Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Another Name For Sink Hole

When I visit my friend in Merida, one of the things we love to do is take day trips off to explore somewhere. On this particular day we headed out in the direction of Celestun, with the intention of just stopping at any place that caught our attention. We saw a sign for a cenote and headed in that direction.

I forget the name of this particular one. Something that started with Coc. Not very large but definitely part of an underground river system. I bet that water was icy cold!

Here is the entrance as seen from ground level.







Should you not already be wearing your bathing suit, or want to change out of a wet one, this very convenient changing room has been set up nearby.






To get to the water, it is necessary to descend a wooden ladder. The water in this cenote is crystal clear and perhaps only 15 feet deep.






Of course, you can just sit right on the lip of it and gaze down into the water and anybody bold enough to stand the cold water.









Like these people.







There is no age limit to enjoying a cenote. They are enjoyed by all members of the family.








A favorite pass time of the local youth, who get here by foot and bicycle, is jumping in. I must admit, it is a favorite of mine too. To watch, not to jump!








This particular system was strung with ropes for people to hang on to. You don't want to get sucked too far along with the current and maybe get trapped down there. A floatation device is usually a good idea too.






More jumpers.






There is a well worn path that leads to who knows where away from the cenote. Maybe a nearby village? At any rate, curiousity pulled us along it for aways.






And what should we discover but another entrance to one of the arms of this underground system. Of course, too small for humans to enter.







The sun must have sent a shaft of light down into the water through this hole. Almost everybody who was down there eventually found there way to this opening. It was fun to see who would show up next, unaware that they were being observed from above!







All in all, it was another hot, enjoyable adventure in the Yucatan. I hope to have more of them.

5 comments:

lisa said...

Oh wow, that is something I have never seen before, that is pretty cool. But just a little too cool for me! I hate the cold water, I don't get into the lakes up here unless it has been warm awhile. Great pictures!

Steve Cotton said...

Looking back on it, I wish we had tried some of the water when we were there. Maybe next time.

Anonymous said...

Cenotes have to be one of the strangest natural configurations of all...especially the one you visited .... with the wierd little peep hole ..... I'm assuming there was an air space from the larger opening to the smaller ....

This kinda stuff is bizarre....

O Robert

Anonymous said...

Is that one guy holding the rope in his hand while jumping? How fast was the water traveling through here? Love the pics!

Tancho said...

Now that is one inviting water hole. Definitively will put that down on my Merida list of things to do. Great to see such things down here, NOB it would be "off limits" way to dangerous. Here it is part of enjoyment of life!