Cenote Maravilla
Heaven for photographers and free divers
By: Peio - No Limit Mexico, April 8th, 2020
Located in the famous “Ruta de los Cenotes” (road of the cenotes), Maravilla is one of the newest opened spots for Scuba and free diving in the Riviera Maya.
After Vicente Fito’s exploration a road has been built to enable easy access for vehicles and a platform to enter the water.
Quickly, the whole diving community (guides and instructors) were invited by the owner to do a recon dive and we started to add it on our excursion list.
To describe it, the cenote is a sinkhole with the shape of a bell, where the entrance is a hole in the middle of the top. The really thick sulfur cloud offers views that look from another planet…
Getting really close to this cloud is necessary to observe the gorgeous living stalactites, the biothemes often called “Hell’s bells”. Those mysterious rock formations are alive and grow underwater thanks to very special endemic bacteria. This type of formation as well called “elephant feet” has been found in only 4 cenotes, all of them in the Puerto Morelos area and are subject to ongoing scientific research.
A huge number of fossils can be found on the walls at a depth around 50 feet/15M. During our guided tour, we do a multilevel profile to see them. During the safety stop, the long stalactites coming from the ceiling, near by the opening offer a wonderful view. All the elements together, crystal clear water, bright sunlight, white stalactites and the tree background are mind blowing.
The main reason for Cenote Maravilla’s success is the spectacular sun light beam that crosses the canopy, hits the surface and enlightens the center of the cenote until the cloud. The colors of this bright light beam vary regarding the season, between white blue and greenish.
Depending on the time, its angle changes and offers multiple features where the bright light meets the darkness.
The good infrastructure, the dive profile, its depth and the space available in the water column are the reason why we use it for technical diving training. Within courses like TDI Advanced Nitrox, TDI Deco Procedures, TDI Extended Range or Trimix Diver, PADI Tec 40 or PADI Tec Deep, it is a great place to simulate an ascent following a deco schedule, how to stick to the Run Time or to calculate a precise RMV or SAC rate.
Big efforts have been made by the owner for a sustainable and ecological use. On the property, they are clean dry toilets, and a solar panel supplies enough electricity for the caretaker, Don Miguel that has a great knowledge about botanic and plants. Organic trash is collected in a compost area that is then used as a fertilizer for plants.
We have special thoughts for the free divers that practice their sport really often in this beautiful place. They clearly participate to the success of Maravilla by the publication of amazing pictures and media.
Cenote Maravilla is open for scuba diving all year around. For a perfect dive excursion, It is great to combine it with Cenote Kin Ha or Cenote Zapote, other beautiful sink holes on the Puerto Morelos area.
The entrance fee is 300 Mexican pesos (+/- 15 USD). Cameras are allowed and some rules apply.
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Sac Actun and Dos Ojos are now connected as a result of this intensive exploration.
To become a cave diver you will have to go through rigourous training. The steps and levels can slightly differ from one training agency to the other, but your training will strongly depend on the instructors experience in cave diving and teaching. So make sure you get the right instructor for yourself.
Two tanks configuration: sidemount or backmount
The cave diver training is a two step course. During the first part, the introductory course you will learn to complete simple cave dives following a single continuous guideline.
The Pit is one of the deepest Cenotes of Yucatan (130 meters) and is part of one of the biggest cave system in the world. You will enjoy the amazing light beams going all the way down to the sulfide layer at 30m.
The Cenote Tajma ha is located 5 km south of Puerto aventuras. A fairly demanding dive due to the multiple depth changes, you will be rewarded by the stunning beauty. You will observe lots of stalactites, stalagmites and fossils, 3 other Cenotes on the way with amazing light effects and come accross the halocline a few times.
The Cenote Angelita is one of the deepest cenote in the Riviera Maya. It is particularly known for its sulfuide layer looking like an underground river flowing around a small island whith a few trees. Under the cloud, you will experience total darkness. This is an exceptional dive full of sensations and is for experienced divers only.
The Cenote Eden also known as Ponderosa features beautiful light effects and a wonderful halocline. In the open water pool you will observe many colorful fishes.
As the name suggests, you will see along your dive, at the bottom, some animal skeletons. And above all this is not even the hit of these dives! This cave is amazingly decorated with white speleothems. the nearby surface will offer stunning reflexions of these formations. Just hold your breath and enjoy! And if you need more look between the roots for blind fish 🙂
Dreamgate requires really good buoyancy skills as it is very shallow and has very low ceiling. Very decorated with delicate formations, make sure you dive close to the line to limit the impact of your bubbles or an unfortunate fin kick. We love the place and want to enjoy it for a long time.
