Swim in crystal clear water in the heart of the jungle (Grand Cenote (Tulum, Mexico))

Member Name: k4ssie

Product:	Grand Cenote (Tulum, Mexico)
Date:	28/07/09 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unique and memorable experience, great way to cool off, excellent value

Disadvantages: Not exactly Health & Safety central - beware of sharp rocks and sudden depth increases

I'm sure there are many technical explanations of what a Cenote (pronounced "say-no-tay") is, but the one that made sense to me is that they're like underground rivers where the cave ceiling has partly or completely collapsed, leaving the water open to the sky. This means that the water itself is crystal clear and rather on the cool side, and when you dive or snorkel there are often amazing underwater cave features (stalagmites and so on) in the limestone floor under the water. I believe they're only found much in Mexico and small areas of the Caribbean - i can only vouch for Mexico as that's where i was!

I thought the Cenotes sounded like a wonderful idea in theory, but I don't dive and am quite nervous of deep water so wasn't sure if i'd like it in practise. Before we left for Mexico I found it impossible to find any clear information about what to expect, so here's the poor swimmer's guide to the Grand Cenote.

Location

The Grand Cenote is about 10 minutes' drive from Tulum, and very easy to find - basically the whole area has one major road running north/south along the coast, with the occasional turnoff to go inland. We had a very rudimentary map in our Rough Guide and were easily able to spot the one we needed. The Cenote is on your right as you head away from Tulum, with just a couple of largish hand painted signs stuck at the end of a dirt car park to mark the entrance. There are various Cenotes all over the area, but from what i understand some of them are pretty much vertical wells more suited to divers than swimmers / snorkellers, and based on local recommendations i got the feeling that this one was prettiest as well as one of the larger ones.

Arrival and costs

We parked up and headed for the entrance, where we paid about £5 per adult to get in. You can also rent snorkels etc but i'm not sure of the costs as we had our own. The Cenote is essentially surrounded by sparse jungle, so there's a walk of maybe 100 yards to the steps which descend to the waterhole itself. The water level is about 15 feet below ground level, and at the bottom of the stone steps is a series of wooden decking platforms, some benches and a small hut where the snorkel gear guys hang out.

I was under the impression (from vague comments in guidebooks etc!) that there would be some kind of locker / changing room / bathroom arrangement available. Definitely not - the whole thing is a way from being that formal, it really is essentially a swimming hole which has been made accessible, but isn't any more developed than that. So you need to leave all your valuables in the car and bring just the minimum down with you. There were a few nooks and crannies around the platforms where you could stash a bag, so we just left our towels and stuff there.

The water
If you head leftwards on the platform walkways, at the end of the platform are a couple of ladders into the water, which is quite deep at this point - i could just about get a toe onto the larger rocks at the bottom, but it drops off quite sharply towards the entrance to a large (and rather dark and scary if you ask me!) cave. You can swim right into the cave, and there are bats flying around above you...i didn't spend too much time here because the water was dark and i have a monster phobia - for anyone who remembers the cave scene and the lake that Harry and Dumbledore crossed to get the horcrux in the latest Harry Potter, those creepy goblin things that appeared from underwater are pretty much what i always expected of dark lakes!

Towards the right hand side though there are more ladders and the water is shallower - leading to a beautiful "underground" section where you can swim from one pool to another through what is essentially a low roofed cave with waist-deep water throughout. Shafts of sunlight come in through gaps in the ceiling too, illuminating the blue water and sometimes reflecting off of the pale floor to light up the underwater features - it really is gorgeous here.

Beyond this section, there is a small sandy "island" surrounded by more water which is again open to the sky. At the edges of this area, the "floor" drops away very steeply as it approaches the side walls of the sinkhole, looking as though it leads into the centre of the earth - really amazing.

The whole complex is quite spacious and with the sunlight filtering down into it through the trees above, it doesn't feel claustraphobic at all. The water itself is definitely cool but not unpleasantly so, and it's crystal clear - basically fresh mineral water - so nicer for your skin than drying saltwater.


General tips

I would recommend having at least a snorkel and mask to be able to see what's going on under the water - the depth can change hugely just within a few feet, and because of the stalagmites and uneven floor, it would be easy to get a nasty scrape to your foot or leg if you were swimming blind. And because the underwater views are so stunning it'd be a shame to miss out on those, too!
Dive shoes are also really useful for keeping your feet safe on the rocky areas. Bearing all of this in mind, although there were children in the cenote, i'd certainly want to supervise them pretty closely if i was taking kids there.

If you have a cheap disposable waterproof camera, take that along too - i left my expensive dSLR in the car because i was worried about it getting damaged or stolen, but really wish now that i had some photos of the place.

Grand Cenote is also a great visit to combine with Tulum, because the ruins there are particularly baking hot and it's a nice way to stay out of the sun for the afternoon - in our case, despite using high factor sun cream, we both got burned at Tulum but didn't realise it until later in the day - heaven knows what we'd have looked like if we'd not spent the afternoon out of the sun and in cool water!

Overall, this was one of the many memorable experiences we had in Mexico, and i'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's going to be in the area. Floating in cool, fresh water looking up at the sky through a tunnel of jungle foliage isn't something you get to do every day.

Summary: An amazing place!