What there is to do around Tulum

Almost everything worth doing near Tulum is either a hole in the ground or a ruin, and that is not a complaint. The limestone shelf under the Yucatan is riddled with flooded caves, and where the roof has collapsed you get a cenote. There are thousands. The ones below are the ones worth your morning.

They are not interchangeable. Open cenotes like Laguna Kaan Luum are swimming holes under the sky, easy and social. Semi-open ones such as Gran Cenote give you turtles, stalactites and a bit of shade. Cavern systems like Dos Ojos are a different proposition again, dark and cold and genuinely cave-like, and they reward snorkelling gear or a guided dive. Casa Cenote is the odd one out, a mangrove channel running to the sea where fresh water meets salt.

The single most useful habit: arrive at opening. Cenotes are quiet, clear and cool for the first hour and then the tour vans come. The same applies to the Tulum ruins, which open early and sit entirely in the sun with no shade on the clifftop. By eleven it is hot enough to spoil the visit.

Sian Ka’an is the exception to all of this. It is a biosphere reserve the size of a small country and it takes a full day with a guide, not an afternoon. If you only do one thing beyond the cenotes, it should probably be that.