The grandest monument in the Yucatan. Part 2

Although if we were to complain about it, we’d have to say that it was a little hot. Oppressively hot. Hot like an oven, but without the freshly baked chocolate chip biscuits. Simply hot for no reason. Like a relaxing afternoon in the fiery furnaces of hell. So you know. A little toasty.

Despite the heat, we found our few days of peace and quiet in Izamal to be just what we needed, we were refreshed, re-energised, relaxed and this meant we were ready for adventure.

First stop. Some cenotes.

Off to investigate a cenote. But what is a cenote, you may ask… is it even safe to go in there?

For those of you not in the know, cenotes are big holes in the ground full of water. You might be thinking “Isn’t that just a pond?”. Well yes, and no. They are better than ponds.

A cenote is a sinkhole formed in limestone rock and naturally filled with fresh groundwater. Some are open to the sky above and others remain closed over with a rock roof with only small openings to gain access by. There are countless cenotes dotting the landscape of the Yucatan Peninsula.

The quality and size of cenotes varies greatly, some are extremely popular and busy with built up infrastructure around them and some lesser known with little or no surrounding infrastructure. Stopping at every cenote for a swim would be like stopping at every Mayan ruin in the Yucatan. It would take ages and unless you are a true cenote (or Mayan ruin) buff you would probably find half of them to be pretty disappointing.

Our friends George and Jenine (TRAVELING THE AMERICAS) had visited Tres Cenotes in Cuzuma and enjoyed their time there, so we decided to follow their lead.

After a night camping in the car park at the entrance to the cenotes, we were ready bright and early in the morning to take the first tour of the day, this meant that not only did we get to visit three fabulous cenotes, but we had them all to ourselves. It did mean we had to wait around for a bit while everyone got the horses washed and their carts set up.

Yes, that’s right, horses. There is no need to walk the few kilometres between the car park and the three different cenotes, the local community have set up a small rail track plied by guides with horses and carts. These horses seemed pretty happy with their job and appeared to have been well fed.

Fed, washed and given a refreshing beverage I might add.

First stop, the cenote with the most interesting entrance.

A pretty covert Indiana Jones style entrance to an underground pool. No Staff of Ra required.

Inside this particular cenote, the swimming wasn’t that spectacular, the guide held a torch while we swum out into the dark cave. But at least it was a bit more impressive than the muddy puddle we had visited in Cuba. We were hoping the next two looked a little more like the cenotes on the brochures.

Which they did.

Ok, now we’re impressed.

Jumping in to the cool, deep, clear water was like entering another world, the shimmering light from the natural skylights above danced on the water’s surface and twinkled below. Tiny fish darted about in the turquoise water. The water was so clear that it looked shallow, but any attempt to dive to the bottom soon made it abundantly clear that this was some very deep water. We were told it was over 30m deep, but couldn’t reach the bottom to check.

The final cenote (which was actually the second one—the guide had taken us to visit them out of order so that we could enjoy time in each cenote all to ourselves) was even deeper and an impressive shade of azure blue.

The Yucatan does indeed have some hidden gems.

Next it was time for the true highlight of our time in the Yucatan.