We explored three different locations while at Akumal.
After biking along paths while experiencing Coba ruins, we cooled off underground in a cenote called Choo-Ha. There was nothing visible except a sign saying we had arrived upon driving down several jungle roads to our destination. After getting out of our rental car, we were advised to shower off by the local ticket master. It was all a bit mysterious. We walked down a short path and came to a set of stairs going into the ground through a hole in the layers of limestone. Trekking down, we came to a large cavern with electrical lights and a bit of natural light from the staircase. Stalactites and stalagmites were all over the room. Roots came through the rocks from above and made their way into the water below - amazing strength and determination to twist their way through rocks. Made me think about the verses in Psalms that talk about being like a tree with roots that grow into the stream and therefore didn't need to worry about droughts or heat. The fresh water was cool, clear and deep. There were little black catfish swimming with us - snorkel masks were used to probe their habitat. The water's bottom was covered in pebbles and larger slabs of rock. For a while, we were there all on our own as others came and stayed for 10 or 20 minutes and then left. No need to worry about a sunburn down there! We left feeling refreshed.
Not all cenotes are dark and completely underground. We drove to Zacil-Ha - a cenote hole that was quite a bit smaller than Choo-Ha, but much more developed for an all-day experience. The small cenote with fresh water, no swimming fish and about 3 meters depth had a place to cannonball in, staircases for those with less enthusiasm and a zipline for the ultimate splash. We all chose our method of entry and enjoyed the sunshine while swimming or splashing. Meritt found a loop-hole in the Mexican system of charging 10 pesos per time and was able to enjoy multiple zipline adventures. There was a small cave on one side of the cenote where the sun reflected on the water. Other families were spending the day as well. The smell of a coal bbq, the sound of often-listened-to contemporary songs and the chatter of Spanish all mingled together. One local family close to our table was cooking up fish for tacos - they used salt to encase fish and bbq'ed them that way to steam the fish to delish. Soft tacos, pico de gallo and a bit of lime drizzled on the fish tasted amazing when they gave us one to try.
At Yal-Ku laguna, we experienced a cenote that was connected to the ocean with fresh water flowing into the small lagoon and thousands of fish exploring their surroundings as they moved out of the ocean and into the safety of the shallower water and many rocky hide-outs. Snorkel masks allowed us to enter into the world underwater - although even standing on the edge and looking in from above was a feast of colour, movement and beauty from all the fish species. None of us have ever had that kind of experience before - it felt like swimming in a completely full fish aquarium with many different schools of fish. Parrot fish over a meter long dove and darted - we could hear them chewing as they nibbled the rocks for algae. A white jelly fish gracefully moved away from us. Schools of the bright blue tangs, the flashing silver of white mullet, and the stripped black sargeant majors all welcomed us to their home. We enjoyed this place so much, we went back a second time. This snorkel experience will be hard to beat - it was incredible!
It would have been fun to visit many more cenotes. It seems that the few we did see were quite different from each other. We didn't get to go to a cenote with alligators in it. We skipped cenotes that were connected with theme parks because we didn't want to part with $150 USD per person. There are many cenotes that require scuba gear and contain multiple rooms and underground rivers connecting them. Bats find ways to sleep in the coolness of cenotes - and we skipped those because I'm not at all a fan of bats (although there were a couple of bats swooping in Choo-Ha - but they stayed far from my splashing children). Maybe we'll have to go back, find a new one and give it a fun name - like Mer-Ku or Twy-Ha...there was one called Car Wash Cenote - so we could be original too!
Still following your adventures. Thanks for letting me travel along.
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