Riviera Maya Cenotes · Mexico · Cenote · Cave & cavern · Freshwater
Cenote Pet Cemetery
White formations in three metres of water, and a fossil camel
Area photo: diego_cue · CC BY-SA 3.0
The most heavily decorated cenote on the Dos Ojos road and one of the shallowest anywhere, with much of the dive in about 3 m of water. Delicate white stalactites, stalagmites and columns stand in water clear enough that the effect has been described as a crystal palace, and the name comes from the animal skeletons found in it.
Where it is and how deep
20.3179° N, 87.4097° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Almost all of this dive happens in about 3 m of water, which is what makes it both the prettiest and the most unforgiving cenote on the road. There is barely a metre of column between the ceiling formations and the silt floor in places, so the group moves slowly and horizontally, and a guide will turn the dive rather than let someone plough through it.
The decoration is the reason to come. Delicate white stalactites, stalagmites and columns fill the passage in water clear enough that the whole thing reads as a single carved space rather than a series of features. Because there is no depth to speak of, gas lasts and the limit on the dive is the group's discipline rather than the tank.
The name comes from what has been found on the floor: animal skeletons left from when the system was dry, including the fossilised remains of an extinct prehistoric camel. Pet Cemetery belongs to Sac Actun, one of the longest underwater cave systems in the world, and everything past the cavern line is cave diving.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Riviera Maya Cenotes: Cenote water temperature holds steady all year; Dos Ojos gets busier in the December–April peak season while most other cenotes stay quiet.
Know before you go
- Three metres of water between a decorated ceiling and a silt floor: one bad fin stroke silts the passage and breaks formations that took millennia to grow.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Cenote Pet Cemetery?+
Very shallow — much of it is only about 3 m deep. The difficulty is buoyancy in a tight, heavily decorated passage rather than depth or gas.
Why is it called Pet Cemetery?+
For the animal skeletons found in the cenote, left from when the cave system was dry. Among them are the fossilised remains of an extinct prehistoric camel.
Sources
- Cenote Pet Cemetery — Pro Dive International
- Cenote Pet Cemetery (OpenStreetMap) — OpenStreetMap contributors
More dive sites in Riviera Maya Cenotes
A sulphide cloud you can put a hand through, at 27 m
A mangrove channel dive with no overhead at all
Lily pads on the surface, decorated cavern underneath
Jump through the roof or take the ladder beside it
An air dome you can surface in, under two levels of stalactites
Cenote
Where cave divers found three prehistoric skeletons
Cenote
A crossing to the neighbouring Rainbow Cenote
Cenote
Nine metres of clear water used for course skills
Similar dives elsewhere
Taíno artefacts in place in a 9 m freshwater cave
Cave & cavern
Dan's Cave
South Abaco Blue Holes · Bahamas
Cascade Room entrance leads to crystal rooms with names like Fangorn Forest
Cave & cavern
Ralph's Cave
South Abaco Blue Holes · Bahamas
Formations 13,000 to 350,000 years old inside a deep, roller-coaster passage
A 72 m rope descent onto a lake 80 m deep