Diving Cenotes

If you are a diver and you come to Mexico, high on the list of things to do is to dive in a Cenote. A Cenote is basically an underground cave, that is full of water. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands here and can offer a very different diving experience.

The closest and the best (so our dive leader told us) to Playa del Carmen is that of Cenote Chac Mool .

Walking into the jungle with my diving gear and two full wetsuits was a strange experience. I was quickly getting very hot in all this gear and the immense heat. But once I got into the water I could see why the two wetsuits were needed. It was COLD!!

The cenotes are fresh water on the surface, and at some depths that water is salty. The density keeps the salty water at the bottom. Seeing the layers of the different waters is something extraordinary to see and they call this the Halocline zone. It is almost like going into another dimension or timeshift like in Stargate. Almost impossible to capture on film it really is something one needs to experience first hand.

During the dive we surfaced in an air pocket to see stalagmites, stalactites and tree roots. There was a small amount of fresh water fish in the cenotes and we also saw a crayfish. Sometimes you could see beams of sunlight coming into the fresh water and you could see thru to trees above in some patches.

See more pictures here…
Bridgette Gower’s Photostream – Diving Cenotes