To swim in a cenote is amazing and somewhat scary for a first time  .  They have so much beauty with its crystal blue waters that lead into mysterious underground caves and tunnels . The long reaching  trees and vines reach up into a jungle to the surface  where the ground breaks open  and lets rays of sunshine down,  into the nourishing  vitamin rich waters.   The scary part was the fact that little tiny bats hung in the rock formations while swimming through a tunnel.   My fear is always that  a bat is going to get stuck in my crazy curly hair !  They didn’ t seem to bother anyone thou and seemed playful  as they flew across the waters horizon.

There are estimated to be over 7,000 cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula alone .  These are limestone formations that are created over years and years of rainfall . When the roof of a water filled cave falls in a cenote is created .  Some have freshwater , some are salt and others have both . The water feels clean and refreshing on a hot day.

The Mayans considered these Cenotes as very sacred with healing properties.  Then word Cenote comes from the  Mayan word ,dzonot, which its meaning is   “sacred well”.  Cenote’s  were excellent sources for the Mayans to gather their  fresh water and often formed their civilizations around them.  They believed the cenote’ s to  be a  gateway to the underworld and a way to communicate with the sacred gods.

This Cenote was not too crowded and absolutely beautiful .