Cenote Puerta Maya (Sistema Ah Kax Ha)
Cave diving in the Riviera Maya
- Max depth
- 24 m
- Type
- Sidemount
- Certification (estimate)
- Cavern
System with four cenotes (Puerta Maya/27 Steps, Avícola, Ah Kax Ha and Selva Azul) and more than 7 km of surveyed passage; named after the 27 stone Maya steps down to the water.
System with four cenotes (Puerta Maya/27 Steps, Avícola, Ah Kax Ha and Selva Azul) and more than 7 km of surveyed passage; named after the 27 stone Maya steps down to the water. Reopened to divers after years of closure; the survey is being redone since December 2022 and is not yet complete. The owner wants the cavern line used for training, not for cavern tours. The open water is murky and silts up a lot during the day; hydrogen sulphide swirls at the halocline.
- Depth and profile
- Cavern line ~200 m, -2 to -15 m; western cave lines to -24 m (average -18/-20 m); the eastern line starts at -14/-15 m and then gets shallower. Halocline around -14 m.
- Configuration
- Sidemount handy: an easy sidemount restriction between Ah Kax Ha and Puerta Maya.
- Access
- Just behind Akumal, ~10–15 min drive from Under the Jungle. Only for certified cavern and cave divers with a local guide, or with proven local experience and a reference from a local guide or instructor. Book a day ahead; pick up the key at Under the Jungle, sign a waiver and pay the landowner on site: 300 pesos per diver, guides free (Under the Jungle, Jan 2023).
- Intro level
- The western cave lines (average -18/-20 m); according to Under the Jungle a training site for intro to cave.
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Current conditions
Visibility, flow and water levels change quickly. Right before your dive, check what other divers report:
- Cave Diving and Exploration ↗
Large international group with many posts from the cenotes of Quintana Roo.
- Cave Diving Safe Guide Lines for the Riviera Maya ↗
About the lines and safety in the caves of the Riviera Maya (not very active).
- The Cenotes of the Riviera Maya – Mexico ↗
Group from Playa del Carmen about the cenotes and sustainable tourism (not very active). For current openings and fees the dive centres are the best source.
Plan a cave diving trip to the Riviera Maya
Enter your team, with certifications, gas and configurations, and see right away which caves fit. With driving times from your stay, fill stations and an AI instructor who thinks along.
Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training. Compiled from web research (CREER, cave-ha.com, opencaves.info, PSAI/QRSS, dive centres; Sept 2026). Map pins are Google Maps or opencaves.info locations (usually the entrance/car park); Ho-Tul, Camilo, Odyssey and Aerolito (Cozumel) have no pin, the Muyil pins are estimates. Drive times are calculated by road for each stay (OSRM, OpenStreetMap; normal traffic, spot-checked against Google Maps within about 4 min); ~ = estimate. Rules, status and fees change often — check locally.