Suytun — Attraction in Yucatán

My parents travelled halfway around the world to experience the wonders of Yucatan. With great anticipation, I brought them to this cenote, touted as one of the best, only to be met with profound disappointment. The water was alarmingly murky, visitors nonchalantly wore shoes into the cenote, and the on-site "guard" seemed to relish in his authority, displaying rude behavior.

The entire operation was poorly managed, starting with the ordeal of purchasing tickets online: we had to endure a 30-minute wait on the highway in the heat due to lack of reception at Suytun, only to find out our payment failed at the end. Despite showing our failed payment notification at the ticket window, we were denied the online discount, an issue caused by their own system malfunction, not our fault.

After changing into swimsuits and clearing a checkpoint near the changing rooms, we trekked for about 400m then down a long set of steep and slippery steps to arrive at the cenote.

Just as my parents entered the water, the guard aggressively berated my elderly parents for not “showering” or wearing life jackets (how the first checkpoint AND this guard himself missed that when they first cleared us is totally beyond me). (I should also mention that their so-called “shower” is a mere sprinkle of water over your body without soap.)

This guard’s manner was abrasive and unprofessional, causing undue distress. My parents were intimidated by him and got out of the water immediately. (My friend and I entered the cave, but not the water due to our physical conditions that day; so we were only there to wait for and help my parents and to take photos.)

Despite our prior clearance by the checkpoint next to the changing rooms 400m away and my attempts to reason, the guard adamantly insisted that we leave the cenote area and return to the starting point for life jackets and a so-called "shower". Frustrated and exhausted, I offered to go and bring the jackets for my elderly parents, so they don’t have to go through the same long steep and slippery steps back-and-forth again, but the guard's stubborn adherence to their poor management remained unyielding. He kept yelling at us for 15 minutes straight even when my parents already got out of the water, and the entire cenote could hear him.

Thankfully, some local Mexican visitors intervened, recognizing the guard's irrational behavior. They generously offered their life jackets, enabling my parents to briefly enjoy the water. However, our relief was short-lived as we witnessed new visitors entering the water with shoes on, further highlighting the lack of oversight and hygiene standards.

My parents, understandably repulsed, decided to leave, tarnishing what was meant to be our joyful reunion after six years apart. Despite my parents’ attempts to remain cheerful, I felt immense regret for bringing them here and subjecting them to such a dismal experience. This cenote, despite its online hype, is not worth the visit. Its mismanagement and disregard for visitors' comfort and safety overshadow any natural beauty it may possess.

I hope that you have a better experience elsewhere. I know...

Cenote Suytun is everything you expect. It's truly a great photo location (especially if the light cooperates) but also visited by a lot of people. A while back, arriving at 9 am (opening) would ensure you some privacy but now, ironically, many people are starting to arrive at 9 am. However, the management is doing an excellent job. The staff at the cenote ensure everyone gets 2 mins to get their shot sans interruptions with a queue and whistle. It's per individual so if you're a group of 3, each person gets 2 mins. What could ruin the frame is if many visitors decide to go for a swim at the same time - which, thankfully, did not happen during my visit. Honestly, this is not really a "swimming cenote" so I'd just focus on the photo. Yes, you can get multiple "2-mins windows of posing" as long as you rejoin the queue. If there are too many visitors, the staff may limit your overall visit to 1-2 hrs. Lighting inside the cenote space is on the darker side so make sure you have camera equipment that can handle low light. Yes, as of now, DSLR + tripods are allowed without additional fee. The light beam typically happens between 11 am to 1 pm if the sky is clear. How pronounced it is will also depend on humidity and suspended air particles. You can shoot from the base of the podium or from the stairs leading to it. You cannot, however, scramble over the rocks off the stairs (they won't let you). If you're just looking to get photos without posing yourself, you can request to get to the base of the podium below without having to get in the queue. Life jackets are provided and required if you're going to swim. You don't need them on the podium as long as it's not submerged too deep. You will need to take a shower regardless if you plan on walking on the podium for the photo (if it's submerged). How submerged the podium is depends on how much rain there has been in recent days. During our visit, the water came up to my thighs. Changing rooms were spacious and clean. Tickets are cash only (120 pesos per person). This place is yet another location suffering from over-visitation and stupid "influencers" but it's still worth getting your own photo with an epic pose! Be patient and courteous and you will find other visitors doing the same...

A Must go to Cenote, now I must say, It depends on your luck, photography skills and time of day. In this short last minute trip, we aimed for 12pm arrival or 1pm on a sunny/little cloudy day where the sun enters directly into the circle so you can take that ultimate photo (plan)...

What really happened, is we were a bit late, headed to rental AVIS on Av.Coba (this is a street at entrance of Tulum City). we used our ATV rental to reach from hotel to car rental. Process was super easy, choose cheapest car manual, cars are brand new so the road will be very fund. 1hr drive from the rental to the Cenote.

Parking was free, entrance was as little as 7-10$ not sure exact amount, but once you walk inside it's just amazing nature, there is a line up and time limit for each person to take photos. staff was very friendly by giving me more time to capture different angles and go down but I had to line up again as it was very busy that day. so it depends on your luck, if you plan to go early I think you can have the Cenote to your self almost if you reach there by 9-10am.

you can swim or just take photos, you do need a full shower of course if you plan to swim. and NO swimming without life jacket! I was misinformed before going down, so I took a dip while waiting in line but I was told it wasn't allowed. so make sure you take you life jacket before you head down to the Cenote If you plan to swim, regardless of how good of a swimmer you are.

The staff was super friendly and awesome, you can also search them up on instagram and DM them, they're responsive and friendly.

Car rental was about $170+ USD (high season prices) but if you're a group it is so worth it.

incredible experience, will definitely visit again next time as we explore the rest of the...