When SCUBA divers search for aquatic activities during their visit to the Riviera Maya, there are plenty of opportunities. Visitors can dive in the reefs of Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen, or try something totally different. Diving in Cenotes! Some divers come to the Riviera Maya and Playa del Carmen especially to experience the unique dives in Cenotes. Most of them start their adventure diving in Cenote Dos Ojos.
In this blog, we explain to you why that is, what you can expect during the Cenote Dos Ojos dive, and much more!
Diving in Cenote Dos Ojos
The trip to Cenote Dos Ojos is famous among open water divers due to many facts. The possibility of doing two different dives from the same entry makes logistics easy here. It’s without a doubt one of the most beautiful recreational Cenote dives one can do in the area.
This Cenote dive site is located near Tulum in the Riviera Maya, approximately a 40-minute drive south of Playa. Inside the Dos Ojos Cenote park, you can find restaurants, bathrooms, changing rooms, a souvenir shop, a photography shop, and more.
Dos Ojos is highly decorated with drip-stone formations in nearly every corner. During your dive here you can admire huge stalactites and stalagmites, columns, and other formations formed over thousands of years.
It’s a literal dive into the past, gifting visitors with unique views. Several openings in the cavern allow natural light to shine into the diving route, which creates some astonishing scenery.
During your cavern experience, you swim through several tunnels, wide and easy to dive.
Quick Facts
How Deep Is The Dos Ojos Cenote Dive?
Cenote Dos Ojos’ maximum diving depth is only 6-7 meters (20-23 ft) at both dive sites with very few depth changes. That makes it easily diveable for newer certified divers, open water divers, and optimal for a first Cenote dive.
Water Temperature & Conditions
The glass-clear waters of Cenote Dos Ojos offer great visibility for divers and snorkelers. Some visitors say they didn’t even notice they’re actually underwater. The water temperature in most Cenotes is 24-25°C (77°F) all year round.
As Cenotes are mostly filled with fresh water and not seawater, the temperature is slightly lower than in the ocean. There is generally no current in most Cenotes, but after strong rains, a slightly noticeable current might be present during Cenote dives.
Dive Time
All recreational Cenote dives follow a permanent guideline through the cavern area of the Cenote. Therefore your dive time depends on two factors. Your air consumption and how fast you swim. Generally both dives in Dos Ojos Cenote last around 40-45 minutes to complete.
What Are The Requirements For Diving in Cenote Dos Ojos?
To dive in any Cenote, divers must go with a certified Cenote dive guide. Every participant has to hold at least their Open Water diver certification to dive in Cenote Dos Ojos. You don’t need a cavern diving certification, but will have to be proficient in buoyancy and follow the Cenote diving rules explained in the pre-dive briefing.
Group Size
Cenote diving is considered overhead environment diving. Therefore group sizes are reduced to a maximum of 4 divers per certified guide. You dive in a single file formation during the dives, following your guide along the guideline.
What to Expect From A Dive in Cenote Dos Ojos
Once you have signed up to join a dive trip to Dos Ojos Cenote, you will be excited about the actual dives. You can expect a great day of underwater adventures. Swimming through the darker passages of the two cavern dives you will be able to admire century-old dripstone formations.
The two different dives start from the same entry, but that doesn’t make them less exciting. Both dives, the so-called “bat cave” and the “Barbie line” have different features to offer and make for a mindblowing scenery underwater.
The Bat-Cave
One of the cavern dives in Dos Ojos is the famous bat cave dive. It lives up to its name, with the guideline leading through some tunnels and an area around a huge air dome inside the cavern. Divers can surface in the air dome area following their guide, to encounter dozens of bats flying around and hanging off the roof of the bat cave.
The roof is decorated with formations all over, and a small opening allows natural light to enter. The ground of the cavern is covered in sediment and silt, asking divers to be aware of their fins and movements during their dives. After the visit to the bat cave, your guide will lead you through some darker areas back to the entry point of your dive in the Dos Ojos Cenote.
The Barbie Line
The second guideline in the Dos Ojos cavern is called the Barbie line. To find out what gave this dive its name, you’ll have to experience it! But we’ll tell you some details.
Entering at the same point as the bat cave, the Barbie line leads through another area of the huge cavern of this Cenote.
Some parts of this dive are a bit darker than others, where natural light penetrates the underwater cavern and grants a view toward the surrounding jungle. You will be diving through the second of both Cenotes and re-entering the cavern through a huge tunnel. Here you’ll be surprised by impressive columns, walls full of dripstone formations, and a roof full of stalactites. A true gem within the Dos Ojos Cenote, only accessible to divers.
Other Cenotes to Dive In The Dos Ojos Cenote Park
Many more Cenotes are located inside the Dos Ojos park. For advanced open water divers, there are several options.
The Pit Cenote is a famous Cenote dive site just 5 minutes further into the jungle from Dos Ojos. A deep Cenote dive with spectacular natural light rays shining into the body of water during your dive, and also featuring a hydrogen-sulfide cloud at approximately 30 meters depth.
This is also the entry point to the deepest explored point of the Sac Actun cave system, reaching a depth of 119.2 meters.
Cenote Nicte Ha is another astonishing dive site. Its gorgeous open water area is decorated by hundreds of waterlilies, and the shallow cavern dive reveals several features for divers to admire. You can find some bones, several dripstone formations, darker tunnels, and light-filled areas in Cenote Nicte Ha during your dive.
But don’t be intrigued by the shallow depth, because this Cenote regularly has a moderate flow of current, an advanced open water certification is required to dive here. It’s not a first-time Cenote dive either.
Diving in Cenotes with BlueLife
Stoked to jump into the clear-blue water and explore the hidden secrets of Cenote Dos Ojos? Join one of our daily Cenote diving trips and dive into your next adventure. Our professional guides are looking forward to showing you this picturesque underwater scenery during a 2-tank dive day.
Contact us for further information or book here to sign up for your Cenote dive!