Calavera Cenote / Temple of Doom

Calavera Cenote, also known as Temple of Doom, lies near Tulum in Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula, part of the region's extensive freshwater cenote system connected to underground rivers cut through limestone bedrock. It is known for its distinctive entrance, a single opening with three holes in the collapsed rock ceiling that gives it the skull-like shape behind its name, through which sunlight drops into the cavern below. Divers typically descend past a shallow layer of fresh water into a visible halocline where it meets saltwater, creating a blurred, mixing effect before clearer water resumes below. Open water sections are accessible to recreational divers, while the deeper cave passages beyond the cavern zone require full cave certification due to overhead environment and line navigation. Depths in the open cavern area are commonly in the range of 3 to 10 metres, with cave sections extending considerably deeper and further from the entrance.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Southern StingrayHypanus americanusReported here · unconfirmed
• Caribbean Land Hermit CrabCoenobita clypeatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Green Sea TurtleChelonia mydasReported here · unconfirmed