Riviera Maya (Quintana Roo) · about 4 km from Tulum
Jailhouse (Las Palmas)
- Max depth29 m (95 ft)
- CertificationFull cave
- Water temperature≈ 24–25 °C (75–77 °F)estimated, no reports yet
- SpecialDPV-suitable
Diving and fills
Dive here with
Fills nearby
- Third Dimension DivingEAN32, HP O₂, deco gases and any trimix (booster); Sofnolime 797 and Intersorb; prefilled trimix bailout for rent
- ProTec TulumAir, EAN32, O₂ up to 200 bar, trimix on request (booster); Sofnolime 797 always in stock
- Ko’ox Diving (Tulum)Air, nitrox, O₂ and helium mixes (He about US$2/cf)
What it looks like
Cenote Jailhouse Driven Divers - Cenote Jailhouse - Tulum Cave Diving Cave diving in cenote Jailhouse HD Cenote Jailhouse
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Videos and posts
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Cenote Jailhouse Driven Divers - Cenote Jailhouse - Tulum Cave Diving Cave diving in cenote Jailhouse HD Cenote Jailhouse
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Other people's footage, not advice: how someone else dives here says nothing about what suits your team. Dive within your training.
The dive
The first metres have zero visibility. After that you see tannin-brown walls above the halocline and a steep silt slope, and reach the richly decorated Swiss Gallery.
Part of Sistema Ox Bel Ha. Also in this system: Mayan Blue (Escondido), Naharon (Cristal), Yax Chen (Ox Bel Ha), Corazón del Paraíso, Odyssey (Ox Bel Ha)
Profile and sections
The first metres have zero visibility. After that you see tannin-brown walls above the halocline and a steep silt slope, and reach the richly decorated Swiss Gallery. Highlights are the Swiss Syphon and the 'fireplace' in the deep tunnel (T right, first jump left). The water is clear from late Oct to early April.
Jailhouse is the entrance to Muknal and Las Palmas. It lies in Sistema Naranjal (Spanish: ‘orange grove’), since 2011 part of Sistema Ox Bel Ha (Maya: ‘three paths of water’): 496.8 km surveyed, down to -57.3 m (QRSS, Jan 2025).
Practical: fee about 200 MXN cash.
- Depth and profile
- Down to about -29 m; halocline about -18 m
- Configuration
- All configurations; narrow passages between columns in the Swiss Gallery
- DPV: DPV-suitable
- Big tannic and saltwater tunnels into Naranjal/Ox Bel Ha; multistage scooter dives are done. Silty entry slope, narrow Swiss Gallery
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
- Goes down to 29 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
- Experienced divers only
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
South of Tulum: past Mayan Blue via jungle tracks to a locked gate — check in Tulum beforehand whether the gate is open and collect the key at a grocery shop with blue-painted walls (20.2082, -87.4669). Tables, stone steps, palapa with a cave map. The owner dug out the pool in 2022 (wild atmosphere gone).
Around Jailhouse (Las Palmas)
Fills3 fill stations · nearest 3 km
Third Dimension Diving
Calle Chemuyil Mz 14 Lt 01, Mayapax, Tulum
EAN32, HP O₂, deco gases and any trimix (booster); Sofnolime 797 and Intersorb; prefilled trimix bailout for rent
Unknown — call
Rental of backmount, sidemount, CCR cylinders, Suex scooters and stages. In Tulum (Mayapax neighbourhood, west of the 307).
ProTec Tulum
Av. Satélite / Calle Tun-Kul, Tulum
Air, EAN32, O₂ up to 200 bar, trimix on request (booster); Sofnolime 797 always in stock
Daily 8–19
Rental of CCR, scooters, sidemount and double cylinders; CCR room for 14 units. ProTec Playa merged into Tulum in 2026. Keys for Xa'ay Ha (Chi Keen) and Doggi/Style (Muyil) are collected here.
Ko’ox Diving (Tulum)
Tulum
Air, nitrox, O₂ and helium mixes (He about US$2/cf)
Daily 7:30–21:00
Fills CCR, stage and double cylinders; cave gear for rent. Card payment accepted. The site also lists a Puerto Aventuras branch (Hwy 307 km 269.5, 7:30–21:00), but it is not on Google Maps — ask whether it exists and fills.
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News
All (5)
Nearby
Articles about cave diving that name a place within 25 km of this site, but no cave by name. They're not necessarily about this site.
- A Diver Found a Skeleton at Least 8,000 Years Old Hidden 26 Feet Underwater in a Flooded Cave in Mexico ↗
- Cave-divers find trapped spearfisher alive after 15 days ↗
- Cave diving is fraught with danger, but the reward is sights like nothing else on Earth ↗
- INAH files legal complaint for diver damage to underwater archaeological site in Tulum cave ↗
- A Diver Found 8,000-Year-Old Human Remains Deep Inside an Underwater Cave ↗
Access and rules change: check what applies locally right before your trip. Source: GDELT Project and the news feeds of diving magazines. Search for more news ↗ Searched automatically, last on 11 Nov 2026.
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