Cenote Diving in Riviera Maya
Cenote diving is the experience that pulls certified divers to the Riviera Maya, and nothing in the saltwater world quite matches it.
View tours →Riviera Maya: Diving & Tours
The Riviera Maya is the mainland coast that runs south from Cancun through Playa del Carmen to Tulum, and for divers and snorkellers it is a world apart from Cozumel just across the channel. Here the headline is freshwater: the Yucatan peninsula is a slab of porous limestone with no surface rivers, so rain filters underground into the largest network of flooded caves on earth. Where the cave roof has collapsed it opens a cenote, a natural sinkhole of glass-clear water that ranges from a sunlit swimming pool to a cathedral of stalactites. Cavern diving in cenotes such as Dos Ojos, Gran Cenote and the Pit is the signature experience, a guided dive within the daylight zone past dramatic light beams and ancient rock formations, open to certified divers with no cave training. Above ground the coast adds its own draws: the Tulum ruins on a cliff over a turquoise beach, the turtle snorkel at Akumal bay, the reef off Puerto Morelos and, in summer, the whale shark aggregation a boat ride offshore near Isla Mujeres and Holbox. Playa del Carmen makes the natural base, with the Cozumel ferry on its doorstep and operators running cenote trips, reef dives and bull shark season for advanced divers from November to March. This hub organizes the Riviera Maya's best diving and snorkelling activities, its standout cenotes and reefs and curated trips from local operators so you can mix saltwater and freshwater days without long transfers.
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Whale Shark Snorkeling in Riviera Maya
Each summer the warm waters off the northern Yucatan host one of the planet's great wildlife gatherings: hundreds of whale sharks, the largest fish in the sea, drawn to plankton and fish-egg blooms a boat ride offshore from Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Isla Mujeres and Holbox.
View tours →Top dive sites
Dos Ojos Cenote
Dos Ojos is the most famous cenote on the Riviera Maya, a pair of giant sinkholes near Tulum whose name, Two Eyes, comes from the two round pools that open into one of the world's longest underwater cave systems.
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