Cenote Aktun Ha (Carwash)
Level 1 - Starter: CREER cenote level (guided cavern diving) [1] [2] (CREER describes Level 1 cenotes as shallow, with few depth changes, wide passages and constant natural light.). Zero-visibility and lost-line drills permitted on listed lines: CREER approved cave training site [3] (Upstream to Luke's Hope, Room of Tears line, first 60 m of main downstream line; lost-line drills on first 100 m of upstream line.). These categories are the named scheme's own; they describe the training a site calls for.
The main entrance to Sistema Carwash, rated Level 1 (Starter) by CREER for guided cavern tours and one of the few sites where cave instructors may run zero-visibility and lost-line drills.
Cenote Aktun Ha, universally called Carwash, is the entrance to the 3,232 m Sistema Carwash. CREER rates it Level 1 (Starter), its easiest category for guided cavern tours, and lists both cavern and cave diving as open.
Carwash is one of the handful of caves where CREER's training rules allow instructors to run high-impact drills: zero-visibility exercises on the upstream line up to Luke's Hope, the Room of Tears line and the first 60 m of the main downstream line, and lost-line drills on the first 100 m of the upstream cave line. CREER's 2024 line-repair list also called for heavier #48 line on the first 200 m of training caves.
As of January 2026 Aktun Ha was one of three cenotes accepting CREER's guide certificate as documentation for annual guide registration.
The environment
Open cenote leading to shallow cave passages upstream and downstream; heavily used for training.
For orientation, not navigation. Hollow dots are approximate.
Every fact on this page, with its source (7)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CREER rates Aktun Ha - Carwash as Level 1 (Starter), with cavern and cave diving listed as open.Ratings page viewed 2026-10-14. | Verified | [1] [2] |
| CREER's training rules permit zero-visibility drills at Carwash on the upstream line up to Luke's Hope, the Room of Tears line to the Crystal Palace jump and the first 60 m of the main downstream line, and lost-line drills on the first 100 m of the upstream cave line.Rules dated 2020-12-14. | Verified | [3] |
| CREER Level 1 requires a minimum age of 15 and open-water certification with recent experience, with at most 4 divers per guide. | Verified | [2] |
| In January 2026 Aktun Ha (Carwash) accepted the CREER certificate as valid documentation for annual guide registration. | Verified | [7] |
| CREER's April 2024 line-repair list called for installing #48 line on the first 200 m (600 ft) of training caves. | Verified | [6] |
| Under the Jungle lists Carwash among its Level 1 guided cavern sites.Provider's own grouping, January 2026. | Reported | [5] |
| CREER says single-tank cavern diving is allowed only at designated cavern sites under a qualified local guide, and that divers without cave training must not be taken into the cavern zone of caves that are not designated cavern tour sites.CREER guidance dated 2025-06-20. | Verified | [4] |
Verified: stated by an official or primary source we opened. Reported: from a secondary source only. Sources conflict: the note gives both versions. May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.
Written in our own words from the sources above. Report a correction