Cenote Angelita: the underwater river dive from Playa del Carmen

The experience

Why Angelita looks like a river

Angelita is a round, open cenote with no cavern to speak of. What makes it famous happens in the middle of the water column. Fresh water fills the top 30 metres. Below that sits salt water, and between the two a thick layer of hydrogen sulphide has formed from centuries of leaves and branches decomposing in still water. The layer is white and opaque, it holds the fallen trees in the centre of the cenote, and from above it looks exactly like a misty river winding around an island.

Photographs of it circle the world every year, and no picture prepares you for hovering above it with your torch beam disappearing into the fog. Then your guide leads you through it, the light goes out, and for a minute you are in the black salt water beneath the cloud before rising back into daylight.

The two dives

Dive 1: Angelita

We descend the open shaft as a group, with the walls falling away into blue. The cloud appears below you like a snowfield with branches poking through. Your guide sets the depth, typically around 30 metres, and leads the group over the island of fallen trees, then briefly through the layer into the dark water below and back out. The ascent is slow and the safety stop is in open water with the sky above you. Bottom time is short because of the depth, which is why we treat Angelita as a deep dive with a conservative profile rather than a long tour.

Dive 2: Car Wash or Casa Cenote

The second dive is chosen for the day. Car Wash is an open cenote with lily pads, warm shallow light and a decorated cavern beyond the entrance, known for a seasonal algae bloom that turns the water golden red for a few weeks each year. Casa Cenote is completely different: an open mangrove channel that winds like a river through the jungle towards the sea, with tarpon, juvenile fish among the roots and beautiful dappled light at 6 to 8 metres. Both are relaxed, shallow and a perfect contrast to Angelita.

Who Angelita is for

• Advanced Open Water divers who want the most unusual dive on the coast
• Divers comfortable at 30 metres and in low light for a short time
• Photographers and videographers: wide angle, a strong light and a diver in the frame for scale
• Divers who have already dived El Pit and want the other famous sulphide cloud

Advanced Open Water is required. Open Water divers can reach it in three days with the Advanced Open Water course. If overhead environments make you nervous, Angelita has no cavern and Casa Cenote has no overhead at all, so this is often the easiest deep cenote day to say yes to.