Cenote Tortuga — Mega Tunnels and Ancient Wonders
GIANT, TANNIC, ANCIENT FRESHWATER TUNERLS AND BRILLIANT WHITE SALTWATER PASSAGES
I first went cave diving in Cenote Tortuga in 2016 after moving to Tulum to start what became my new life as a cave diving instructor. Still to this day I remember fondly the drive out to the cenote – the road had been little travelled and was overgrown with little trees and bushes. We had to constantly stop and cut back the overgrowth with machetes. Getting to the cenote, you see the small pool, which is generally pretty murky due to tannins leaching into the water, and algae growth over the summer. Around the cenote there was only jungle and swamp, and you really felt you were away from civilisation. No tables to gear up on, nor bathroom facilities, this is jungle diving! Descending down the silty slope to six meters (twenty feet) if you look up you will see the remains of a cow which fell into the cenote on a rock shelf. Continuing the descent, you pass through a restriction and then emerge into the main cave tunnel. And what a tunnel it is! Mega, epic, giant, dinosauric in size, however you look at it, it’s an impressive tunnel!
EXPLORATION HISTORY
Cave diving and the exploration of Cenote Tortuga began in the 1990s. Some of the primary explorers were: Ivan and Mary Cappelli, Sam Ferra, Steve Gerrard, Allen Jonushatis and Don Redinger. Since then many other divers have been in and added to the size of the cave. Notably, a connection was made between Tortuga and Kim Ha.
Wild tannic rooms in the freshwater cave.
The massive upstream tunnel terminates in breakdown around a blocked up cenote. There are frequent tannic domes in the cave, where the color of the water changes to yellow or even dark orange depending on the time of year and amount of standing water in the jungle. This water absorbs tannins from fallen leaves, and leeches down through the stone and into the cave. As you dive through the massive tunnels, the line winds through giant columns, while below you spaces between the boulders hint at a lower level of cave passage. Some of the formations are truly impressive in size. The further in you dive, the darker the passage becomes. Arriving at the second tee intersection, taking the right fork, you dive through the black tunnel. Here the walls and ceiling have been completely stained by tannins, light beams are absorbed by the blackness. But you can see how it would have been without the tannic acid in places where the floor drops deeper into the saltwater. Here the wall is brilliant white, and the freshwater ripples over the saltwater layer.
Massive white salt water tunnels.
To say that Tortuga has some pretty cool salt water passages would be a definite understatement! Not for nothing is one of these tunnels called ‘the Glory Run’! Big, white tunnels, with intricate formations on the sides leave a lot to be looked at on all sides. Diving the Glory Run, you cross under one of those cave features that also make me wonder how they formed – sometimes I think it looks like a plough, other times an alien spaceship! As you wind through the tunnel the cave changes in dimensions, before finally terminating in a collapse, when the tunnel loops back on itself. Rather than taking the Glory Run tunnel, by making a jump you can continue along in salt water a bit before the cave again shallows up.
Ancient sea turtle shells
Cenote Tortuga may not have the same amount of diving possibilities as other cenotes (being a relatively short cave system for Mexico), but it is pretty impressive. Two dives on just sidemount or back gas or a longer single or double stage dive are nice and lend themselves to seeing different sections of the cave. Due to the depths of the salt water tunnels, this is a site where decompression becomes a possibility. So when doing longer dives here I always bring oxygen to accelerate any decompression. So with a stage, knowing how to do decompression and having the training is definitely recommended.
While only a short drive from Tulum, Cenote Tortuga feels like an expedition out into the jungle. Each time I go back there now I still think fondly of the first time I dove there and how we had to clear the trees off the road. The cave is massively impressive with some really stunning formations. The colors and the difference between the fresh and salt water are really marked, making two dives here almost seem two completely different caves. The turtle shells provide an interesting glimpse into the ancient history of the area and make you wonder about how they arrived there. A beautiful place to spend a few hours underwater!
To see more of this amazing cave, check out the Somos los Somos Cenotes — Episode 18 — one of the coolest cave diving videos out there!