Riviera Maya Cenotes · Mexico · Cenote · Cave & cavern · Freshwater
Cenote Chac Mool
An air dome you can surface in, under two levels of stalactites
Photo: amanderson2 · CC BY 2.0
The cavern most people on the northern half of the coast are taken to first, a hundred metres or so south of Puerto Aventuras. Two separate water entries lead into the same set of rooms, one of which holds an air dome divers can surface inside, and the halocline that runs through the system is among the most photographed on the peninsula.
Where it is and how deep
20.5129° N, 87.2470° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
There are two water entries to Chac Mool and both lead into the same rooms, so which one a guide picks depends on the group and the light. The first room is relatively large with a lot of light coming in through the opening, and it is the natural place to settle trim before the group moves on.
In the second room a portion of the ceiling has collapsed under an air dome, and divers can surface inside it and look up at two levels of stalactites hanging above the water line. It is the moment most people remember from the site, and it works only if the group is tidy enough not to have stirred the floor on the way in.
The system carries a halocline, the boundary where salt and fresh water meet, and passing through it warps the view like badly set glass until you are clear of it. Back near the main entrance, trunks and branches reach down into the water; on a sunny day the light comes through them in hard shafts, which is why guides book this cenote for the middle of the day.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Riviera Maya Cenotes: Divable year-round at a constant 25°C; the Nov–Apr dry season is clearest, while summer downpours can cloud shallow cenotes for a day or two.
Know before you go
- The rooms are decorated and the floor silts easily; a fin-down group loses the visibility for everyone behind it, so guides watch trim before going past the first room.
Photos from Cenote Chac Mool
Waielbi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Waielbi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Waielbi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Questions divers ask
How deep is Cenote Chac Mool?+
The guided cavern dive has a maximum depth of about 12 m, which is why it is used so often as a first cenote for divers with no overhead experience.
Sources
- Cenote Chac Mool — Pro Dive International
- Cenote Chac Mool — Scubago
Photo credits
- Diver in green water lit by shafts of daylight falling through the cenote opening by amanderson2, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- Diver descending past a rock overhang where the water blurs at the halocline by Waielbi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cavern interior with blue light shafts and a diver working a torch along the wall by Waielbi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Looking up from underwater at the cenote opening with jungle beyond the surface by Waielbi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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