Playa del Carmen Cavern Diving in Mayan Riviera - Cenote Diving Mexico

Cenote Diving in Playa del Carmen
WHAT IS A CENOTE?	CENOTE MAP	CENOTE DIVES

WHAT IS A CENOTE?

Playa del Carmen and the Mayan Riviera are located on the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico. The Yucatan was originally under the ocean and the region's limestone foundation is fossilized coral beds and ocean floor. All of the ground water sinks through the porous limestone and travels to the sea in underground rivers. Parts of the limestone weakened over time and collapsed, leaving sinkholes filled with water: a cenote.

During the Ice Age portions of the underground rivers dried up and water dripping through the limestone left mineral deposits in beautiful formations. Decorations - stalactites and stalagmites - formed in the caves and caverns, and were covered with water when the rivers began flowing once again.

Since the 1980s specially trained cave divers enter these cave systems through the cenote entrances exploring and mapping hundreds of Cenotes. The World’s three longest underwater cave systems are located in the Riviera Maya just south of Playa del Carmen under the names:
- OX BEL HA 97 km
- NOHOCH NAH CHICH 61 km
- DOS OJOS 56 km

The cenotes and caverns are located throughout the jungle in the underwater river system to which we have access to over 700 kms of explored diving areas. Nowhere else in the world can you enter such magnificently decorated and spiritually sensitive areas that open a whole new realm to your diving ability and experience. Playa del Carmen makes an excellent base from which to explore these caverns.

Playa del Carmen cenote

In the diving world there are some very strict definitions that separate a cavern/cenote from a cave. This definition has been made to ensure diving safety and enable open water certified divers entry into this beautiful system of staglamites and stalamites.

A cavern dive is NOT a cave dive. The standards and certification requirements for divers in the cenotes is quite a different species and follows different standands to that of cave diving. The standards and definitions of a cavern dive have been clearly outlined by the International Cave Diving Certification agencies.

For diving purposes, the following standards define cavern/cenote dives:
A cavern is any area where there is visible natural light every 200 ft / 60m. Guides for this environment must be qualified and professional full cave certified and can only take a maximum of 4 divers per group. When you go on your first cenote tour, you will be briefed as to the rules of the cenotes which are different from that of open water diving. Equipment is the same except for the use of a cavern light to assist in seeing the detail inherent on your tour. Long suits are recommended as the water temperature is 24 degrees (74 degrees F.)

RIVIERA MAYA CENOTE MAP

Cenote Diving in Playa del Carmen

WHAT IS A CENOTE?

RIVIERA MAYA CENOTE MAP

CENOTE DIVES