One of the appeals of cenotes for scuba divers is they are all very different, and mysterious. As you dive in a cenote you will encounter unusual rock and stalactites formations and light effects. Some of them even have artifacts and bones. Cenotes are a diving experience like no other!
Scuba divers know that the surreal experience of cenotes is enhanced by the nitrogen narcosis they experience, otherwise known as “Martini Law” which states that for every 10 feet they descend it feels like they just drank 1 martini. This high feeling makes cenotes even more fun.
For those divers that appreciate the surreal experience of cave diving, Cenote Angelita is a must visit. Some people call Angelita “the nightmare” which is a perfect description for the experience of diving it. To find out why the Maya thought the cenotes were the route to the underworld, dive this cenote.
From above, Angelita doesn’t look like much. You have to hike out into the jungle to get to it, and when you get there it just looks like a circular shaped dirty pond. You will notice right away the stench, a rich smell of sulphur.
Jumping into the pond you discover it is actually a deep pit that goes straight down. As you descend into the nightmare the light of day disappears. Beams of sunlight transform into an otherworldly green shine through the algae. Creepy tree roots grow out from the sides of the cavern. Looking down you will see what appears at first to be a sandy beach bottom to the pit with ghostly branches sticking out of it. But this not a bottom at all. It is a halcoline, a murky cloud of decomposed matter that is trapped between freshwater above it and salt water below it.
For the next part of your decent you drop right into this cloud, which is very cool because while you are inside of it you can’t see anything except for your flashlight beam and the beams of the people you are diving with. You might also see glimpses of branches and leaves floating in the mist. At this point you are quite deep into the pit so nitrogen narcosis affects your emotions and perceptions.
Finally you emerge out the bottom of the mist into the saltwater beneath. Now there is very little light this deep into the pit. You see a back abyss stretching below you down into the underworld. At his point you will want to start your accent back to the land of the living and exit this nightmare before you are swallowed by it.
Angelita is an advanced deep dive and suitable for experienced scuba divers.