Description
Open Daily. The entrance fee for divers is 15 USD. Toilets are available. There is a small parking area but no tables to set up dive equipment. Access to the cenote is via a short walk from the parking area to a fairly steep set of stairs that leads down to a small platform at the water. Zapote has a maximum depth of 63m/208ft but the maximum depth allowed for Cavern Diving is 40m/130ft and we will stay within this limit. Halocline depth 30m/100ft.
![]() Cenote Zapote is named after the Sapote (from the Nahuatl “tzapotl”) trees growing nearby. The Sapote is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico measuring about 20m /70ft tall which are cultivated for their soft edible fruits, the medicinal oil obtained from their seeds and their wood.
This Cenote is located on the "Ruta de los Cenotes" the old road from Puerto Morelos to Valladolid. After following this road for exactly 20km you will see a large sign marking the turn off for "Kin Ha". From the turn off a dirt road leads out into the jungle for another 7 km. The last 2 km are fairly rough and hard work for the car. The Kin Ha property includes three Cenotes which can all be dived; Zapote, Hol Box and Kin Ha itself. Zapote and Holbox are the star attractions, Kin Ha although not as spectacular is still worth a dive. Zapote has quite a long drop from the land surface to the water surface of 6m/20ft but access is easy via a set of stairs. Zapote is another sinkhole cenote with the typical hourglass profile. Floating at the surface in the roughly circular pool the sheers walls rise above you like the ramparts of a fortress and once you start your descent they get progressively narrower until a depth of 20m/66ft before starting to open back up again. Again this is a dive for experienced divers because of the depth and good buoyancy control is essential to avoid uncontrolled descents or ascents. Once you reach a depth of 30m/100ft you will be above the talus cone in a bell shaped chamber with a narrow skylight in the top through which you just descended. Here you will encounter the Halocline together with a thin misty layer of Hydrogen Sulphide floating on top of it. As you pass through this layer you will be under the overhang of the cenote walls and confronted by some of the most amazing and incredible formations imaginable. Variously described as shower heads, bells, elephant feet or trumpets they will truly take your breath away with their strange beauty and impressive size. Definitely one of the most spectacular dives you will ever make. Key Data
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