Australian technical diver Jonathon Di Cecco treats divers to an amazing tour of Cenote Nariz, located along the Yucatán Peninsula just outside of Tulum, Mexico.

“This cave system is amazing, filled with ancient decorations of hanging stalactites and stalagmites, crystal clear visibility and kilometers of flooded cave passage to explore,” Di Cecco says.

Mexico’s cave systems are some of the most extensive and beautiful in the world.

The cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula have fascinated people for thousands of years. To the ancient Maya peoples, these water-filled caves — connected to the largest underground river systems in the world — were portals to the underworld and the dwelling place of the rain god. Today they are a mecca for cave and cavern divers from all over the world.

This underground world exists thanks to the geology of the Peninsula, a massive slab of limestone. When rain falls on the porous rock, it doesn’t gather into rivers or lakes on the surface, but rather drains through like a sponge. Over millions of years, water dissolved channels in the rock, creating a maze of rivers and lakes underground. This unique landscape, which is also seen in Florida’s network of springs and underground rivers, is called a karst.

The cenotes themselves form when the roof of an underground chamber or tunnel collapses, creating an opening to the surface. Thousands of these sinkholes pockmark the Yucatan, each with its own personality. To learn more about diving the cenotes, click here.

Follow Di Cecco on Instagram @jdc_technical.

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