"How are we going to get down there with our tanks?" ask Vicky. We are looking down a steep flight of steps to a dark blue pool in a hole in the Mexican jungle. This is a cenote, a cave in the Yucatan limestone whose roof has collapsed creating a fresh water pool. In the past these were an essential source of water for local Mayans. Now they are also playgrounds for cavern divers.
One of our reasons for coming to Mexico in November 2025 is to explore these extraordinary dive sites. The cenotes of the Yucatan are world famous and include some of the largest cave systems in the world. Many of these can only be explored by trained cave divers with the side mounted tanks, helmets and lamps along with experience of following lines through twists and turns underground. There are also much larger caverns where specialist training is not necessary. The deeper ones are still quite spooky - I found it reminiscent of some of the deeper and darker dives that I have done in the UK. In November some caves have cloudier water as the rain washes in sediments but we still find some crystal clear water. Temperatures are around 24-25C so we opt for 5mm wetsuits and hoods. After some online research I arrange our diving with Koox Diving who look after us very well.
The Pit cenote, Vicky and Victor descend
Other divers descending, Vicky admires stalactites on the wall
following Victor along the wall
We have opted to stay north of Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya which turns out to be a mistake as everything that we want to do is miles to the south. Victor picks us up in Playa and we drive South for 40 minutes to Dos Ochos - a huge cave system explored in 1989 after being discovered in the jungle in 1984. Our first dive is The Pit. Steep steps lead down to the water (above). Victor gallantly carries Vicky's tank down and briefs us on the basics. Notify your leader when you have used 1/3 of your air and again at 2/3. Keep together - one in front of the other - although I am given some license to take photos. Once we have sorted out weights - we have new 5mm wetsuits and it is fresh water - we drop quite quickly as the cavern opens up like a cathedral. At about 14m we hit the halocline and the water goes oily with fresh water above and denser salt water below. We keep descending to 28m where we reach a ledge. The cavern goes on down to 78m but this is deep enough for us! The water is very clear and our torches light up the walls which we follow up. We find some small side caves and stalactite formations. After 40 mins we are back at 5m for our safety stop. Vicky drops her torch but fortunately it lands on a ledge and I retrieve it. Soon we are back at the surface. Victor clips Vicky's tank and BC to a rope and it is hauled up as we climb back up the steps and take our kit off by the car.
Leaving the entrance to Dos Ochos, Vicky looking relaxed
Following the line, Light from the second 'eye' as we circuit the cave
It is a short drive from The Pit to Dos Ochos and we sit in the back of the pickup in our wetsuits to keep the seats dry! The main Dos Ochos site is more touristy with a gift shop and snorkellers in the two pools. This is an entry level cavern dive so it is more crowded with divers. There are some very serious dives from here but we follow the 'Barbie line' at depths of 5-8 metres. Lots of rock formations - stalactites and stalacmites, pillars and boulders. As we pass the second pool there are beautiful shafts of light penetrating the cave. We pass other groups of divers pretty easily and Victor points out things to see as well as no go areas for untrained divers as we make the circuit. A great first day's introduction to caves.
Angelita cenote, Elisa briefing us
Vicky above the sulphide layer, giant stalactite
Elisa floating in space
For our second day of cenote diving, Victor is replaced by Elisa - an experienced Brazilian cave diver who has just joined Koox. Angelita cenote is south of Tulum and close to the main road. A local couple run the site and it is full of rescue dogs and budgies. We enter the water from an easy platform and soon we are quickly dropping down the huge cavern. The water is quite murky nearer the surface but clears as we descend. At 30m we reach the extraordinary sulphide cloud and an island with tree trunks. We are floating in a giant cylinder, rather spookily hovering over the cloud. You can drop through the cloud but we choose to stay above. The cave descends below to 77m! We work our way back up and around the wall, stopping to admire a giant stalactite and then to swim through a small cave. Soon we are back at the surface and warming up in the hot sunshine.
Car Wash pond life, exploring the cave
Car Wash rock formations, swim through
Our last cavern dive is another very popular one - known as 'Car Wash' as the cenote is close to the road and apparently it was just that for a while. There are a couple of groups learning to cave dive when we arrive, all kitted up with equipment for cave penetration. We wonder whether this has become more popular after the spectacular films of the rescue in Thailand. Not as shallow as Dos Ochos but a similar dive following a line through wide passages to a max depth of 16m. Pretty pond weed and fishes along with a couple of turtles as we establish our bouyancy. Both ends of the pool have cave entrances. We pick one and follow a gently descending line. More boulders and rock formations. A shelf with shards of pottery - almost certainly not old! A very scenic dive.
A couple of days later we dive the reef at Cozumel. Very different from cenotes and not as unique. However we are pleasantly surprised by the quality of the coral and abundance of fishes including two huge turtles and a couple of nurse sharks. While the reef is very pretty I would recommend more adventurous divers to try the caverns - quite a special experience.
Back into the main pool at Car Wash