Mexican Caribbean Cenotes

From the depths of the earth emerge small pools of authentic millenary magic called Cenotes in the Mexican Caribbean.

The Mexican Caribbean has always been full of incredible landscapes of turquoise waters and endless white sand beaches.

Along with it all the options of activities that revolve around the sea: fishing, swimming, diving, sailing and many more. And it would seem that in this infinite universe one could not ask for more.

Well, in the case of the Mexican Caribbean it doesn't end there. The platform that makes up the Yucatan Peninsula keeps in its depths wonders and authentic paradisiacal oasis.

History

In their time they were what allowed the survival of the first men who walked on these lands.  

At that time the landscape was very different, the climate, the sea, the fauna and flora.

Everything has changed in such a way that today there is no visible trace of that era. Many of these places breathed within Mesolithic caves and cave systems.

We are talking about the Cenotes. A source of the most valuable resource of our planet; water. 

For this reason, in pre-Hispanic times, they were the support of the civilizations and human settlements that spread in the area.  

The Mayan culture was molded around these water reservoirs and they were intimately linked to their cosmogony and many rites revolved around them.

Formation of the Cenotes of the Mexican Caribbean

The origin of the cenotes is caused precisely by the composition of the soil (karstic), which for thousands of years has absorbed the water from the rains filtering into its interior, giving rise to real subway rivers that erode the stone until at some points it collapses and creates an open cenote.

There are many others whose origin is still difficult to decipher and there are theories that relate them to meteorites and cataclysms that culminated with the extinction of the dinosaurs. 

There are several institutions that have made estimates of the number of cenotes that exist in the Yucatan Peninsula, giving an approximate figure of 10,000.  

I personally believe that the number could easily pass that figure, but we are still on the way to discovering the true extent.

Exploration

It is in this region that the largest explored subway river systems in the world have been recorded (Sac Actun System with 374 km).  

And every year they keep adding up. 

Today there are several organizations dedicated to the exploration, study and conservation of these sites, including: https://www.cindaq.org/, whose findings have changed the perception of human evolution.

Among them is the discovery of mining activity in the area dating back more than 12,000 years.

The Ochre mine made a complete turnaround in scientific circles by gaining access to a perfectly preserved photograph of the social organization and structure and technological resources found beneath the groundwater.

It is also thanks to explorers of the stature of Guillermo de Anda that these places have become internationally famous through their participation in National Geographic.

My experience

I have a particular and special relationship with these places. In my days as an active diver, I was fortunate enough to be able to swim in the depths of subterranean rivers.

I can tell you out loud the wonders that I have been able to admire, from the remains of ancestral fires in completely flooded passageways, cemeteries of extinct fauna, bones belonging to the first settlers, stone formations that exceeded my imagination, and also the remains of pre-Hispanic practices of sacrifice.

An infinity of millenary marks, which were preserved until curiosity and the impulse of human exploration came to find them.

Present Time, Real Estate and Cenotes of the Mexican Caribbean

Although at one time these places were remote and difficult to access (I remember them perfectly well as a child), they were places surrounded by magic and mystery, the native inhabitants always related them to divine forces and the underworld.

Past our current era, today they have become true refuges for those seeking a place to refresh, rest or simply reconnect with a source as pure as there are few.

The development of resorts and tourist centers have reached these areas. In many cases they have been erased, in others they were simply surrounded by the urban stain, (If you visit Cancun there are still cenotes open to full view in different parts of the city).

One More Reason to Enjoy the Mexican Caribbean

Although the greatest concentration of cenotes in the Mexican Caribbean is in the area near Tulum, today the value and appreciation for these sites has completely changed. So many areas have been organized around them. And they have even become attractive elements within the same housing developments.

Anyone who has had the opportunity to bathe in a cenote will remember the invigorating sensation, the sheltered space, the more intense color of even the vegetation.

And if you are a little more daring than the rest, you will probably venture into its subway passages, and continue to discover its jealously guarded secrets for those who decide to venture.

Personally, I share with you that I have had periods in my life where I dream of these places.

The mark they left on me remains and every time I have the opportunity to visit a cenote in the Mexican Caribbean I feel blessed and grateful.

I hope you too can have that same opportunity to marvel and discover a new world in these microcosms. One more reason to look at the Mexican Caribbean with all the range of possibilities that make it unique.