was just for transaction purposes and threw it away immediately, When we went to park they sent us back because they wanted one receipt per person. We had to go back and dig inside the trash cans to find it. Once inside the drama continued. One of our members knew the facility and didn't want to go with the tour. When we went to pick up the vests they said that we could only take the vests if we were with a tour guide, wether we had paid full price or not. If you do't want to attain to their schedule or hang out with a big crowd, you are without a vest, whether you know how to swim or not. When I asked about the promised goggles and snorkels they said they would come later, but I finished the tour and they never provided those, and the guides harassed us when they saw us wondering by ourselves. It was horrible. I felt harassed, cheated, robbed, and abused as a tourist. I am never going back. They are much better, quieter options for cenotes around. Tourists: don't fall for this horrible...