WELCOME TO THE CENOTE
Enter the Mayan Underworld
Mexico, especially the Yucatan Peninsula, is a magical and unique place where you can live an unforgettable diving experience in discovering the Cenotes.
The Cenotes (from the Mayan dz’onot) are sinkholes filled with fresh water, and up to several tens of meters deep. Located in the heart of the jungle, the majority of Cenotes are connected to the Sea. This creates a unique phenomenon know as a “halocline” . This is where you have freshwater laying on top of saltwater. Due to the differences in density, the two waters do not mix.
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Stalactites and Stalagmites, are the geological formations that decorate huge chambers for crystal clear water. Cenotes will bring you back in time and connect you to an ancient past, that will let you imagination carry you away and beyond.
Mayans believed the Cenote’s where means of communication with their Gods. The name the ancient Mayan’s gave to the Cenote was “Xibalba” which means gateway the the underworld.
Recreational diver’s can dive in the cavern sections of the Cenote, providing they have a minimum of a PADI Open Water certification or equivalent. All guides are specially trained Technical Cave Diver’s. Yucatan supervised by specially trained. They will ensure your safety and explain all the safety rules specific to your dives.
Dive Cenote
DIVE SITES
- Kin-Ha(100ft+)
- Zapote(100ft+)
- Chac-Mool(45ft)
- Kukulcan(45ft)
- Chikin-Ha(45ft)
- Eden(40ft)
- Tajma-Ha(50ft)
- Dos Ojos – Barbie Line(22ft)
- Dos Ojos- Bat Cave(30ft)
- The Pit(100ft+)
- Dream Gate(22ft)
- Calavera(45ft)
- Gran Cenote(40ft)
- Carwash(25ft)
- Angelita(100ft+)
SCHEDULE
Cenote
8:30am – 4:00pm
- 8:30am: Meeting point at the diving center to check your equipment.
- 8:45am: Departure by transportation to the Cenotes (journey time between 30 – 75 minutes)
- 10:00 – 2:15pm: 2 dives with snacks during surface interval interval
- 2:15pm: Meal at a local restaurant
- 4pm: Arrival at the diving center
Ratio:
- 1 fully certified cave/cavern guide to 4 certified divers max
PREREQUISITES
Open Water Divers:
Can dive to a maximum 18m / 60ft
Advanced Divers:
Can dive to a maximum 30m / 100ft
Other Divers:
Subject to experience level
INCLUDED
- 2 Cenote dives
- Tanks and Weights
- Light
- Water and snacks between the dives
- Lunch in a local Restaurant
Rental Equipment:
- BCD ($5 USD)
- Regulator ($5 USD)
- Wetsuit ($5 USD)
- Full Set ($15 USD)
What you have to bring:
- Towels
- Swim suit
TOP DIVE SITES
CHAC - MOOL
- Depth (m): 14
- Depth (ft): 45
- Dive Time: 50 min
- Type of Dive: Cavern
- Difficulty: Easy
There are 3 different water entrance to Chac-Mool system.
On the side entrance we have Little Brother cenote and Kukulkan cenote.
In the main entrance we can access directly at the Dome Room. Here a portion of the ceiling has collapsed under an air dome where the divers can surface and admire a lot of beautiful stalactites and some fossils. In Kukulkan side, in sunny days, we have an amazing light show.
Chac-Mool is one of the caverns which has halocline , means where salt and fresh water come together and creating visual effects.
With its big rooms and maximum depth of 12 meters/36 feet , is a perfect place for the novice cavern divers. Chac-Mool also offer penetration for cave divers, is in cave diving where we can find the largest underwater stalactite in the world.
KUKULCAN
- Depth (m): 14
- Depth (ft): 45
- Dive Time: 40
- Type of Dive: Cavern
- Difficulty: Easy
Cenote Kukulkan is also part of the Chac Mool System and the entrance is a few hundred feet away from Cenote Chac Mool.
Kukulkan, means “Feathered Serpent” and is the name of the Maya snake deity. In Chichen Itza you can find a sculpture of Kukulkan at the base of the west face of the northern stairway.
The entrance to the Cenote is through a beautiful, crystal clear turquoise blue pond. The dive passes through a huge cavern that surrounds the Cenote. Curtains of light pass and light up the whole entrance on sunny days. Also, at about 10 meters / 30 feet, you will encounter the halocline. If you shine your light where the salt and freshwater meet, it will create amazing reflections on the walls of the cavern due to the halocline.
ANGELITA
- Depth (m): 30 +
- Depth (ft): 100 +
- Dive Time: 35 min
- Type of Dive: Cavern
- Difficulty: Medium
This cenote (its name meaning « Little Angel ») is located 10 miles South away from Tulum. It is a well that has a thick sulfuric cloud from which emerge very beautiful trees and a small half-moonlike island. As soon as you go under the hydrogen sulfide cloud, you find seawater, where in the dark, as light is being trapped into the cloud. This dive is reserved to experienced divers due to the required buoyancy control and depth control to insure safety
THE PIT
- Depth (m): 30 +
- Depth (ft): 100 +
- Dive Time: 40 min
- Type of Dive: Cavern
- Difficulty: Medium
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The Pit is one of the only deep cenotes, about 40 meters.
Very similar to “Angelita”, the descent is done in blue. After a few minutes, in the area of 28 meters, we saw a strange cloud of sulphate covering the bottom, this is not very dense cloud so we can cross safely.
During the ascent, at 14 meters, you will see two entrances to some galleries, one of which binds to the site of “Dos Ojos”.
A little higher, at around 10 meters, we continue diving with a view from the roof on a stunning cylinder of light, along with geological formations. Back to the safety stop, water clarity cloud over backlit leaves us perceive intense sunshine, allowing us to experience the magic of the dive just perform again.
DOS OJOS
- Depth (m): 9
- Depth (ft): 30
- Dive Time: 50 min
- Type of Dive: Cavern
- Difficulty: Easy
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Dos Ojos (from Spanish meaning “Two Eyes”; officially Sistema Dos Ojos) is part of a flooded cave system located north of Tulum. The exploration of Dos Ojos began in 1987 and still continues. The surveyed extent of the cave system is 82 kilometers (51 mi)[1] and there are 28 known sinkhole entrances, which are locally called cenotes. In January 2018, a connection was found between Sistema Dos Ojos and Sistema Sac Actun.[2] The smaller Dos Ojos became a part of Sac Actun, making the Sistema Sac Actun the longest known underwater cave system in the world
In this cenotes, you will meet 2 different lines named “Barbie lines” and “Bat cave” with his famous dome. The cool, crystal waters offer an experience that sets this cenote aside from all others with stunning, blue light streaming down from the two ‘eyes’ of Dos Ojos into the large, decorated caverns.
TAJMA - HA
- Depth (m): 15
- Depth (ft): 50
- Dive Time: 50 min
- Type of Dive: cavern
- Difficulty: Easy / Medium
Taj Mahal came form its natural grace of perfection and grandeur of rock formations, haloclines, light effects and fossils making this Cenote an exceptional dive.
This cavern offers the diver all the specific characteristics of this kind of dive: a dense halocline, light effects, beautiful fossils, limestone vaults and domes specific to the region, ceiling collapses, tannic acid and speleothems.
The entry and exit points are like windows providing amazing rays of sunlight. As you continue the cavern dive, you will pass thru another three Cenotes; Cenote Sugar Bowl, Cenote Room of Lights and Cenote Esmeralda.
DREAMGATE
- Depth (m): 6
- Depth (ft): 20
- Dive Time: 50 min
- Type of Dive: Cavern
- Difficulty: Medium
Dream Gate, the name says it all…. Part of the Sac Aktun system, this is probably one of the most decorated Cenotes in the Riviera Maya. Dreamsgate is very famous thanks to several documentaries produced by the BBC.
There are two Cavern Lines in Dream Gate. This is one of the Cenotes with the most amount of stalactite and stalagmite in the Riviera Maya! Filled with delicate speleothems and large amounts of silt, divers must have excellent buoyancy control to dive this Cenote and is at the discretion of the Dive Guide.
CHIKIN - HA
- Depth (m): 15
- Depth (ft): 50
- Dive Time: 50 min
- Type of Dive: Cavern
- Difficulty: Easy
Located 25 Km from Playa del Carmen, is the first cenote in a system that connects several cenote trough more than 10 km of underwater passages.
During the dive we move in the direction of Raibow Cenote and once we reach a depth of about 10 meters/33 feet strange visual effects can be seen, cause the fresh and salt water start to mix; we call that halocline. Moving close to the surface we can find a lot of roots of many plants searching for the water and creating an underground jungle.
Incredible displays of light pouring in through the high ceilings, gliding through the hazy veil of the halocline and exploring the nooks and crannies of the limestone for crystal treasures make Chikin Ha an unforgettable diving experience.
MORE ADVENTURES
Location
Hotel “The Reef 28”Calle 28 Nte y Calle Cozumel,77710, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
(+52 1) 984 168 9693 – WhatsApp
mail@thereefdiveshop.com