Tulum Cenotes

Sun 8 Oct: Today's experince is the main reason we came to Mexico and especially the Yucatan Peninsula - cenotes. Cenotes are natural swimming holes formed when limestone collapses revealing a hidden pool of water. There are over 6000 cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula, and about 200 around Tulum ranging in entrance price of about NZ $3 to $80. So the hardest part is trying to decide which ones to go to. After reading through blogs etc we choose to visit Cenote Azul (45 mins north) and Taak Bi Ha (30 mins north) today. Again we got up at 7 am to try and avoid the crowds, so we reached Azul about 8.30 am and were the first ones there. We were initially keen on doing closed in or cave type Cenotes, and Azul is an open cenote surrounded by beautiful jungle, and I'm so pleased we decided to still do it. It was gorgeous - crystal clear water and the setting was just so serene especially before the crowds came. Also enjoyed seeing the birds and lizards in the jungle. Doug had a sighting of some strange animal, and got a bit of a unclear video of it, we think it was a Central American Agouti. I started to take some photos with my camera, when one of the workers motioned that wasn't allowed. I was a bit perplexed, as there were no signs saying no photos, but he obviously had no English so I wasn't able to get an explanation - just waited for him to go and was a bit more discreet until people started arriving and all were busy taking photos with their cellphones, so I thought it mustn't have been a rule. However when we stopped at the entry to Cenote Dos Ojos probably the most well known cenote, on the way to Taak Bi Ha there was a sign saying if you want to take camera in you have to pay MX$300 pesos (NZ$30) as it is "professional equipment", so that probably explains why at Azul he didn't like me using the camera, I will just have to get with the times and just use a cellphone or I will be classed as a professional photographer 🤔. Anyway back to Azul, we had a wonderful 3.5 hrs swimming, water was a lovely refreshing temperature (about 24°C), snorkeling - quite amazed at the number and size of the fish in it, getting nibbled by the fish feeding of our dead skin, jumping of the 3.5 m bank, enjoying the sun, and watching the crowds especially those getting the courage to do the jump in. Our first Cenote experience and it more than lived up to our expectations. So we left just after midday for Cenote Taak Bi Ha. You have to drive down the side road which leads to the very popular Dos Ojos, but they have a barrier at the start of the road, making you go into the information and ticket area, which also makes you think that Dos Ojos is the only option, but at 400 pesos for 2 of the ponds or 800 pesos to also have a guided trip into the "bat cave", and also having to wear life jackets all the time we were not that keen. So Doug went back in asking about Taak Bi Ha, and was told yes that was ran by a Mayan Community and you accessed it down the same road. So we headed there and again was so pleased with our choice. Still not cheap at 350 pesos each or NZ$35 but it was so wow and so totally different to anything we have done before. It's small entrance just below the ground surface leads to a staircase down in to the most incredible limestone cave, complete with stalactites, hanging vines and bat's and the most incredible clear water. We thought Azul was clear until we saw this. It really was just wow wow wow. Spent a couple of hours there, and as we were getting ready to leave, they were bringing a whole lot of gear down and setting it up for a wedding ceremony, which would be just amazing. Got back to Tulum about 4.30 pm, certainly clean after all our swimming but also hungry as we hadn't had lunch, so decided to go to the supermarket to get a baguette to have an early dinner. Also brought a waterproof pouch for Doug's cellphone so we can use that in future for some water shots. Great day, and a busy night sorting the over 500 photos.Leer más