Diving the Yucatán coast and the cenotes | Mexico

Yucatán scuba
diving features

MARINE LIFE:

Arrow crabs
Angelfish
Turtles
Tarpon

TOP DIVE SITES:
all the cenotes

DESTINATION OVERVIEW
Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula is paralleled by coral reefs a few minutes boat ride from beautiful, white sand beaches. The coastal underwater topography is mostly flat with reef tops shaped by rushing currents. Some of these attract schooling fish and you can hitch a ride in the current through schools of snapper and grunts until you encounter gangs of tarpon, turtles and occasional nurse sharks. The shallow, patch reefs are good places to hunt for macro life. Corals are not particularly prolific, but there are shrimp, arrow crabs and shells. Pufferfish and morays shelter in small crevices on short walls.

A short drive south, however, is something far more unique and exciting – diving in the freshwater cenotes (say-NO-tays). The Yucatán is a limestone platform several millions years old. Geological forces carved an extensive series of underground rivers and caverns. After the last ice age, ocean levels rose and seawater filled the passages that led in from the coast, eventually meeting those flooded with freshwater.

What looks like a lake from above is often the disguised entry to an incredible system of caverns, many full of stalactites and stalagmites. The ancient Mayans believed the underworld gods lived in these waterways and people were sacrificed to appease them.

Cenotes dives vary from ones for experienced cave divers to some that are extremely shallow and easy. There are guide ropes and often daylight floods in from fissures in the earth above or secondary cenotes along a river. Most fascinating is when you pass through a halocline – where salt water sits over fresh.

Seasons
Year round
Visibility:
10 – 40 metres
Water temperature:
25º C in the cenotes, up to 30º C off the coast
Deco chambers:
Cozumel, Playa del Carmen

Flights via Miami or Houston to Cancun
Dive operators and accommodation options there are a huge number of dive operations (and just as many hotels). Take your time and research options,

PROS AND CONS
The village of Playa del Carmen sits centrally on the coast and is a good base for divers. Once a tiny fishing village, it is now a major resort area but at least has far more character than the modern complex hotels that sprawl from the city of Cancun down the Yucatán coast. There is little of the real Mexico left outside Playa while the town is quite cosmopolitan and lively.

SCUBA DIVING
As above, the marine life can be interesting at times but as diversity is low in this region, some people may find the marine life lacking. The excitement of diving in the cenotes makes up for that though.

OPINION
Much of the Yucatán Peninsula has lost its Mexican flavour through heavy tourism development. The city of Cancun, where the airport is located, is awful. Or is it? if you like shopping and nightclubs, it may be just right for you. Playa can be like that, but there are still parts of the town that are more laid back and as you get to dive the cenotes, this area is worth the trip.