Riviera Maya Cenotes · Mexico · Cenote · Cave & cavern · Freshwater

Dos Ojos

Cavern circuits at 5 to 7 m in 25 °C water year-round

Two flooded sinkholes in the jungle north of Tulum, opening onto the shallow end of one of the longest surveyed cave systems on the peninsula: 82 km of passage mapped since exploration began in 1987. Divers see the daylight part of it, on guided cavern circuits between the two entrance pools. It is a long, flat dive where the work is buoyancy and light discipline rather than depth.

Also known as Sistema Dos Ojos.

Where it is and how deep

Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

20.3247° N, 87.3919° WPublished position for this site.

The dive

Kit goes down to the water between the two entrance pools, and the dive starts as a slow drop into water that sits at 25 °C all year. Most of the cavern route runs at 5 to 7 m, close under the ceiling, and the deepest water near the Dos Ojos cenotes themselves is only about 10 m, so the profile is nearly flat and a tank lasts a long time.

You follow the guide's line out and back inside the daylight zone, with the entrance glow behind you the whole way. Beyond that line the system keeps going — 82 km of it surveyed — and its deepest known point, a 119.1 m shaft at The Pit some 1,500 m in from the main entrance, was reached by cave explorers in 1996 rather than on any cavern dive. Buoyancy is the whole job: one fin stroke into the ceiling or the silt closes the view for everyone behind you.

Background

Exploration of Dos Ojos began in 1987 and still continues. The surveyed extent of the system stands at 82 km, and it holds the deepest known cave passage in Quintana Roo — 119.1 m, at The Pit, found in 1996 by explorers who came some 1,500 m in from the main entrance. In 2018 a link was reported between the Dos Ojos system and the neighbouring Sistema Sac Actun, then given as 263 km long, joining the two into one.

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Dos Ojos
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

The park takes a hundred or more visitors a day, so expect snorkellers above you in the entrance pools and keep the group tight where the lines converge.
Everything past the daylight zone is full cave. The permanent cavern line is the limit for a guided dive, and going beyond it needs cave training, redundant gas and lights.

Photos from Dos Ojos

dronepicr · CC BY 2.0
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wilfred_Hdez · CC BY 2.0

Dive videos

Dos Ojos Cenote Exploration | Best Diving Spot in Mexico · Absolute Adventure Mexico on YouTube

Cave Diving Dos Ojos Cenote | Barbie Line and The Bat Cave Dive Sites · On Todays Adventure on YouTube

Questions divers ask

How deep is the Dos Ojos cavern dive?+

The majority of cavern dives run at 5 to 7 m, and the deepest water near the Dos Ojos cenotes is about 10 m. The 119.1 m passage in the same system is a cave dive far from the entrance, not part of the guided route.

Do I need a cave certification to dive Dos Ojos?+

No. Guided cavern dives stay inside the daylight zone on a permanent line, which an Open Water diver can do with a cavern guide. Going past that line into the cave system needs full cave certification.