The village is situated in the southwestern end of the Popradská kotlina (Poprad Basin) on the northern slopes of the Low Tatras, close to the village Štrba. It was funded by uniting two villages - Nižná Šuňava (Lower Šuňava) and Vyšná Šuňava (Upper Šuňava).
The existence of Lower Šuňava is documented since 1321. At that time a Cistercian abbey in Spišský Štiavnik owned it. Local people were farmers and woodcutters.
The Upper Šuňava arose on the land donated to the king Bohumír from Liptov in 1269. The first written reference about the village comes from the year 1321. In the 14-th century it was owned by the Szentivány family, which decided to give it to the Cartesian monks from Kláštorisko in 1346 (Kláštorisko is situated in the middle of the National Park Slovak Paradise). Later it was owned by the Červený Kláštor (Red Monastery) and by Jesuits.
