Cenotes, Cancún

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Scorpio Divers operate from Cancun, Mexico and do daily scuba diving tours all over the Riviera Maya and in the Cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsular.
Whether you're an experienced Scuba diver or a complete Novice, Scorpio Divers have the dive or PADI Course for you.
From Diving with Bull Sharks in Playa del Carmen, snorkeling with Whale Sharks in the Caribbean, Wreck and reef dives and dives in the Cenotes where you can see ancient Maya burials, they have it all.

It's a cenote that the local people use as a simming pool. When the relentless sun gets a bit much, nothing seems more refreshing than the chance of a swim. However, make no mistake! This cenote is inside a cave which means it NEVER gets any sun shining on it which means the water is absolutely FREEZING!

We had snorkles with us which was good because we could watch the cave fish as they swam around us. It's quite a deep cenote but half way across there is suddenly a drop off and it just goes down and down and down, further into the darkness.... to be honest the idea of some prehistoric underwater monster living, hidden, in the dark depths did cross my mind!!!

As I said this cenote is used by local people - of which there were about 6 young children when we were there - and when I say young I am talking 9 years old or so. The atmosphere was really nice and we had a giggle with them as they laughed at my big, pregnant bulk trying to ease itself into the icy water!!!

The day trip we took to the Aktun Chen caverns was spectacular . We've seen many caves in many parts of the world but this one is still very worthwhile to see. The name means underground river . The guide took us through and gave adetailed explanation of the importance of this area in Mayan times.

The main cave is enhanced with indirect lighting for a better view and enjoyment of the thousands of stalactites, stalagmites and natural sculptures, all of them formed by water and calcium carbonate throughout five million years. Its quite breathtaking.

Cenotes are naturalmade wells and there are four different types. The first are the underground cenotes which are completely underground, like small lakes inside a cave. The other are underground cenotes which have a whole in their roof, where sunlight can come inside. Third there are the ones that doesn't have a roof at all. And the last are completely open, almost as lakes.

You can find cenotes all over the Yucatán peninsula, and they were very important to the Mayas. There were not so many rivers so they used the cenotes as their watersource. They also had sacred cenotes where they did their sacrifices.

We stopped by a cenote after our visit to Chichen Itza. You have to climb down to this beautiful well, you can also go swimming, beware of the very cold water when you jump in. Cenotes were very important to the ancient Mayas as there are no aboveground rivers in the Yucatán peninsula, and this was the primary way to access fresh water for drinking.