{"id":8592,"date":"2018-10-25T20:15:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rushkult.com\/eng\/scubamagazine\/?p=8592"},"modified":"2018-10-25T20:15:00","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25T20:15:00","slug":"diving-cenotes-playa-del-carmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rushkult.com\/eng\/scubamagazine\/diving-cenotes-playa-del-carmen\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Cenote Dive \u2013 Dos Ojos"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Back in January I travelled to Cancun in Mexico for a two week break and I chose to travel to Playa del Carmen for a few days to dive the Cenotes. I booked a day\u2019s diving the cenotes with Beyond Diving<\/a>, a dive centre located close to the main strip of Playa and eagerly anticipated my dives.<\/p>\n

What Are Cenotes?<\/h2>\n

The Cenotes are underground rivers and caves that are unique to the Yucatan Peninsula. Created over 6,500 years ago, the caves and passages are over 300 miles long and they are unlike anything that I had seen before. <\/p>\n

The word Cenote comes from the Mexican Dzonot which means sacred well, and in fact, divers have only been able to dive here for the last 20 years. <\/p>\n

\"Dive_cenotes_in_mexico\"
Dive Dos Ojos one of the famous cenotes in Playa del Carmen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\r\n <\/iframe>\r\n\n

Photo Credit: virtualwayfarer<\/a> via Compfight<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n

Many Mexicans actually believed that the Cenotes were the closest thing to the \u201cunderworld\u201d and so this is where many buried their family members. When diving it is actually possible to see human bones and prized possessions in some areas of the caves.<\/p>\n

Cenote Dos Ojos<\/h2>\n

As mentioned above I decided to dive Dos Ojos which is located just south of Playa Del Carmen<\/span>
\nThis is one of the largest cave systems in the world and also one of the most popular \u2013 not only with divers but snorkelers too. <\/p>\n

Dos Ojos means \u201ctwo eyes\u201d in Spanish and it has this name due to there being two Cenotes to dive, both of which look a large eye from above ground. <\/p>\n