travel / Latin America / Mexico / Tulum
Cenote El Pit is a dive I’ll never forget – I didn’t go in with any expectations, I was excited but I had no idea how mind bending and surreal the dive would be. There were times during the dive were I truly felt I was floating in space, or transported back hundreds of thousands of years to a time before humans walked the earth.
El pit is part of the Dos Ojos cave system, it’s the 4th largest in the world. I have always been fascinated by the cenotes in Mexico. Cenotes are are deep, water-filled sinkholes formed in limestone, created when the ceiling of a cave system collapses, exposing a window into this spectacular world.
Now the cenotes in Mexico along the Yucatán peninsula are extra special. Why? Because scientists have identified that there is a perfect ring of cenotes in the area are centered around the Chicxulub crater, which was formed 66 million years ago, by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs – changing world history. It has not been verified whether the asteroid created the cenotes but the association is definitely cool. Do I want to dive in the cave system that was potentially created by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs? Hell yes!!!! It’s crazy to think, without that asteroid, we probably would not be here today.
If you’d like to read about it:
The buried secrets of the deadliest location on Earth – BBC
THINGS THAT MAKE THIS DIVE INCREDIBLY SPECIAL
- Different layers of water creating cool effects
- Fresh water: the visibility is comparable to being on land, you can see perfectly.
- Halocline: a mix of fresh and salt water: similar to a mirage like you’re entering a dream
- Salt water
- Hydrogen sulfide cloud: The floor of the cavern has decomposing trees over 1000 years old, releasing hydrogen sulfide gas that gives a smoke machine effect
- Huge columns of stalactites
- The bones of megafauna – a 5 metre giant sloth from the ice age can be found in this cave system. I was shown the entrance to where the remains are but you aren’t allowed to go in.
- Human remains from a Preceramic age around 11,200 years ago were found in this cenote, they are thought to belong to some of the first settlers of the American continent.
- The ancient Mayans believed that cenotes were sacred and considered them to be gateways to the underworld/spiritual world, which they called Xibalaba.
The dive
Descending (Freshwater: 0m – 10m depth)
Descending into the cave, I floated weightlessly past stalactite columns in a freshwater landscape of deep blues and blacks. The clarity was so remarkable that it felt like I wasn’t underwater at all. Unlike ocean diving with swaying fronds and currents, the stillness of the freshwater cave removed typical water indicators. I somersaulted, feeling like I was in zero gravity, until a tiny fish reminded me of my underwater reality.
The underworld (Hydrogen sulfide layer: 40m + depth)
Reaching the cloudy bottom layer, the eerie landscape had rocky islands and tree branches emerging from the thick mist. It was clear why the Mayan’s believed this was the entrance to the underworld. Circulating and ascending, the cavern revealed a tunnel my instructor pointed out, leading to the remains of a 5m mega sloth.
As we explored the dark mysterious cave, occasional beams of light entered from the top, illuminating the dark cave in wide, crisp columns. This captivating sight, hitting the misty bottom layer, seemed like portals from the underworld to our world, where spirits could traverse through the beams.
Ascending (Halocline layer 13-15m depth)
As we ascended, we passed through the halocline layer once more—an ethereal blend of saltwater and freshwater. Swimming through a beam of light in the halocline, the refraction and mix of water mediums separated all the colors. The beam transformed from stark white to wavy rainbow hues, unlike land rainbows with distinct colors; here, the halocline made them appear like wispy ribbons. Running my hand through the light, I could bend and move the colors – like real life magic.
Once we were back to the freshwater layer, everything was crystal clear once again; you could see every tiny suspended particle. Remaining completely still, I observed the particles slowing around me, like a scene from some superhero movie where they move at normal speed while everything around them is happening in slowwww motion. Glancing around, I saw other divers in the distance, resembling tiny astronauts with their torches illuminating colossal limestone structures that could be from a planet in a galaxy far away.
Almost reaching the surface, I finally looked up to see the reflection of the sky and trees on the water, resembling a mirror. Exiting the cenote, I was astounded by the magical journey I just took, feeling as though I had traveled through space and time to the doorstep of the Mayan underworld and back. A 10/10 dive.
To do the dive El Pit Cenote dive –
- You must be a certified Advanced Open Water diver to do this dive, the maximum depth is 40m
- I went with Freeway Scuba Tulum, they were fantastic. I did a combo with El Pit + Dos Ojos. Dos Ojos is 8m depth so you don’t need your Advanced Open Water, it’s very cool too but the depth and the layers in El Pit were out of this world.
- Just message them on Whatsapp, they picked me up from my accomodation in Tulum and dropped me back.
