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

Gran Cenote

Where the survey of Sistema Sac Actun started

The cenote most people on this coast are taken to first: a limestone cave cenote about 7 km from Tulum on state highway 109, paid for in cash at the entrance, with fins and masks for hire and swimmers in the water alongside divers. It is also where the survey of Sistema Sac Actun began, so the passages behind it are the front door to one of the longest underwater caves known.

Also known as El Gran Cenote.

Where it is and how deep

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

20.2466° N, 87.4664° WPublished position for this site.

The dive

Everything starts at the entrance. You pay in cash, carry kit down to the water and drop into a pool ringed by rock, with fish under you before you have even descended and iguanas and tropical birds in the trees above. Swimmers and snorkellers use the same pool, so the first and last minutes of the dive are shared water rather than quiet water.

From the pool the guided route follows the guide's line and stays inside the daylight zone at a typical cavern depth of around 10 m, with the entrance glow behind you as the reference. This is where the exploration of Sistema Sac Actun started, and the point where the line is turned is the boundary between cavern diving and cave diving: everything past it is cave, and needs cave training, redundant gas and lights rather than a guide.

Background

Gran Cenote is where the exploration of Sistema Sac Actun started, 5 kilometres west of Tulum, and that system now ranks among the longest surveyed underwater caves in the world. In 2018 a link was reported between Sac Actun, then given as 263 km long, and the 84 km Dos Ojos system north of town, which brought the two under a single name and made the combined survey one of the longest anywhere.

Marine life and season

Freshwater fish

Month-by-month season rating for Gran Cenote
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.

Photos from Gran Cenote

Ken Thomas · Public domain
dronepicr · CC BY 2.0
anjči from London, UK · CC BY 2.0

Dive videos

Cavern Dive at Gran Cenote - Tulum Mexico · Deep Dark Diving - Yucatan on YouTube

Questions divers ask

Can you snorkel at Gran Cenote?+

Yes. It is run as a swimming and snorkelling cenote as well as a dive site: entry is M$300 cash, and life vests, fins and masks can be hired at the entrance for an extra charge.

How deep is the diving at Gran Cenote?+

Shallow. The cenote's own guidance puts a typical cavern depth at around 10 m, and the guided dive stays inside the daylight zone; the cave passages behind it are far deeper but need full cave certification.