Cavern Tour
The cavern zones are open to all divers with at least an Open Water Diver certification, 20+ dives, 15 years of age, good buoyancy control and the accompaniment of a qualified local cavern guide. For some deeper cenotes, AOWD certification is required.
Cavern zone is a part of the cave where you can see natural day light, dive only in bigger passages and maximum penetration of 60 meters (200 feet) from the open water with a possibility of fast resurface. For higher safety, only four divers are allowed per one guide, and all of our guides are certified and experienced cave divers and/or cave diver instructors. All of the cenotes intended for cavern diving have a guide lines, which lead throughout the entire cavern zones, for better orientation. Entrance to the cave system is always marked by a warning sign.
Mexican cenotes cannot be found anywhere else in the world and are considered to be one of the most beautiful places for diving. Conditions for diving in cenotes are the same all year round – almost unlimited visibility with a water temperature of 25-27ºC. Average depths are approximately 7-12 meters. You can find hundreds of cenotes in this part of the Yucatan peninsula, but each one is totally unique. There a superb karst formations of all sizes, shapes and colors; beautiful refractions and laser shows of natural day light, intergrowing tree roots, coral fossils and crustaceans, halocline (fresh and salt water mixing), smaller kinds of fresh water fish, shrimps, blind cave fish, yellow-bellied turtles and many more. The jungle is in close proximity to the cenotes, with numerous kinds of plants, birds & parrots, lizards, iguanas, coatis and bats.
For the Cavern Tours, we start between 8-9 o’clock in the morning. Most of the cenotes are 5-50 minutes south of Puerto Aventuras by car. We do every dive in a different spot, so you won’t dive same cenote twice, unless that’s what you want. Most of the famous sites are easily accessible. For better access, their owners made stone footpaths, wooden platforms & stairs for easier entry to the water; tables for preparing dive equipment, changing rooms and toilets. The water is usually just a few dozen meters from the parking lot.
For the cavern diving, a standard recreational configuration is used. Only the guide is using equipment intended for cave diving for higher safety. Before each dive, a proper briefing is given to you with all the details about each dive. Depending on the cavern line length, the dives takes 40-50 minutes each. We take a rest between every dive, exchange tanks and debrief for the next dive. We come back to Playa del Carmen from the Cavern Tours between 1-3 pm, depending on the starting time and cenote distances. Total time is around 5-7 hours.
NOTE: There’s a fee for UW photo & video cameras (15-30 USD) in most of the cenotes for cavern diving. At some dive sites, the use of UW cameras is totally prohibited.
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Cave Tour
This excursion is available only for cave certified divers with a minimum of Introductory Cave Diver certification or equivalent.
Mexican cenotes are without doubt the most beautiful and best places for cave diving in the world. Conditions for diving there are unchanged throughout the year – almost unlimited visibility with water temperature around 25-27ºC. Average depths are around 8-15 meters, which makes long penetrations possible without decompression. Diversity of local cave systems is incredible. Here you can find superb karst formations of all shapes, colors and sizes; intergrowing tree roots, fossils of corals and crustaceans, halocline (mixing of fresh and salt water), big domes, smaller passages, canyons, restrictions; and fauna as blind cave fish, shrimps, eels and many more. In the entry ponds and their proximity, you can see beautiful refractions and laser shows of natural day light, smaller kinds of fresh water fish, yellow-bellied turtles, numerous kinds of plants, birds & parrots, lizards, iguanas, coatis and bats.
Cave Tours start between 8-9 o’clock in the morning. Local cenotes are 5-50 minutes south of Puerto Aventuras by car. We do every dive in a different cave passage or we go to a different spot. Most of the famous cenotes are easily accessible. For better access, their owners made stone footpaths, wooden platforms & stairs for easier entry to the water; tables for preparing dive equipment, changing rooms & toilets. The entrance to the cave is usually just a few dozen meters from the parking lot.
More than 1650 kilometers of underwater cave passageways have been discovered, explored and mapped on the Yucatan peninsula in state of Quintana Roo, with hundreds upon hundreds of cenotes. It’s only up to you to decide which cave system and cave passage you will pick. With required certifications, you can add stage bottles, deco bottles, underwater scooters (DPV’s) and/or rebreathers. Your guide will give you all required details prior to each dive. We take a rest between every dive, exchange tanks and debrief for the next dive. We come back to Playa del Carmen from the Cave Tours between 3-5 pm, depending on the starting time, cenote distances, and level of effort required for the dives. Total time is around 7-9 hours.
NOTE: There’s a fee for UW photo & video cameras (15-30 USD) in most of the cenotes that offer cavern diving.
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CCR Tour
CCR Tour is exclusively for certified CCR divers and it depends on the given level of your diving qualification. Our dive center Speleo Zone – Level 3 mainly focus on diving with the Divesoft Liberty CCR, but you can join us with any fully functional CCR unit (backmount or sidemount) that has a valid CE certificate.
Diving in cavern zones is possible with a minimum certification of CCR Mod 1 (or equivalent) and at least 20 hours on your unit. For cave diving, CCR Full Cave Diver certification is required or a combination of Cave Diver certification on an open circuit and CCR Mod 1 with a minimum of 50 hours on your unit.
NOTE: You can reed more information about your preferred excursion above in the section of Cavern Tour and Cave Tour.
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