Self-Guided cave diving in cenotes

[Underwater Tourist]

So much great advice here already

For car rentals, there was a recent thread also you can see here: Question - Cancun Airport Rental Car Recommendations

For places to stay, a ton of shops have great rep in MX. I did my training and subsequent diving from Protec Tulum and never bothered to look at other places because I really clicked with the people there. They rent rooms right above their shop which used to be a great deal, but they increased prices and now they are okay. I would still consider them especially if you go during a busy season in MX because you get to mingle and interact with all the divers who stay there. Just great atmosphere

Regarding places to visit it’s an endless list, but consider doing Carwash cenote. Some people don’t go there because it’s a very popular training site and they probably feel it’s not cool enough because of that, but there are a couple of great dives you can do and it’s 5min ride from Tulum with good facilities.

Single stage non dpv dives will be in the 2.5h range:
Carwash to Aluxe’s key - mega fun dive for some body who hasn’t done unguided dives in MX. You will get a full MX teaser in one dive, meaning you will do a nice traverse to another cenote, find a “hidden” jump, pass by a semi hidden T, visit dark cave, visit bright cave, visit decorated rooms, visit a deeper narrower section with halocline

Carwash to Dreamland also a fun route to do which will add a super spooky and fun tannic-y passage

Or you can do both things as one nice 3.5h-4h ccr dive

About the semi hidden T, if it hasn’t been fixed, it will also teach you to really really really respect navigation in Mexico. I think in FL people say “we are not line divers” or something? Meaning you don’t need to always swim next to the line. Well forget that for MX, especially in your first unguided trip be uber careful about missing a T, or accidentally getting onto another line. Depending on the cenote, it’s very easy to do

 

[vitaly]

Stick to the easily accessed sites at first. It's your first time here...

It's not my first time there. I dove Dos Ojos, Nohoch, Tajma Ha, Carwash, Mayan Blue, Tortuga, Chikin Ha, Minotauro, Pedrin Fenomeno, Jailhouse. I also dove Aerolito in Cozumel many times. I have a general idea about the entrance, navigation, and other aspects, but I never planned out the full logistics and I want to try it

 

[Underwater Tourist]

It's not my first time there. I dove Dos Ojos, Nohoch, Tajma Ha, Carwash, Mayan Blue, Tortuga, Chikin Ha, Minotauro, Pedrin Fenomeno, Jailhouse. I also dove Aerolito in Cozumel many times. I have a general idea about the entrance, navigation, and other aspects, but I never planned out the full logistics and I want to try it

Then it’s easy peasy, I generally google the site the night before, and then in the morning when I am picking up tanks I would chat with people at the dive shop to get the nuances or maybe stumble into a random guy who would say “go there instead it’s way cooler” Really all comes down to picking a nice dive shop to dive from, and any good rep major place will do

I also think it’s more fun to dive the same cenote several times to try different routes and really get a good feel and understanding of the cave. That’s a personal preference obviously, just tossing it as an idea

It was already mentioned, but Xulo passage to Caterpillar is absolutely bombastic (non dpv friendly)

Another tip, rent a couple of nice video lights and light the sht out of the cave even if you are not shooting any videos. Not sure why more people don’t do that

 

[andrepenhabrasil]

Next year, my buddy and I are planning a week-long trip to dive cenotes in Playa - Tulum area and we're interested in diving without a guide. Could you recommend places to stay, car rentals and dive centers where we can rent tanks? We’re both Cave CCR and DPV certified, but we plan to dive on OC SM and may bring or rent a DPV as well. While all of our cave training and experience is from Florida, I’ve also completed several guided cenote dives over the past four years.
Any advice on logistics, safety, and must visit cenotes would be greatly appreciated!

Just came back from Tulum, on the 18th, 09 days of diving. My girlfriend was doing her full cave and I did some OC SM fundiving, my second time in QR. I rented tanks from Easy Chango, US$26 per pair of 32% S80s. I did two days of guided diving with Protec, it´s an impeccably run outfit. These are the caves I dove:

1. Mayan Blue (great for warm up dives, relatively simple primary reel, close and accessible, 20m+ max depth, deeper by Mexican standards)
2. Cristal (Easy access, across the street from Mayan Blue, long primary reel but easy and fun, same depth)
3. Jailhouse (Easy access, mainline starts at the surface but the entrance looks like a dirty swimming pool, However, it´s an awesome dive!)
4. Dos Pisos (One of my favorites, access is a little jungle walk, mainline from the surface, starts a little tight then opens up, very shallow, loved it so much that I came back another day!)
5. Monkey Dust (Most difficult access, about 150m jungle walk to the entrance. Mainline from the surface Absolutely beautiful, but plan for only one dive on account of the logistics. It´s not properly marked on Google or Waze, the entrance from the main road is about 200 m south of the one for Dos Pisos).
6. Nohoch Nah Chich (Very easy access, beautiful cenote, very shallow, lots of jumps!)
7. Xulo (Easy access, mainline from the surface, can get tight at some spots).
8. Chan Hol (Access through a flight of stone steps, the entrance looks like a dirty jacuzzi, mainline from the surface in zero vis, but it opens up beautifully! Very cool dive!)
9 . Dos Pisos (already talked about it).

I rented a pick-up truck from Cancun airport (from Alamo, but they have all the major international car rental brands) and drove to Tulum, roads are good, I was not bothered by cops and I felt safe parking the car at the cenotes I visited.

There´s a lot to do at night in the Tulum area, I particularly recommend Las BBQ Tulum for a post dive meal and the Cervecería Tulum Brewery Restaurant, for a fancier dinner and drinks. Mestixa is a great option too! If you´re in Playa, make sure to eat at El Fogón, they have the best burritos ever!

Hope you have a good time! Dive safe!