Playa del Carmen - The Shining Star of the Riviera Maya (Part 2)

By John Flanders, Master Instructor / Instructor Trainer
Maxden Regalado, GeoFish Dive Center, Playa del Carmen
January 13, 2009 - Posted to AcademyOfScuba.com
jflanders@academyofscuba.com

As you wake up, it felt like you were dreaming of your beautiful dive the day before.  However, today is your day to dive the famous Mayan Cenotes.  Most divers have heard the names: Dos Ojos, Taj Maha, Car Wash and more.  The stigma of cave diving causes a ripple of fear through even the mildest claustrophobic.   An unwarranted, but healthy fear.

Cenotes have long been the principal sources of water in much of the Yucatán Peninsula. The region has almost no rivers and only a few lakes, and those often marshy. Cenotes are widely distributed, and supply better-quality water year-round. Major Maya settlements required access to adequate water supplies, and therefore cities, including the famous Chichén Itzá, were built around these natural wells. Some cenotes like the Cenote of Sacrifice in Chichén Itzá played an important role in Maya rites. Believing that these pools were gateways to the afterlife, the Maya sometimes threw valuable items into them. The discovery of golden sacrificial artifacts in some cenotes led to the archaeological exploration of most cenotes in the first part of the 20th century. Edward Herbert Thompson, an American diplomat who had bought the Chichén Itzá site, began dredging the Sacred Cenote there in 1904. He discovered human skeletons and sacrificial objects confirming a local legend, the Cult of the Cenote, involving human sacrifice to the rain gods (Chaacs) by ritual casting of victims and objects into the cenote.

The Cenotes are fresh water sinkholes made up of limestone that form when the roof of an underground cave collapses. It is then filled by rainwater and the underground river systems.  Since 1904, over 2,000 Cenotes have been discovered and there is estimated to be thousands more that lie on private property and undiscovered.

The lure of finding some undiscovered treasure has run its course.  However, the Mayans are now throwing a more valuable commodity into the Cenotes --- Scuba divers.  

While some technical divers come to explore the inner depths of the Cenotes, generally, the majority of the Cenote diving is considered recreational cavern diver.  There are “main lines” laid down and a guide, usually with a very powerful light, guides the way.  Getting the Cenotes is an adventure in its own.  Usually, you are traveling on a dirt road through a dense Yucatan forest.  Keep your eyes peeled, there are jaguars running wild through the woods.  Upon your arrival, most of the commercial Cenotes are set up nicely for diving.  Tables for setting up your gear, manicured walkways and usually steps with railings.  Be careful on the steps!

As you approach the final step and look off into the meandering well, you can’t help but think about the native people who had tread upon these rocks centuries before you.  Their motivation was fresh water, which was synonymous with life to these early settlers.  Your motivation is exploration.  To venture off on an expedition of which very few divers have ever attempted. To lurk around corners and peer into the blackness of an age that has disappeared into extinction.

On the surface, your trained dive guide points to the entrance below the surface.  From your vantage point, it looks like you couldn’t squeeze a pancake through there.  That mild claustrophobic fear that you stored away is percolating again.  Why am I doing this? Splash, you are in the well.  As you float at the surface, waiting for everyone, you peer down at the opening through your mask.  A lot bigger than you thought.  In fact, you could drive a small truck through it.  Your heartbeat falls back into double digits.  The dive guide signals you to turn on your light and deflate your BCD.  With regulator in mouth, you venture into the mouth of the beast.

It’s impressive how much light comes in through the opening.  It reflects off the rocks and the trees and has a beautiful hue to it.  A greenish tinge.  As you look back, it seems like a waterfall of light is pouring into the mouth of the cave.  A light show seldom seen anywhere else in the world.  Each little crack in the rocks allows a small pouring of light into the dark waters below.  ‘Beautiful’ just doesn’t describe it.  Stunning is an understatement.  You stare awestruck, when you see your small caravan of cavern buddies start to swim away.

All of you are following a “golden line” laid down by one of the brave expedition divers who mapped out the Cenote.  You are in the cavern portion of the Cenote.  As a non-cave diver, you must always stay within view of a natural light source, or exit.  Never more than 130’ (30m) from the exit.  Most of your dive you are in 30 to 40 feet of water. The cavern has a collection of stalagmites and stalactites that look like a scene from Journey to the Center of the Earth.  As you start to relax and stop looking at your gauge every three seconds, you’ll notice the architecture of this Cenote is like nothing you have ever seen.  You think the only comparable is a far off planet.  The Cavern is a big room.  Generally, much bigger than any swim through or wreck you’ve been inside. There is no claustrophobic feeling.  It’s huge inside this cave.  You wonder why you were so nervous and excited that this will not be your last Cenote dive.

At some point, you turn around.  The visibility inside this Cenote is pristinely clear.  Like nothing you have ever seen before.  Now you know why they say the Cenote’s water is clearer than glass. You’ve been in for a bit.  The light source from behind is getting dimmer.   Glad you have that flashlight (or two) with you.  However, you note that it is getting brighter, not darker.  As you look ahead towards your dive guide, you notice you are approaching an exit.  Interesting, you don’t remember turning around. As you get closer to the exit, you notice the beautiful waterfalls of light.  Much different than the entrance. Roots from trees above, penetrate the roof of the cavern and they soak in the fresh water.  You come up slowly and realize that you are ascending in a different Cenote well.  Truly amazing!  

As you come to the surface, you notice this well does not have the same hustle and bustle of the entrance, teaming with divers getting ready to enter the system.  It’s quiet.  You take your mask off to share your exhilaration with your fellow divers. Something makes you whisper.  As you smell the incense and see the Shaman walking around, you understand, these wells were once holy places.  A place of reverence.  You respect those times and people.  There will be a time a place to share your experience.  Now, it is time to head back.   You check your air, head down and back to the entrance.

Your first Cenote dive is a truly magical experience.  It’s as close to diving in a different world as it gets. As you ride back from the Cenotes, the truck is a little quieter.  You are soaking in this amazing experience.  This afternoon, your plan is a nice nap on a beach chair followed by a great dinner.  Tomorrow, you dive the Mama Vina!

Story Continues - Click Here - Playa del Carmen - The Shining Star of the Riviera Maya (PART 3)