Cenotes - Riviera Maya
Cancun arrival airport The Riviera Maya extends along the Caribbean coast, in the eastern part of the Yucatan peninsula. It includes the area that goes from Puerto Morelos to the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. In what were once fishing villages, today a tourist corridor is built that offers luxury hotels and resorts, hostels, apartments and holiday rentals, restaurants, nightlife for all tastes and budgets. This corridor is, without doubt, one of the best destinations for vacationing worldwide. It shelters some of the most beautiful and extensive beaches of Mexico, famous for its white and fine sand, caressed by the characteristic turquoise blue sea of the Caribbean.
Diving For many of us Hispanics it is new to dive in other places that are not sea, because the accessibility to our caribbean and pacific seas is very easy to our climate, all year round, but in general it is possible to dive in any place with water, call pool, lake, lagoon and in this case cenotes that are nothing but holes with fresh or fresh water without strong currents, waves and are like a natural pool but in the middle of the Yucatecan jungle.
Diving in Cenotes (from the maya dzonoot: 'hole with water') In Mexico throughout the peninsula of Yucátan are located these cenotes and between Cancun and Playa del Carmen we find a small route of deep cenotes such as, 7 Bocas, Holbox, Kin ha, Zapote in Puerto Morelos, then between Playa del Carmen and Tulum we find the most cenote systems, many of them with underwater interconnection through caves (some not all), now being between Playa del Carmen and Tulum you will find the rest of tourist cenotes and accessible from the opew water diver or snorkelers, the most named and accessible They are:
NOMBRE CLASIFICACION NIVEL CARACTERISTICA
Chacmool Cenote Normal owd luz + y formación
Cristalino, Cenote Normal snorkel no buzos
Azul, Cenote Normal snorkel no buzos
Chikinha, Cenote Normal owd Caverna amplia
Jardín del Eden,Cenote Normal owd Luz y formaciones
Tajma ha, Cenote Intermedio Adv Luz ++ y formación
Dos ojos, Cenote Normal owd Formación ++, Fosíl
Nicte ha, Cenote Normal Adv Luz ++ formacion +jardin subacuatico
Pit, Cenote Especial Adv profundo, luz, nube, huesos, cerámica.
Pet cementery, Cenote Especial snorkel no habilitado buzos.
Dream gates, Cenote intermedio Adv muy decorado, frágil
Casa cenote, Cenote Normal dsd, owd, Abierto - Mangle
Calavera, Cenote intermedio Adv Fosíl – haloclina ++
Gran cenote, Cenote intermedio Cavern Formación – Luz
Carwash, Cenote Normal owd Formación – Luz ++
Angelita, Cenote Especial Adv Nube ++ Misterioso
Puerto Morelos
7 bocas Cenote Especial Adv Profundo – Nube+++
Holbox Cenote Normal Adv Profundo
Kin ha Cenote Normal Adv profundo – nube
Zapote Cenote Especial Adv Profundo –formación especial++nube+
We go by land, so in the morning we pass by the teams, tanks (7 to 7:45 am), pick up of the divers (8am and 10 maximum, to enjoy the landscapes of cenoteros light) we go (from 30 45 min) depending on the level of the diver to the cenote ideal for your experience, this depends on buoyancy, certification level and comfort in the water and according to the experience of the diver are normal, intermediate or special cenotes, after arriving at the site , pay tickets and make the registration of the divers we carry for each guide, we make a basic tour for the visitor to identify and locate in the place, parking, bathrooms, dressing rooms (if any) and the tour is done presenting the cenote , some have access by stairs are these stone or wood, others are small roads in the jungle with some rocks and ups and downs should be walked with caution and more if you carry equipment weight.
Depending on the time of the year there may be more or less mosquitoes, humidity, spiders and things of the jungle and there the beauty of the experience begins, birdsong, see iguana lizards, some have peacocks, turtles, flower colors, coati , monkeys among other animals and in this tour the visitor will know what is his route from the car to the cenote when he is with his team, each diver will assemble and assemble his scuba equipment and walk with the post to the water accesses and there the guide will make the underwater tour (vary according to cavern line between 30 min to 50 min maximum by immersion) and immersion through * stalactites, * stalactites, fossils of thousands of years, and underwater light landscapes, archaeological remains, clouds of tannic acid, sulfur, haloclines and all the wonders that are unique to each cenote.
Diving in Cenotes is a dive of sensations, contrasts of light, transported to the history and evolution of the earth itself. Then a surface interval, time to hydrate, snack, change equipment between 30 min to 1 hour according to the profile of diving and taste of the client (or if we have 3 dives) in this way with a personalized service inside and outside the water you will enjoy Just from a dive in a cenote, you will have a unique experience of being DIVING IN THE MAYA RIVIERA! It is important to be out of the cavern or water before 3pm, after this time since we have less sunlight and are not cave dives and without special training you go into extra risks that are not necessary for you.
There are no more beautiful or less beautiful cenotes, each one has its own qualities of access, training, sub-aquatic accommodation, level of complexity, delicate decoration, unique landscapes, so each is not a particular experience, unique and unforgettable, it is difficult to compare a dive in cenotes with another type of immersion, if it is difficult to compare cenotes with each other? It is nothing that you can compare with sea, lakes or lagoons !, they are natural wonders that sadly "do not have much time left" due to pollution, lack of conservation, tourist over-exploitation of the area (hotel developments on a larger scale) and overpopulation not to mention tourism developments NOT SUSTAINABLE, not eco-friendly. If you have the opportunity to dive two or three days you can already get an idea of cenotes in the area, if you dive a single day because you will have pleasant memories, however, you will lose unique dives on the planet and that perhaps in some years they will no longer exist or be inaccessible! (prices, pollution, surcharges of divers).
About the underwater photos, they are beautiful memories if! But: if I am your guide, it is forbidden to take photos during your dive, the priority is in your safety and that of the underwater group, there are many risks that you are not aware of, in addition if you are not "good" in buoyancy and knowledge of your camera it is better that you forget this and enjoy your diving, the moment the dive itself and take mental and unforgettable photographs, it turns out that by playing with your go pro and without good buoyancy to harm the environment, attempt against your safety and that of the group (if you are) you also damage your photo or your video, the cavern is very dark and you need equipment with enough light we speak of 1200 lumens at least or more so that your images can be appreciated, a planning and extra signals so please for your own enjoyment, evaluate if you can or can not do it and do not make me go through the bad moment of not letting you take the pictures, be responsible for you, for the people in the dive and for me, If I see a risk for you or the environment, the photo goes to the last place !.
There are countless other cenotes that do not have cavern access for recreational levels, there are many more that are only for cave divers with their training, equipment and certification with either back-mount, side-mount or CCR, even more levels gas technicians, cave decompression etc ...
Now let's talk about the rest of cenotes of the peninsula, although cavern tourism there are about 15, in all Yucátan talk about a satellite scan of 8000 approximately, but some are impossible to reach since there are no roads, or are very far from the roads ... for these are special expeditions of exploration and requires levels of full cave, advanced full cave, vertical handling (ropes descent climb), survival, planning, logistics and special permits to get to visit or dive in them, in addition to the authorization from the owner of the property are all private so invading space that belongs to someone can take you unpleasant moments, always hire a spele - guide who knows where and with whom to talk, how to get there and you will not be in trouble.
Near Merida we have another group of cenotes, mostly deep ones with difficult but possible access to the tourist (adv - rescue, descent and ascent), but much more virgin and with their Mayan culture more intact, more rural locations and caserios where Most of them only speak Maya, so it is a different experience less commercial and more rustic, more of local interaction and you must have more time, you require at least 3 days to be and sleep in the area, travel, diving is a total immersion in the world and Mayan waters, experience only according to group, planning and management of advances.
* ESTALACTITA is a speleothem that is formed as a result of continuous mineral deposits transported by water that is normally filtered in a cave, although not always, especially those of calcium bicarbonate that precipitate in calcium carbonate and deposited forming the stalactite
* ESTALAGMITA is a type of speleotema deposit of minerals that are formed by chemical precipitation that is formed in the soil of a limestone cave due to the decanting of solutions and the deposition of calcium carbonate. The corresponding formation on the roof of a cave is known as stalactite. If these formations grow enough to meet, the result is called a column or pillar.
* HALOCLIN In the cenotes of Yucatan, it is common for the seawater to penetrate the underground river systems, producing a halocline (change of salinity of water, therefore of visibility between fresh and salt water) that can appear between 10 and 60 m depth, depending on the distance to the coast and the topography of the karst system itself.
