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Cuevas de Actún Kan

Guatemala Guatemala Cave

Actún Can

26 °C inside, all year.

See the descentHow to visit

Eduardo Góngora · CC BY-SA 4.0

The descent

The entrance, at 149 m.

The real relief above Actún Can, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance281 m1.0 kmvertical × 12.8depth not publishedEntrance281 m1.0 kmvertical × 27.8

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

149m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

26°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

118m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

26 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 26 °C here, in January and in August. In April the afternoon reaches 36 °C at the entrance, 10 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from February to October.

outside, at the entrance (149 m)inside
  1. 27°18°Jan
  2. 30°19°Feb
  3. 33°20°Mar
  4. 36°22°Apr
  5. 35°24°May
  6. 30°23°Jun
  7. 30°23°Jul
  8. 30°23°Aug
  9. 29°23°Sep
  10. 28°22°Oct
  11. 27°20°Nov
  12. 26°18°Dec
Inside: 26 °C all yearEscape the heat: Feb–OctWettest: Jun, Aug–Oct

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Park located in the town of Santa Elena de la Cruz, featuring a series of caves

Actún Can is a cave in Guatemala. The entrance is at 149 m.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
  • Floresnearest town · 2.2 km in a straight line
  • Sunset placenearest viewpoint · 2.9 km from the entrance
  • Mundo Maya International Airport (FRS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 3 km in a straight lineCar hire at FRS airport (San Benito)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at FRS airport (San Benito)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Actún Can (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 1viewpoints within 3 kmSunset place
  • 10car parks within 2 km
  • 79hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHotel Sabana, Hotel Casa Azul, Hospedaje Doña Gladys and 76 more
  • 45restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • other cave entrances within 3 km
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • marked hiking routes within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • campsites within 8 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Flores2.2 km in a straight line
  • San Benito2.9 km in a straight line
  • San Andrés7.5 km in a straight line
  • San José9.0 km in a straight line
  • San Francisco12 km in a straight line
  • Santa Ana13 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Actún Can.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Lakeyas1 lakes within 10 km
Laguna Exequil1.9 km² · 8.8 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon273033363530303029282726
Afternoon273033363530303029282726
Night181920222423232323222018
Rain (mm)88514641137263171224275247148109
Rainy days138761324242626221615
Sun hours/day5.46.47.37.87.06.16.46.86.35.96.15.6
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan272718885.4
Feb303019516.4
Mar333320467.3
Apr363622417.8
May3535241377.0
Jun3030232636.1
Jul3030231716.4
Aug3030232246.8
Sep2929232756.3
Oct2828222475.9
Nov2727201486.1
Dec2626181095.6

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (149 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Cuevas de Actun Kan
Jadikimberly · CC BY-SA 4.0
Entrada a las Cuevas de Actún Kan
Eduardo Góngora · CC BY-SA 4.0
Entrada a las grutas de Actun Kan
Jadikimberly · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020121%94%49%96%168%136%56%143%120%96%271%102%
2021111%61%183%91%100%83%90%76%90%101%63%75%
2022138%131%236%219%120%93%98%147%124%70%153%103%
202369%118%77%7%19%36%146%42%61%41%162%143%
202480%28%22%39%14%132%115%83%51%115%87%86%
2025110%165%41%46%19%95%39%57%90%76%148%191%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Actún Can

Guatemala

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 149 mEntrance altitude
  • 26 °CInside, all year

Naj Tunich

Guatemala · 96 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 565 mEntrance altitude
  • 23 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Actun Tunichil Muknal

Belize · 112 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 110 mEntrance altitude
  • 26 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Barton Creek Cave

Belize · 105 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 85 mEntrance altitude
  • 26 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q4677861) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit