Cenote for sea life?

[choiahoy]

Can anyone recommend the best cenotes for interesting sea life in the Akumal area?

My wife and I have snorkeled in a lot of cenotes, but this will be our first time diving in them. Generally speaking, we seemed to enjoy the ones that had more sea life (ala Casa Cenote) than the ones that had mainly interesting rock formations (ala Dos Ojos)--but really, we're open to anything--we just want the best diving experience.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 

[boulderjohn]

I have never dived Casa Cenote, but I assume the sea life you mention has access to the underground area through its opening to the sea. That is pretty unusual. In a lot of caverns that have openings that have life in them, some of that life will follow dive lights into the unlit portions and then get then get trapped in there when they can't find their way out. In some of the caves, you will see transparent or white and mostly blind shrimp, etc., but you usually have to be looking for them. A Dos Ojos-like experience will be the most common.

 

[scubamarketing]

If your goal is marine life, cenotes should be avoided. Fresh water with no light doesn’t attract life.

 

[TSandM]

Casa Cenote is unique in my experience, in having so much marine life. Most of the others have some fish in the open water -- tetras and cichlids and occasional eels and turtles -- but indigenous life in the overhead is rare. Most of what you will see are fish following diver's lights. There are a few blind cave fish, shrimp and amphipods, but I can't remember if I've seen them in the cavern zone. There is much more life in the caverns on Cozumel, but there are no tours of those, and they are not at all appropriate for divers without overhead training, as they are very silty.

 

[ibj40]

Can anyone recommend the best cenotes for interesting sea life in the Akumal area?

My wife and I have snorkeled in a lot of cenotes, but this will be our first time diving in them. Generally speaking, we seemed to enjoy the ones that had more sea life (ala Casa Cenote) than the ones that had mainly interesting rock formations (ala Dos Ojos)--but really, we're open to anything--we just want the best diving experience.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

My wife and I have dived the cenotes in the Yucatan for the past 11 years, and while each one has it's own individual attraction, Casa Cenote has to be our favorite, for just what you are asking. You hear about the interface between the ocean environment and the fresh water of the cenotes, but nowhere is it better represented than Casa Cenote. On our last visit there, our guide took us up the right (North?) side, into any number of chutes and and channels that had nice populations of juvenile and adolescent salt water fishes. Our favorite is the blue crabs that populate the middle of the channel, who hide among the algae and leaves that have fallen to the bottom. Then we came down the left (South) side, and got into the Mangrove roots (they are actually on both sides) to see the environment they represent.

If you have only snorkeled Casa Cenote, you missed the extraordinary experience that it represents. Our last dive ended with a dip down to the base on the East end, at the exit to the ocean (there's a sign there), where you have an opportunity to clearly appreciate where the mixing is starting to occur, and the relationship that the cenotes have with the ocean and the fresh water underground rivers.

If you've been to Casa Cenote on snorkel and loved it, doing it on Scuba will blow you away.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

If you want to see sea life, dive in the sea.
Only thing I've ever seen other than a few catfish or carp in the open area is a single blind cave fish. One. Ever.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Car wash cenote has both. It has a big open area with a lot of plant and fish life. Then you can go into the cenote that has the rock formations.

 

[wedivebc]

Go dive Mayan Blue, we saw a crocodile last time we were there

 

[choiahoy]

Thanks for all the info.

Car wash cenote has both. It has a big open area with a lot of plant and fish life. Then you can go into the cenote that has the rock formations.

I think we'll try to check out Car Wash and Eden in addition to Casa. I'll let you know where we end up diving.

 

[DandyDon]

Eden has a nice, open water hole of plants and fishes, saw some Mollies and an eel, before entering the cavern.