Grutas Calcehtok

Excellent, unique experience! Tips on getting there if driving: don’t listen to Google Maps toward the end of the drive - turn when you see the sign “Grutas Calcehtok,” even if Google tells you to keep driving. Then, walk about 300m on the well-marked trail to get to the location where the guides are waiting - if they are not there, you will likely have to wait for them to complete the tour they’re on.

We did the easiest (familiar) tour, which took about 40 minutes and went into the first cave. It was very large and open, with lots of artifacts and sacred sites. The next step up was a 90 minute tour into the second cave, which involved more intense climbing and squeezing through tight spaces. Our guide was fantastic - extremely informative and let us set our level of adventure. Highly recommend!

Off the beaten path!!
PLEASE READ before you go.
Is truly off the beaten path, but, if you can get there, it can be a life time experience. DO NOT come with big city expectations. It is a humble place and a humble operation. Road to it has big pot holes, small signs, no restroom at the location, no infrastructure. What you do have is a pristine raw location years ahead before it becomes a major touristic stop. HIRE THE GUIDE! For two reasons, 1st- The best part is that the guides here are a family who have been running it for decades and are Mayan decedents. 2nd- SAFETY, the place is dark, not marked, slippery and you can easily get hurt if you try to go on your own. Don’t be cheap and stupid, paid for the guide and make sure you TIP them. They will keep you safe and create a life time memory you can share for the rest of your life. You will get dirty, small tight spaces, bring a face mask, there is bats inside.
“The magic is not to find the next amazing place. The magic is to continue to be amazed by the next magical place you find”
Thank you Sergio for keeping us safe and sharing so much of your ancestors.
Muchas gracias Sergio por mantenernos seguros y compartir tanto sobre tus ancestros.

This place was awesome. The guide said he was normally around from 9am to 6pm. At least 2 caves that on site that we saw. When we got there no one was to be seen. So we just hiked up hill to where we thought the caves were. Turns out we were right and found the main cave. We were talking up at the top and the guide calls from in the cave and comes out to says hi. He was just bring down 2 other people and said we could join them. Thankfully he heard us because we would not have been able to go since he was the only person around. But the tour was freaking awesome! Crawled through what was called the birth canal, and man it was a tight fit! About 1.5hr tour for 150 per person. The extreme tour (we unfortunately didn't have time to do it was another 2-3hrs) this place was spectacular, highly recommended it!!!

Great adventure. A tour under the ground abouy the history of the maya. One of the best attractions in Yucatan.

Superb experience!!

The cave is beautiful with crystals and nice limestone formations. You can also watch millions of bats flying out of a cave a sunset.

Jose our guide was full of information about the geological and historical part of the tour. He was very calm, patient and helpful!

We had a really nice afternoon!

BRING OLD OR USED CLOTHES AND SHOES.
PANTS IS BETTER THAN WEARING SHORTS.
NO BELT IS BETTER TOO. BRING DRINKABLE WATER.

Amazing experience, as you are crawling through tiny spaces you will get extremely dirty. Our guide was really nice and gave us all sorts of interesting information about the cave and 2 burial sights. I recommend the extreme route, unless you're claustrophobic. The guides know what they're doing and have been doing this for generations.

Amazing place. We did the ‘intermediate’ tour with Rogelio who was great. 100% recommend him and hiring a guide, as the route in the cave is narrow and not really marked. I’m about 6’ and 210 lbs and I got stuck in the ‘birth canal’ passage - my chest was to big to squeeze through. It was a little unsettling, but Rogelio was very patient. In the end I had to slowly wriggle backwards about 3 m, on my stomach, the way I came. Not recommend for people who are uncomfortable in small spaces. Rogelio didn’t speak any English, but I was fine with my intermediate Spanish and could understand nearly everything he said (he spoke very slowly and clearly which was nice). If you go you are in for a real treat, as the place is very unspoiled and original. Highly recommended!!!

This place is awesome! I did the extreme route and it was definitely not for the faint of heart or claustrophobic. But so worth it. You can choose an easy or intermediate route also. The tour guide was awesome and the stories of the cave both back in Mayan times and more recent were so interesting. Go here!

Excelent guide. Someone there till 20.00 every day.

We did a family tour which lasts 30 minutes. It was perfect for us and our little baby. The guide was really nice and informative. It was a private tour and we only paid 250 pesos. We would highly recommend visiting these grottos.

Very extreme and challenging adventure!!! Loved it!

Really fantastic and cheap caving adventure. Just know, if you have a bigger chest you may not be able to do the most “extreme” route. My GF could not physically make it through the opening. It really depends on how deep your chest is rather than how wide though.

Our guide spoke no English but he was able to phrase things in simple Spanish so that we could understand.

my family went on the basic tour and it was great. tour guide spoke only a little English but it was fun nonetheless. at almost exactly 530 PM everyday, thousands of bats fly out of the cave entrance, it is a sight to behold.

Once in a lifetime, bucket list experience. You will get dirty but totally worth it! It was very accelerating to be so deep underground experiencing darkness like never before. Not for the claustrophobic!

Such an amazing tour! We had a great guide taking us through the smallest of cracks and crevices throughout this massive cave and feeding us lots of historical information. Highly recommended.

Absolutely amazing place.
What you need to know:
It is far off the main road, so you can only get there by car.
The road between Muna and Maxcanu is horrible - full of huge holes. Drive very carefully because at first you might think this is a good road.
The place is rather wild and free from many tourists. There are local guides who barely speak English, but will be able to show you the cave bottom up.
There are many different levels of how you can experience the cave.
Guides offer "Family", "Adventure" and "Extreme" tours.
"Family" means you will see the upper part of the cave, which is huge and open underground space. Most likely, you will not get muddy and will have great impression of the cave. There will be a place where Mayans apparently were fighting with advancing Conquistadors. This part is a beautiful piece of rather untouched nature.
"Adventure" means you will go deeper into the cave's chambers. You will definitely get completely muddy if you go this path. You will have to slide the clay and crawl and even worm through small passages and tunnels. It is great experience, but you need to be careful and appropriately dressed. It is very warm in these caves, because there's a lot of quartz deep down there, so the best outfit is easily washable light sports clothes, but also knee and elbow protectors, as well as helmet would be very helpful (but we managed go through without any of it). Guides will give you flashlights, but that's pretty much all they have.
Inside the caves are a lot of nice natural "sculptures" and minerals as well as some Mayan sculptures.
I would not recommend to go adventure path if you suffer from any sort of claustrophobia. Other than that, go for it but be careful.
"Extreme" tour will involve going deeper and steeper into the cave with ropes and other equipment. We did not do that, so you can try yourself if you are a cave pro.

There are no showers of any kind near the cave. So get plenty of water, towels and spare clothes.

Filipe was a super welcoming guide. Limited English, but we got by. Definitely aim to get there for sunset to see the bats leaving, a very fun experience.

(It also appears that the name has changed so on the drive up we got a touch confused, however we can confirm the google maps location is correct!)

An absolutely awesome place. We had a local guide that spoke no English, but fortunately one of our group could translate. Incredible formations in there, as well as lots of history from the time of the conquistadors.

Don't miss this. Is cheap and you get locals to guide you through, with headlamps will give you a short tour. Probably nicest cave entrance I saw. Try to wait for bats to fly out at sunset.

By far one of our best experiences. Rogelio was such a great guide. Educated us on the history, nature, and secrets the caves hold. There is much more than just a cave it's basically ruins the Mayans left behind. We do everything on our own. The road was dirt and pretty bumpy but our small rental did it no problem. There is no actual charge to enter, you do need a guide and depending on how much time you do in there is the tip you'd pay. We gave him 400 pesos for about 2 hours of exploring.