Visiting the Riviera Maya for diving opens up many opportunities. Many underwater adventures await you around Playa del Carmen and the nearby areas. Whether you are an experienced diver or have just completed your open water divers certification, there are great dives for everyone.
Avid divers and those looking to become one, choose this destination for dive travel as it offers not only astonishing reef dives.
Because of the local Cenotes, freshwater-filled caverns surrounded by lush jungle, many divers decide to visit the Yucatan Peninsula.
But what if you just completed your open water certification, can you join a dive in the Cenotes? Yes, you can!
In this blog, we will give you detailed information about the best Cenote dives for open water divers. We will share detailed information about our 2 favorite Cenotes for recreational divers. Those are perfect dive sites for a first-time Cenote dive, offering to explore the overhead environments.
Cenotes for Open Water Divers
The variety of Cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula is huge. You can find deep and shallow Cenotes, some with massive cavern areas, some with only a tiny opening, and enormous collapses allowing access to freshwater caverns & caves.
There are some requirements for a Cenote to be safe for open water divers. It must count with a comfortable entry zone and natural light visible throughout the dive. A cavern dive for recreational divers has to be big enough to fit two divers comfortably next to each other at any point. So-called restrictions are prohibited for open water divers or any other recreational diver.
Also, any Cenote dive for sport divers must be prepared with a permanent guideline that has to be followed throughout the dive. A group of visiting divers can not dive off the cavern guideline, as it marks the path through the cavern and guides us back to the exit safely. At no point throughout the dive can a group be further than 60 meters from the closest exit.
The following Cenotes count with all these features and some offer two different dives with easy logistics.
You can admire impressive dripstone formations, dive through some darker tunnels, and more. These dive sites promise a mindblowing adventure for any open water diver while being easy to dive.
Divers need to be in control of buoyancy, propulsion, and air consumption during any Cenote dive. They can not rely on the guide to help them with their buoyancy during their dive.
Cenote Dos Ojos
Maximum Depth: 7 Meters
Dive Time: 45 Minutes approx.
Water Temperature: 25°C/77°F
The famous Dos Ojos Cenote (translates to “two eyes Cenote” in English) lies within the Dos Ojos Cenote Park, near Tulum. It features two huge sinkholes with access to the freshwater-flooded cave system Sac Actun.
The first dive here is called the “Barbie Line”. Its cavern zone is fairly easy to dive into, with natural light access and few depth changes. This makes it a great Cenote dive for open water divers.
Divers can admire huge walls covered in dripstone decorations, beautiful light play while crossing through the second Cenote, and more. It’s like diving into the past of Mother Earth.
The second dive here leads through the “Bat Cave”. Starting the cenote dive, the dive guide leads his group through a huge, darker room with little natural light. Here divers are often surprised to see the massive dripstone columns that reach all the way from the roof to the ground. The ground is covered by fine sediment, so be careful not to stir up the silt for following divers.
After you follow the guideline through the first cavern room, you’ll enter the bat cave area.
Here you dive around an air dome, in which the guide eventually asks you to surface. Being so close to a surface area makes this Cenote dive ideal for open water divers.
This air dome is called the bat cave. Inside the air dome, you can view hundreds of stalactites reaching from the roof, as well as dozens of bats flying around or resting head-down from the top. Finally, you will leave the bat cave, descend back to the cavern guideline, and finish the dive where you initially entered – at Cenote Dos Ojos.
Cenote Garden of Eden
Maximum Depth: 15 Meters
Dive Time: 45 Minutes approx.
Water Temperature: 25°C/77°F Freshwater, 27-28°C/80-82°F in Saltwater
One of our favorite Cenotes for open water divers is the Cenote Garden of Eden, also known as Cenote Ponderosa. It’s close to Playa del Carmen and offers a huge and shallow open water diving area, ideal even for snorkeling, recreational diving courses, side-mount courses, refresher dives, and more.
Its cavern area is wide and divers follow their guide along a nearly straight line for the first minutes without depth changes. The dive leads from Cenote Garden of Eden through a massive tunnel to the nearby Cenote Corral. The natural light shining into the water makes a unique scenery and background to remember for a lifetime.
Cenote Corral is not open to the public, therefore you won’t find swimmers or snorkelers here. It features a little mangrove island and is surrounded by lush jungle vegetation growing into the sinkhole. You can only visit Cenote Corral by diving the Cenote Garden of Eden cavern line.
Upon arriving at Cenote Corral, the dive continues and it becomes a little deeper, reaching into the halocline. Due to the different densities of salt and fresh water present in this dive, they don’t mix but rather create a unique layer of separation. Diving through this layer causes the visibility to become blurry. But no worries, it clears back up once you’re fully submerged in the salt water.
The water temperature rises as well, as the saltwater is a bit warmer than the fresh water above. After reaching their turn-pressure, the whole group turns around and dives back along the guideline to the entry point of the dive in Cenote Garden of Eden.
Cenote Chikin Ha
Maximum Depth: 14 Meters
Dive Time: 45 Minutes approx.
Water Temperature: 25°C/77°F
The Cenote Chikin Ha Park features three Cenotes. During the dive day here you get to see two of them. Cenote Chikin Ha, and Cenote Rainbow. The dive starts at Cenote Chikin Ha, entering the water with a great rock overhang. Your dive guide will lead the dive along the guideline to descend to a depth of approximately 14 meters in the first dive. No major depth changes are made, which makes this a great Cenote dive for open water divers.
At this depth, you can observe a slight halocline. The phreatic rock-bedding is covered by silt, so be aware of your finning technique.
During the first dive, you will cross through a huge tunnel to eventually arrive at Cenote Rainbow. Upon ascending you can observe the sun shining through the surface and creating some light fraction. This causes different colors to be visible on the surface and justifies Cenote Rainbows’ name.
The second dive here passes through a different area of the cavern zone between Cenote Chikin Ha and Rainbow. Even passing through the same huge tunnel, you’ll be able to view different formations, some sea-urchin fossils, and other parts of the cavern.
During both dives divers can surface at Cenote Rainbow and admire the beautiful scenery this Cenote offers. It’s regularly used for Mayan ceremonies. You can really feel the magic vibe present at Cenote Rainbow.
After surfacing, your dive guide will lead you back to your entry point at Cenote Chikin Ha, where you finish the dive.
Recommendations for Open Water Divers During Cenote Dives
As tempting as it might be, if you have never dived at a Cenote before we recommend leaving the camera or GoPro behind. At least for the first dive. Cenote dives are challenging, especially for newer divers. Submerging yourself into an overhead environment and cavern for a dive requires total focus.
There’s not a lot of room for errors, and open water divers should be aware of their dive guide, buoyancy, and tank pressure at all times. If you haven’t dived for a while, we recommend doing a check-out dive before your first Cenote dive.
Don’t bring gloves, snorkels, or dive knives to a Cenote dive. They’re not allowed in Cenotes! (And you will unlikely need a snorkel in a cavern)
Ensure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, your Cenote guide will be happy to clarify any doubts you might have before your first dive in an overhead environment.
All in all, there are plenty of options for open water divers to dive Cenotes in Mexico. It’s important to assess your experience level to choose the correct Cenote for diving. This is mainly to make sure you stay safe and can fully enjoy the dive.
Daily Cenote Tours With BlueLife Diving
Here at BlueLife, we offer daily Cenote trips to the most beautiful and impressive Cenotes along the Riviera Maya. Our professional and experienced Cenote dive guides ensure divers safety during Cenote dives and set all logistics for you. For beginner divers, check out our Beginner Cenote Package!
We will find the right dive for you to enjoy, according to your preference, certification, and experience level. Get in touch to clear any doubts or book your Cenote dive with us.