Angelita

Angelita is one of the most unusual cenotes on the Riviera Maya. I was lucky to get to visit Angelita as there have been problems lately with armed groups of men robbing divers at the dive site. We had to arrange for an armed escort to protect us and our belongings while diving. When you look into Angelita from above, the water appears murky, but this is an illusion caused by what is to be found below.


		Angelita is unique first because it is nothing more than a straight vertical pit which descends to 180 feet where there is a rubble pile that sticks back up the center to 90 feet. It doesn’t sound like much of a dive.
	Entry to the cenote is gained by jumping fully geared off a ten foot ‘cliff’ into the water. Hang on to your gear because the next stop for whatever you drop is 180 feet down. Once you start your descent, it’s best to just follow the rays of light clearly visible in the water straight down till you hit 90 feet and the true uniqueness of Angelita. At 90 feet you reach what appears to be the bottom, but remember, that’s still another 90 feet down




	Created by sulphur in the surrounding rocks, a cloud forms at the halocline interface giving the impression of the bottom. Tree limbs and rubble stick up through the cloud where the rubble pile extends upward to the 90 foot level.

As you descend through the cloud it looks like you’re standing on the bottom, but that’s just an illusion. Once through the two to three foot thick cloud, the light goes away suddenly, and you are in cave conditions without even being able to see enough to determine up. Then, coming back through your light can only be seen after you are half way through the cloud.

Since this ends up being a deco dive, you can spend the time ascending checking out the formations that hang down the walls. There is a line set at 30 feet to let you follow it around the wall as you decompress.


	There is a small swim through cave at about 45 feet which is about 20 feet long. There are several varieties of stalagtite and flowstone formations as well.


	There’s good news and bad when you surface. The good news is that you don’t have to climb out the cliff you jumped off. The bad news is the nearly verticl set of natural stone steps which require pulling yourself up with a rope in order to climb. If you ever thought your gear was heavy, this will prove it to you.

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