Cenote Angelita is a deep vertical cenote, about 60 m, beside Highway 307 about 16 km south of Tulum. Around 28 to 35 m down a cloud of hydrogen sulfide sits above the salt water, which gives it the 'underwater river' look divers come for. It is for scuba divers only, with a local guide and Advanced Open Water certification.
Cenote Angelita is a deep vertical cenote beside Highway 307, about 16 km south of Tulum on the way to Muyil. It is about 60 m deep, and at roughly 28 to 35 m a layer of hydrogen sulfide gas hangs above the salt water, so from above it looks like a river running along the bottom. Angelita is for scuba divers only, with a local guide; walk-in swimmers are not accepted. Operators ask for Advanced Open Water certification and recent dives.
Angelita is Spanish for “little angel”. Where the name comes from is not documented.
Checked October 2026:
| Where | Hwy 307, between Tulum and Muyil |
| Drive | 15.9 km, about 15 min (free-flow estimate) |
| Depth | About 60 m |
| Sulfide cloud | About 28 to 35 m, sitting on the salt layer |
| Guided dive limit | About 30 to 33 m |
| Requirements | Advanced Open Water, recent dives, local guide |
| Site fee | Not published; about US$25 plus dive fees (one Oct 2026 guide) |
Fees for dive sites are even less settled than swim fees. The cenote entrance fees guide explains how to check.
You descend through the fresh water at the top. Around 28 to 35 m you reach the cloud, a layer of hydrogen sulfide, and below it lies the denser salt water. The cloud is what gives Angelita its “underwater river” look.
Because the dive goes to about 30 m, it is a deep dive rather than a cavern dive. Operators keep guided dives to about 30 to 33 m and want proof of recent diving. Good buoyancy control matters more here than at the shallow cavern sites.
Rain on the Yucatán soaks through the limestone and floats on top of salt water that seeps in from the sea. The boundary between them is the halocline. Divers see it as a blurry, shimmering layer, and it is visible at several cenotes near Tulum. Near the coast it sits about 10 to 20 m below the water table; inland it is much deeper. At Angelita the hydrogen sulfide collects on top of that salt layer.
You can see a shallow halocline, at about 3 m, while snorkelling at Casa Cenote. The what is a cenote guide covers how the fresh and salt layers form.
Book with a dive shop; a local guide is required. Some operators pair Angelita with Casa Cenote on the same day, and one operator’s listing sells exactly that combination. The cenote diving guide covers certification levels and how to choose an operator.
No GetYourGuide product we checked dives Angelita. The pick on this page is the closest match: a deep dive in The Pit at Dos Ojos, which also passes through a halocline and a hydrogen sulfide cloud, at 25 m.
Drive south on Highway 307 toward Muyil and the Sian Ka’an reserve. The cenote is beside the highway. Coordinates differ between map sources, so follow your dive shop rather than a map pin. The Tulum cenote map shows the point we use, and the getting around Tulum guide covers driving south of town.
Cenote Cristal and Escondido are back toward Tulum on Highway 307 and are open to swimmers. Laguna Kaan Luum, a lagoon with a deep sinkhole in the middle, is on the same road. For dives north of town, see Dos Ojos. The where to stay in Tulum guide covers bases near the dive shops. Every cenote is on the Tulum cenote guide homepage, and tours are on the tours page.
5 hours
For advanced-certified divers: a deep dive in The Pit through the halocline and the hydrogen sulfide cloud at 25 m, then a cavern dive in Dos Ojos.
No pickup: meet on site
from$230
Check availability5.5 hours
Two guided cavern dives on different lines at Dos Ojos for Open Water divers, with lights and 5 mm wetsuits supplied and groups of four at most.
No pickup: meet on site
from$199
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
No. Angelita is a dive site, not a swimming cenote. Operators and guides say you need to come with a local dive guide, and walk-in visitors are not accepted. One listing claims swimmers can enter without a guide, but that looks like a mix-up with another cenote. If you want to swim, go to Casa Cenote or Cristal and Escondido instead.
It is a layer of hydrogen sulfide sitting at about 28 to 35 m, resting on top of the denser salt water below. Seen from above, the milky layer looks like a river running along the bottom of the cenote, which is what divers come to see. Guided dives go down to about 30 to 33 m, so you reach the layer without going far below it.
Operators ask for Advanced Open Water certification and recent diving experience, because the dive goes to about 30 m. Guided dives stop at about 30 to 33 m. Angelita is not a cavern dive; it is a deep open-water dive inside a vertical shaft, so buoyancy control and depth experience matter more than cave training.
A halocline is the boundary between fresh water and salt water. In the cenotes on this coast, rainwater floats on top of heavier sea water that seeps in underground. Where they meet, the water looks blurry and shimmering. Near the coast the halocline sits about 10 to 20 m below the water table.
Angelita does not publish a site fee. An October 2026 guide gives about US$25 plus dive fees, and older dive-operator lists give about 300 to 400 MXN for the site alone. The dive itself is booked through a dive shop, which adds guide, tanks and gear. Ask the shop whether the site fee is included.
Cenote Dos Ojos, the two eyes cenote, is a pair of cenotes joined by a large cavern in Parque Dos Ojos, about 22 km north of Tulum off Highway 307.
Casa Cenote, also called Cenote Manatí, is an open mangrove channel at Tankah Tres, about 11 km north of Tulum by road, linked underground to the sea.
Cenote Cristal and Cenote Escondido are two quiet open cenotes facing each other across Highway 307, about 4.8 km south of Tulum town.