Yucatan Dive Sites
The State of Yucatan has over 3500 Cenotes with many water filled caves. Most caves are deeper than in Q.Roo in the 130 feet / 40 meter to 200 feet / 60 meter range. The caves are much shorter in penetration distance. Most of the Cenotes are located in remote areas with a steep 30 feet / 9 meter drop from the jungle floor to the water surface.
Most of the Cenotes in the Yucatan are Sinkholes with no connected horizontal cave passages. Some of theses Sinkholes exceed 500 feet / 150 meters in depth.
Technical diving techniques have to be employed to safely dive the deep caves of the Yucatan.
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Cenote Chacsinicche - The Cenote called Chacsinicche, in english ”the tree of the red ants” is located about 10 kilometers away from the little town of Homun, 65 kilometers to the south east of Merida. The first exploration dive was done in may 1980 when the well was found, a year later Fernando Rosado and Michael Dutton returned with the club de Espeleobuceo Yucatan to explore the circuit. These dives were done without any training or experienced in cave diving and with the most basic equipment. Single tanks, no BCD’s, and surface supplied sealed beam lights.
The Cenote itself is nothing more than a small crack in the ground on the surface but it opens up below ground level to a dome like chamber. The chamber is about 180 feet in diameter and 60 feet in height from the water level to the ceiling. The water is crystal clear and cobalt blue with a light beam piercing into the water through the hole in the ceiling, what a spectacular sight. Support personnel is lowering equipment down into the water and a aluminum ladder we brought along was used to make our entry into the water easier.
Descending into the large pool of clear water, the oldest known passage is called the well, due south and leading down on a steep slope where the line ends at a depth of 200 feet in clear freshwater. At about 130 feet of water in the well there is a larger room with a collapsed ceiling, Chupa Cabras point, after the breakdown the passage opens up and is leading into a low wide and still unexplored side mount passage at about 90 feet of water (Daniel Dens and Andreas W. Matthes in July 1997). Out of the breakdown room are leading two passages down into the lower cave level, the Japo's dream passages and the nightmare chamber (Roberto Hashimoto, Agustin Garcia July / august 1997) where the maximum depth reached was 240 feet, the halocline was found at a depth of 235 feet (Andreas W. Matthes October 1997). The big bore hole like tunnel at a average depth of around 180 feet is around 70-80 feet wide and 20-25 feet high, the whole lower cave level has old dark brown clay banks on the floor.
Chacsinicche is a multi layered cave system with distinct levels at 90 feet, 130 feet, and the deepest to about 220-240 feet. In the northern part of the cave system the main tunnel, the invisible passage (Roberto Hashimoto, Agustin Garcia June 1997) consists of a white huge archway passage about 60-70 feet wide and about 50-60 feet high with dark brown clay banks on the floor. The floor depth here is between 145 and 130 feet. We did not find any speleotherms in either passage and there seems to be no flow in the entire cave system but the water still remained extremely clear. This cave system represents the biggest cave system in the Merida area with around 2000 feet of explored passage.
Cenote Papakal - A little outside the village of Eknakan, in Maya ”a place on stars ” and about 45 kilometer to the south east of Merida lays the Cenote Papakal. This cave system was first explored by a French team 1989. Reached over a dirt road while passing a old hacienda the visiting diver is walking into a big dry underground chamber, around 500 feet long, 200 feet wide and a floor to ceiling height of around 80 feet. While stepping down toward the clear water pool in the dark end of that huge room big and white stalactites and stalagmites can be seen.
While descending into the crystal clear water and following the sloping calcite mount the dive leads into a big passage, about 30 feet wide and 12 feet floor to ceiling height with a maximum depth of around 120 feet. At a penetration distance of around 400 feet the passage is splitting up, to the south into a dead end chamber and to the north into a small side passage (Pitkin October 1997). A second but smaller main passage has been discovered which is leading out of the entrance cavern to the north (Roberto Hashimoto, Agustin Garcia November 1997). The explored part of the cave consists of around 800 feet of surveyed submerged cave passage.
Cenote Santa Barbara - This Cenote is located outside the village of Homun, around 65 kilometers to the south east of Merida and named after the ranch where this Cenote is located on. The water level to ground level drop is around 60 feet with no access other then lowering the gear down and the rappel into the water. About 120 meters away from Santa Barbara is a second Cenote with the same dimensions and remains still unexplored.
Santa Barbara appears to be a sinkhole with a maximum depth of around 120 feet, to the west a fork like passage is leading of from around 70 feet into shallower water, up to around 20 feet were the limestone is changing color from a dark brown to white. In the ending chambers, around 15 feet in diameter are quite a few blind cave fish. To the east a horizontal cave passage is leading of at a depth around 90-115 feet, with possible leads still unexplored (Andrew Pitkin, Agustin Garcia, Andreas W. Matthes march 1998).
This Cenote represents a good example of the logistical problems encountered in the state of Yucatan. Remote Cenotes, bad roads and the need to lower the gear down by ropes and to rappel down into the water.
Cenote X’anil-Ha - Around 50 kilometers to the south of Merida and close to the Kankirixche Cenote lays Cenote X’anil-ha. The water level can be reached easy while walking through a little dry cave and into a circular water pool around 100 feet in diameter. This little cave system is consisting out of two distinct levels, the shallower at around 35-40 feet leading into a low and wide passage barely passable with side mount gear and a massive clay floor, making visibility challenging. The full extend of this side mount passage is not explored yet. The deeper cave level is reached through two little passages into a huge dome with a maximum depth of around 130 feet, crystal clear water, no detectable flow and a length of about 250 feet, a width of around 100 feet and a floor to ceiling height of around 70 feet (Sam Meacham, Andreas W. Matthes October 1997).
Cenote Santa Maria - This Cenote is located around 12 kilometers away from the ocean, 65 kilometers to the north of Merida and close to the fisherman village Celestun at the gulf of Mexico. A huge sinkhole with the water level even with ground level which makes entry into the water very easy. Recently the municipality of Celestun built here a water pump station to supply the village of Celestun .
First explored by a team from Poland 1985 to a depth of 60-70 feet, (Agustin Garcia and Enrique Soberanis 1986 to a depth of 180 feet), (Agustin Garcia, Steve Gerard, Pablo Diaz 1996 to a depth of 200 feet). On the surface divers will find usually a strong algae bloom due to the fact of no tree and shade cover over the water. Crocodiles have been seen frequently in here along with big freshwater turtles.
At a depth of 90-100 feet divers will find a weak hydrogen sulfide layer, out of the H2s layer are sticking trees that have been falling into the Cenote in the past and are laying on top of the large Tallus cone. Toward the east is a huge cavern that has not been explored to the full extend. Maximum depth at this part of the sinkhole is 220 feet, the ceiling of that cavern is around 150 feet. The size of that cavern is so enormous that even the strongest lights cannot reach the far walls. Due to the depth exploration time is followed by a heavy decompression penalty.
Toward the west we have found a small cave passage leading off into uncharted territory, unexplored yet at a depth of 230-240 feet (Andrew Pitkin, Andreas W. Matthes March 1998). Dr. Thomas Illiffe from the University of Galveston, Texas and his student Brad were collecting specimen of cave Crustaceans when Brad reported after the dive a deep cave passage to the east at 220 feet, yet unexplored. Visibility below the H2s layer is good with 150-180 feet, there seems to be no water exchange in that Sinkhole since the percolation particles from the last day of diving could still be seen suspended the next day.
Cenote Kankirixche - Located about 60 kilometers away from Merida toward the south, this Cenote has a ground level to water level drop of 50 feet on a sloping break down were no rappelling gear is needed. The first dives in here were conducted by Marco Sarco 1988 who dove in the open water area. First exploration dives were conducted by the Yucatan speleological society under the lead from Agustin Garcia in February 1998.
The cavern area of this cave system is one of the biggest I have ever seen. The depth ranges from 15 feet to 160 feet and it is almost circular with a diameter of approximately 350-400 feet. A huge light shaft is falling through the big entrance into this giant submerged underground room filled with crystal clear water. What a sight. On the flat ceiling of that cavern are lots of stalactites, the outline of that cavern makes it ideal for cavern divers.
In the south west corner of the cavern we discovered a cave passage at 165- 175 feet of water (Agustin Garcia, Andreas w. Matthes march 1998). Passing through a little bedding plane the passage is leading into a bigger bore hole like passage almost blocked by a breakdown. Passing through a restriction the diver will find him or herself in a big room, about 300 feet long and 150 feet wide with a floor to ceiling height of around 60 feet. Out of this room are leading various unexplored passages. There seems to be no flow in the whole cave system but water remains extremely clear. The floor is covered with light brown heavy silt.
In this cave system we have seen for the first time a blind, white and eye less eel who was about 3 inches long. This creature we have not seen before in any other Cenote in the whole area. Due to the depth involved the exploration is followed by extended decompression.
Cenote Bolonchohol - Located 40-45 kilometers to the south east of Merida and around 5 kilometers away from Chacsiniksche lays Cenote Bolonchohol. This cave system was first explored by Fernando Rosado and the club de Espeleobuceo Yucatan in 1988 and is featured in the Italian documentary film ” Aguas Sagradas ”.
This Cenote is being used commercially the most together with Chacsiniksche for the local ” guides ” to take visiting divers into the cave passages. With a huge dry underground chamber, into which a diver has to climb down on a ladder made out of old truck rail road rails one is reaching the water level where the ceiling it is about 40 feet high. The diameter of that chamber is about 50 feet in diameter. In this beautiful under ground chamber lays a big crystal clear lake filled with cobalt blue water. When the sun light is shining through the hole in the ceiling it creates a spectacular and colorful sight.
Descending along the slope of the brake down that forms a little island in the middle of the underground lake the diver reaches into a passage with about 86 feet depth and after passing through a restriction into a wide but not to extensive cave passage that is about 70 feet long and 25 feet wide with a height of 8-12 feet and a maximum depth of 120 feet . This little cave system is believed to be fully explored.
Please don't hesitate to email us if you have any questions or need assistance.