Until very recently The Pit was a magical destination that only a hand full of cave divers were ever able to experience, I will never forget my first trip to The Pit and how the hair on my arms stood straight up, my mouth dropped open and I froze in admiration of the most beautiful underwater vista I have ever encountered. That dive required 2 underwater scooters, 2 stage bottles and a total under water time of over 210 minutes to complete. I still love to retrace that route, but now I can make it to the pit and back in 155 minutes. Today, for the more experienced advanced open water or cavern diver The Pit is a destination not to be missed.
A diver on ascent
The Pit, part of the Dos Ojos system and the 3rd longest underwater cave in the world is located on the Ejido Jacinto Pat. If traveling from Tulum it is a short drive north on highway 307 of 14 km to the Ejido entrance where an access fee of around $20.00 usd is required to dive at The Pit. From the entrance a rough road is followed inland for 5.5 km, gradually the road becomes less of a road and more of a rocky track to a small pull off area where we leave the vehicle. Continuing on a rough and rocky path, we hike our dive gear – tanks, weights and all 300 m to the edge of the cenote. After assembling and lowering our scuba units into the water, we have a daring jump to the water of 3 m. However there are areas that are much higher – up to 6 m – that you could jump from!
After our pre-dive safety check we descend using the wall as a reference to our maximum depth of up to 40 m. Descending through the freshwater and into the salt water a mystical island ringed with a hydrogen sulfide layer materializes. Continuing our descent through this layer we still have ambient light from the entrance of the cavern, we make our way to the point of furthest penetration. From here we start our ascending and make our way towards the back of the cavern enjoying magnificent vistas across the pit while sun beams dance on the island that we explored. With giant stalactites hanging above our heads framing the cenote opening we have the perfect vantage point to enjoy perfect viability able to see the island 10 m below us, the surface and the trees standing tall ringing the edge of The Pit – it’s difficult, but we must now make our way to shallower water.
There are no toilets, no tables no steps, nor change facilities; exit from the water is difficult along a narrow ledge and does require the use of your arms for stability and forward and upward progress. The 300 m path is rocky and rough, there are bugs and it can be hot. If this hasn’t dissuaded you from diving The Pit and you have the experience required I would love to show you this amazing dive site.
A great combination is a dive at one of the following sites:
Pet Cemetery
Dos Ojos – Barbie Line
Dos Ojos – Bat Cave
Casa Cenote
Check out this video:
