Best Cenote Diving Mexico for Scuba Divers

2024-04-30 00:09:16

Have you thought about going cenote diving Mexico?

Best Cenote Diving Mexico for Scuba Divers Check out our favorite cenotes to scuba dive in!

If you’re a certified scuba diver, the cenotes of the Yucatán peninsula need to be on your scuba diving bucket list. These freshwater natural pools, which are dotted throughout the jungle areas of Quintana Roo and the Yucatán are magical places for scuba diving and make a great change from diving in the ocean.

Due to the nature and difficulty of these dives, you need to be a fully certified scuba diver to experience diving in cenotes. Some also have depth requirements too, making them only suitable for advanced open water divers.

In this blog, we’re going to tell you about some of our favorite locations for cenote diving Mexico, that you can check out on your next diving vacation.

Our Favorite Cenote Scuba Diving Locations!

Cenote Dos Ojos

Dos Ojos is one of the more popular and well known for cenote diving in Mexico.

Its name, when translated from Spanish, means two eyes, which is due to the shape of this cenote.
It has two different lines you can dive along, one around each of the eyes. One is called the bat cave, as during the dive you can surface in an air dome which is home to many bats. The other is called the ‘Barbie’ line, for a surprising reason, that you’ll only discover upon diving it!

It features beautiful formations and as it has many openings, the light which pierces through into this cenote makes it visually stunning.

Cenote Chac Mool

Chac Mool is sometimes called ‘Little Brother’ and is usually dived on the same day as its neighboring cenote, Kukulkan.

These two cenotes are great for anyone who only has one day to experience cenote diving on a diving vacation as they offer the best features of cenotes, including hanging stalactites, a visible halocline layer, and an air dome to surface inside. Plus, the light that shines into these cenotes is beautiful to see. Truly a miracle of nature!

Cenote El Pit

As the name might suggest, El Pit is a deep cenote. A seemingly bottomless pit, it goes deep down into the Earth, but you need to be an advanced technical diver to experience that!

For recreational diving at cenote El Pit, you need to be an advanced open water diver, as you descend down to almost 100 feet / 30 meters. This large hole in the ground has an incredible visibility as the water is crystal clear.

Watching the sun rays plunge into the water on a bright morning is something very special that you need to see!

Cenote Angelita

Angelita is another deep cenote. This one has more of a spooky ambiance due to its thick sulphur cloud that rests at around 100 feet / 30 meters deep.

At the cloud layer you’ll swim between fallen trees in a landscape that looks like a haunted underwater forest.

Cenote Dreamgate

Dreamgate cenote is a special dive, available to more experienced cenote divers. It is a little narrower in places, with a few tighter turns. For this reason, you must have good buoyancy when diving in cenote Dreamgate.
The reward is worth it though. Many divers consider this to be the most beautiful of all cenote diving in Mexico, as it is highly covered in needle like stalactites and tall columns which tower from floor to cave ceiling.

Cenote Car Wash

The name of this cenote sounds funny, but it’s because at one point the local taxi drivers of the area used this cenote to wash their cars! Thankfully they no longer do this – but instead the cenote is reserved for us divers.

This cenote has a lot of beautiful flora, and you can swim and see the lily-pads on the water surface.

When it has been raining heavily, this cenote can change colors too! It’s very special to dive through when it has its red hue.

Cenote Eden

Eden is a popular cenote for a daytrip for snorkeling or swimming, but you can also enjoy the scuba diving in its cavern too.

This larger cavern has a lot of rockfall inside, but the most special part is watching the light entering the water from neighboring Cenote Sugarbowl as you swim towards it.

This cenote also features a crazy halocline layer, where you can feel the change in water temperature and visibility in quite a drastic way.



How Does Scuba Diving a Cenote Differ from Diving in the Ocean?

Cenote diving differs from the ocean for a few reasons.

Firstly, cenote diving is fresh water, compared to the salty water of the ocean. This can seem a little odd at first, but it’s nice to not have that salty aftertaste! Plus, the water isn’t as harsh on your dive gear.

Most cenote dives are classed as cavern dives. This means you enter the beginning part of the cave system entering no deeper than 130ft (40 meters) than the cave entrance. You also need to be in sight of the entrance point, so that in case of an emergency situation, you can find your way out by following the light that shines in.

Diving in most cenotes is diving in an overhead environment, meaning you cannot quickly surface in case of emergencies. This means there are stricter protocols when it comes to gas management.

You also need to have good buoyancy to dive in the cenotes, as some can be rather narrow, and we would not want divers to crash into the stalactites and stalagmites that are found inside them, as they have taken many thousands of years to form and will never grow back.



Try Diving in Cenotes With DEEP

If you’re now excited about the thought of trying your first cenote dive (and why wouldn’t you be!?) you need to contact us and make it a reality.

We offer the cenotes listed in this blog - plus others – and can show you the best cenote diving Mexico has to offer!

We can also take you to the ocean for dives in the incredible Mesoamerican reef system, which is the second largest in the world, and even for dives which get you up close with bull sharks.

Contact us today to compile your perfect scuba diving package.

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