Cenotes.
Cenotes.
an entrance to the underworld, and a story of the journey to paradise.
The ancient Mayans believed that a Cenote was the entrance to the underworld, it tells a story of reincarnation and a story of the journey to paradise. They come in all different shapes and sizes and are primarily found in the Yucatan peninsula and are all interconnected underwater that continues to astonish divers.
History
Around 18,000 years ago the sea levelled off and many caves around the Yucatan peninsula filled with water. Some of the ceilings of these caves fell in as the jungle above it got heavier and this is how we see the Cenotes we have today.
These Cenotes were extremely important to the Mayans as a source of water and also for sacrifices. They saw it as a gateway to the underworld and the paradise that came with it.
Visiting yourself.
Cenotes are now a great place to cool off in the Mexican heat. You can see them full most weekends with the locals and in the week with the tourists. They are noticeably colder than the sea of the Caribbean coast and have spots to relax around them under the shade of the trees.
They are an amazing example of the incredible changes that the nature takes over time and it is detrimental we protect them by using reef safe sunscreen, or none at all and taking our trash after we leave them.
Hopefully this will help to inspire you to book a trip to Mexico to travel the full Yucatan Peninsula, you could easily fill up a month or more on all the hidden treasures available.
