EL EDEN Cavern Dive
Depth: 46 feet
Run Time:50minutes
Water Temps: 79degrees F (fresh water), 79 degrees (salt water below the halocline)
Ponderosa is a pretty short hop in to the jungle from the main highway running south of Playa del
Carmen. The entrance to the cenote is a couple of kilometers or so north of the turn off for Club
Robinson, so that would make it about a 15 minute drive south of Playa.
What makes this dive spectacular was the clarity of the water and the beautiful windows up in to the
jungle. There were times you'll feela bit disoriented, like you should be walking, not swimming - the
water is that clear. The viz on this dive is to infinity and beyond: limited only by the range of your C4
and the curvaceous terrain.
Diving in the caverns requires divers to adhere to the rule of thirds. That is, one third gas out, one third
for the return (assuming reverse course) and one third in reserve.
Depth: 46 feet
Run Time:50minutes
Water Temps: 79degrees F (fresh water), 79 degrees (salt water below the halocline)
Ponderosa is a pretty short hop in to the jungle from the main highway running south of Playa del
Carmen. The entrance to the cenote is a couple of kilometers or so north of the turn off for Club
Robinson, so that would make it about a 15 minute drive south of Playa.
What makes this dive spectacular was the clarity of the water and the beautiful windows up in to the
jungle. There were times you'll feela bit disoriented, like you should be walking, not swimming - the
water is that clear. The viz on this dive is to infinity and beyond: limited only by the range of your C4
and the curvaceous terrain.
Diving in the caverns requires divers to adhere to the rule of thirds. That is, one third gas out, one third
for the return (assuming reverse course) and one third in reserve.
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EL GRAN CENOTE
Depth: 40 feet
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
From the center island of this massive sinkhole, you dive past a field
of lily pads and beneath a canopy of rock that's also popular with
snorkelers. Divers plunge into a Mayan ballroom of stalagmites,
stalactites and columns as thick as trees to a maze of white rock
formations and boulders.
Depth: 40 feet
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
From the center island of this massive sinkhole, you dive past a field
of lily pads and beneath a canopy of rock that's also popular with
snorkelers. Divers plunge into a Mayan ballroom of stalagmites,
stalactites and columns as thick as trees to a maze of white rock
formations and boulders.
TEMPLE OF DOOM CAVERN DIVE
Depth: 60 feet Time:25 min.
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
With an Indiana Jones-style flourish, you jump off a 10-foot ledge at the edge of this
cenote and splash into a sombrero-shaped cone. A swim around the hat's brim at 60
feet is a tour of a multilevel maze of cave formations, boulders and stalactites dripping
from the blanched white limestone.
Depth: 60 feet Time:25 min.
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
With an Indiana Jones-style flourish, you jump off a 10-foot ledge at the edge of this
cenote and splash into a sombrero-shaped cone. A swim around the hat's brim at 60
feet is a tour of a multilevel maze of cave formations, boulders and stalactites dripping
from the blanched white limestone.
CENOTE ANGELITA
This dive site is must do for advanced divers who are looking for something a little
different. The name means "little angel" in English and there may not be a better way to
describe this magical dive site. The setting is perfect as you walk a short distance
through the jungle to the rather large hidden away cenote. To describe it simply this
cenote does nothing else but go straight down 200 feet. Fresh water with unlimited
visibility makes up the first one hundred feet and salt water the other half is separated
by a mystical layer of hydrogen sulfate. This layer in the middle appears as a dense
cloud from the top and strange colored hue from the bottom. There are not many dives
in the world where you can dive in the clouds at 100 feet and see trees, but this is one.
The deepest point of this cenote is at 200 feet .
This dive site is must do for advanced divers who are looking for something a little
different. The name means "little angel" in English and there may not be a better way to
describe this magical dive site. The setting is perfect as you walk a short distance
through the jungle to the rather large hidden away cenote. To describe it simply this
cenote does nothing else but go straight down 200 feet. Fresh water with unlimited
visibility makes up the first one hundred feet and salt water the other half is separated
by a mystical layer of hydrogen sulfate. This layer in the middle appears as a dense
cloud from the top and strange colored hue from the bottom. There are not many dives
in the world where you can dive in the clouds at 100 feet and see trees, but this is one.
The deepest point of this cenote is at 200 feet .
The entire Yucatan Peninsula is formed of limestone. By nature porous stuff, rain water leached through the limestone over the millennia to form caves. That incessant
dripping of water created caverns full of stalactites and stalagmites, some of which are quite immense. Then it was all frozen in time during the rise in sea level following the
last ice age, when the deeper dry caves flooded.Think how many cavern/cave systems down there are, as yet, unexplored: when you fly over the Mayan Riviera, for as far as
the eye can see, there is a stretch of flat forest springing out of limestone.
CENOTES
(like little fresh water oases in the middle of the jungle), are ways in which one accesses the caverns, and were formed when cave ceilings collapsed.
The caverns are generally filled with fresh water to about 35 feet or so. Below that, divers experience the oddity of a halocline a distinctive demarcation where the fresh water
sits on top of the salt water below it. It makes for all kinds of neat effects when the two waters mix as divers disturb them. It was especially crazy with rays of daylight
refracting through the millions of prisms that the stirred-up water creates, but also a tad eerie to experience such tremendous visual distortion.
By definition, a cavern is a cavern and not a cave because natural light can be viewed from any point in the dive, which effectively means that there is an escape hatch no
more than 50 meters or so away. Really, they are caves with occasional windows. Still, the caverns are generally quite spacious, especially at Ponderosa, and you'll never at
any point will feel creeped out or claustrophobic.
dripping of water created caverns full of stalactites and stalagmites, some of which are quite immense. Then it was all frozen in time during the rise in sea level following the
last ice age, when the deeper dry caves flooded.Think how many cavern/cave systems down there are, as yet, unexplored: when you fly over the Mayan Riviera, for as far as
the eye can see, there is a stretch of flat forest springing out of limestone.
CENOTES
(like little fresh water oases in the middle of the jungle), are ways in which one accesses the caverns, and were formed when cave ceilings collapsed.
The caverns are generally filled with fresh water to about 35 feet or so. Below that, divers experience the oddity of a halocline a distinctive demarcation where the fresh water
sits on top of the salt water below it. It makes for all kinds of neat effects when the two waters mix as divers disturb them. It was especially crazy with rays of daylight
refracting through the millions of prisms that the stirred-up water creates, but also a tad eerie to experience such tremendous visual distortion.
By definition, a cavern is a cavern and not a cave because natural light can be viewed from any point in the dive, which effectively means that there is an escape hatch no
more than 50 meters or so away. Really, they are caves with occasional windows. Still, the caverns are generally quite spacious, especially at Ponderosa, and you'll never at
any point will feel creeped out or claustrophobic.
SPELEO QUEST
CAVE DIVING CENOTE CAVERN DIVES
CAVE DIVING CENOTE CAVERN DIVES
WE OFFER DAILY SAFE CAVERN SNORKEL AND DIVE
TOURS.
TWO CENOTE SNORKEL 50.-US
TWO CENOTE DIVES FOR 85.-US (MAX 4 PER GROUP)
CAVE DIVES ON REQUEST 150 MILES TO EXPLORE
TOURS.
TWO CENOTE SNORKEL 50.-US
TWO CENOTE DIVES FOR 85.-US (MAX 4 PER GROUP)
CAVE DIVES ON REQUEST 150 MILES TO EXPLORE
DOS OJOS (TWO EYES)
DOS OJOS CAVERN DIVES
DIVE ONE BARBIE CAVE DIVE TWO BAT CAVE
DEPHT 27 FT TIME 35 MIN DEPHT 25 FT 38 MIN
Depth: 24 feet
Run Time: 35 minutes
Dive 2 - The Alligator
Depth: 35 feet
Run Time: 40minutes
Water temps: 79 F fresh water for both
Dos Ojos, made famous by an IMAX production, is the best known of the cavern systems
accessible to non-certified cavern divers in the Akumal area.
TWO CENOTES THAT ARE CONNECTED AND ARE PART OF THE THIRD LARGEST MILES LONG
SYSTEM.
WE WILL VISIT THE BAT CAVE AND THE BARBIE CAVE.
BOTH DIVES ARE 30 MINUTES LONG AND YOU ALWAYS GET A GLYMPS OF DAY LIGHT AND A
CLOSE EXIT POINT FOR SAFETY
DOS OJOS CAVERN DIVES
DIVE ONE BARBIE CAVE DIVE TWO BAT CAVE
DEPHT 27 FT TIME 35 MIN DEPHT 25 FT 38 MIN
Depth: 24 feet
Run Time: 35 minutes
Dive 2 - The Alligator
Depth: 35 feet
Run Time: 40minutes
Water temps: 79 F fresh water for both
Dos Ojos, made famous by an IMAX production, is the best known of the cavern systems
accessible to non-certified cavern divers in the Akumal area.
TWO CENOTES THAT ARE CONNECTED AND ARE PART OF THE THIRD LARGEST MILES LONG
SYSTEM.
WE WILL VISIT THE BAT CAVE AND THE BARBIE CAVE.
BOTH DIVES ARE 30 MINUTES LONG AND YOU ALWAYS GET A GLYMPS OF DAY LIGHT AND A
CLOSE EXIT POINT FOR SAFETY
