What is a Cenote?
The term “cenote” comes from the mayan word “dz´onot” that means cavern with water. They are “holes” in the jungle created by the erosion of the limestone rock that conforms the Yucatan Peninsula.
The sea and rainwater filtered through the porous and soft rock dissolving it and slowly carving tunnels. During the past Ice ages, the sea level drastically decreased, leaving those tunnels empty. Is then when the water, dripping from the ceiling for thousands and thousands of years formed stalactites and stalagmites. Now we are between two Ice ages and the sea level is high again, creating a lens of salt water over what lays the fresh water from the rain filtered from the surface. The constant change in the aquifer level is what allows to have flooded caves with speleothems. The cenotes are the places where the ceiling of the caves, because of the slow but constant action of the water dissolving the rock, couldn’t stand the weight and collapsed. It would be right to say that the cenotes are “windows” to the underground river systems of the Riviera Maya.
There are different classifications for the cenotes, but according to age they can be ancient, cavern, semi-open or open, being the oldest the ones that are widely open to the sky.
The cenotes were sacred places for the mayan culture, and not just because they were the only fresh water source that they had access to, but also because they were the entrance to Xibalba, the underworld, home of the gods of sickness and death, Hun-Camé y Vucub-Camé. Rests of precious metals, like gold or stones such jade and pieces of pottery have been found in the depth of the cenotes, left there as offering to the gods.
Nowadays, thanks to the action of water and time, we have the rare opportunity of diving in these unique places.
Can I do it?
If you are a certified diver, you do.
Open water certification is the minimum required for diving in some of the cenotes. Even if you are not a certified cavern or cave diver you can dive in the cenotes, always staying in the cavern area, where you can see the natural light, without restrictions and not further than 60 m (200 ft) from an exit. Follow these rules and a cave certified guide and enjoy a unique experience that you will never forget.
Join us in a mind-blowing journey through the veins of the Earth!
PRICES
Open Water Level
DOS OJOS
Magic
Level: open water
2 dives
Max. depth: 10 m (33 ft)
The word that pops in your mind the first time you dive this cenote. Crystal-clear water, perfect visibility, countless formations and air bubbles trapped in the ceiling that look like mirrors creating amazing visual effects will confuse your mind and make you feel you are flying in a cave.
With two different lines, Barbie line and Batcave, suitable for all divers with good buoyancy control, Dos Ojos is, without doubts, one of the most popular cenotes.
CHAC MOOL
Submerge in the light
Level: open water
2 dives.
Max. depth: 15 m (50 ft)
Stunning light, formations, halocline, air dome, fossils, mineral crystals, tree roots, and a soft hydrogen sulfide cloud make Chac Mool the perfect choice for the first cavern dive or if you only have one day to enjoy the wonders of the cenotes.
This cenote is known for having, deep in the cave, the biggest stalactite of the area: “The Monster” with a length of 14 m (46 feet).
CARWASH
Underwater garden
Level: open water
1 dive
Max- depth: 15 m (50 ft)
Also known for its mayan name, Aktun Ha (Cave of water) this cenote is a good choice for a photo session. A wide cavern area with big formations and open water area with hundreds of lilies, tannic acid after rainy days that gives an outwordly color to the water and some aquatic life create nice contrasts making this cenote a great background for pictures.
TAJMA HA
Level: open water with good buoyancy control
1 dive
Max. depth: 15 m (50 ft)
Named after the indian mausoleum, the name gives credit to its majesty.
Light effects combined with dark areas, halocline, formations such as the “Pisa Tower”, lots of fossils, catfish, roots, air dome, drastic changes in depth and 3 different cenotes along the line make this cenote a dive you will never forget.
JARDÍN DEL EDÉN
Halocline and light
Level: open water
1 dive
Max. depth: 15 m (50 ft)
A.K.A. Ponderosa, with a wide open water area, wide cavern, awesome light effects, fossils and the strongest halocline in the area that creates unbelievable visual effects, this cenote is a good choice for underwater photographers and those divers who like big spaces.
CASA CENOTE
The mangrove
Level: open water
1 dive
Max. depth: 7 m (24 ft)
With a big open water area is the perfect cenote for new divers and not big fans of overhead environments. Combine it with a traverse under the mangrove where you dive under its roots and you have a very special cavern dive.
Being connected with the sea through a cave, this cenote becomes a unique environment, for fresh and salt water animals looking for shelter and food.
With a little bit of luck you can find Pancho, the resident crocodile, sunbathing on top of the rocks.
Advanced Level
THE PIT
Beyond infinity
Level: advanced
1 dive
Max. depth: 30 m (100 ft)
Diving The Pit is diving in a dream. Start your dive with a free fall descend in the open water area of the cenote, crossing the halocline and stopping at 30 m (100 ft) above a hydrogen sulfide cloud with dry trees coming out of it. Continue the dive with a multilevel ascend where we will show you prehistoric animal bones, formations and pieces of mayan pottery. Sometimes, if we are lucky, we get to see the freshwater eel, the cenote´s keeper for the ancient mayan culture. The Pit is the deepest cave in Quintana Roo reaching almost 120 m (400 ft) in the cave area.
ANGELITA
Tim Burton’s world
Level: advanced
1 dive.
Max. depth: 30 m (100 ft)
Nitrox recommended
Take a free-fall descend to 30 m (100 ft) to reach the thick hydrogen sulfide cloud, product of the organic matter in decomposition to see an unbelievable scenery, with dry trees coming out of the gas cloud, perfect for a Tim Burton´s movie.
Cross the 2 m (6 ft) cloud to find more dry trees that felt from the surface a long time ago. After a few minutes we´ll go back above the cloud, the highlight of this dive. On the way up to the surface we will penetrate in a short passage to see some bird bones and see some formations.
DREAM GATE
The Alux´s realm
Level: advanced, experienced divers
2 dives
Max. depth: 6 m (20 ft)
Buoyancy control and good trim are mandatory
Diving in Dream Gate you can feel the living presence of the cave. Thousands of stalactites, stalagmites and columns covering the ceiling, floor and walls make this dives the best option for experienced divers who want to see formations.
ZAPOTE
Hell´s Bells
Level: advanced and experienced divers
1 dive
Max. depth: 30 m (100 ft)
Nitrox recommended
This bottle shaped cenote has a kind of formations you have never imagined: bell-shaped, structures that keep growing underwater. Conditions for its growth are pretty special and difficult to find. Scientists have recently discovered that these speleothems grow in a dark environment in fresh water laying above a body of salt water in an oxygen-depleted zone rich in sulfide.
Descend through a narrow neck to 30 m (100 ft) where the cenote opens to find a ring from teeny-tiny to Volkswagen Beetle-sized bells. A mind-blowing dive.
What to learn more about the formation of the Hell´s bells? Check this article.
MARAVILLA
Immensity
Level: advanced
1 dive
Max. depth: 30 m (100 ft)
Nitrox recommended
Located in La Ruta de los Cenotes, Puerto Morelos, this huge cenote is the delight of underwater photographers and freedivers. Don´t allow its small opening to confuse you. Under the surface the cenote opens in a wide cylinder with a thick hydrogen sulfide cloud at 30 m (100 ft), some bell-shaped biothemes and the biggest light beam of all.
NICTE HA
The Alux´s realm
Level: advanced
1 dive
Max. depth: 6 m
Diving in Dream Gate you can feel the living presence of the cave. Thousands of stalactites, stalagmites and columns covering the ceiling, floor and walls make this dives the best option for experienced divers who want to see formations.
And we’ll help you find the right experience!