Cenotes + Tulum

It’s Tuesday and I’ve booked a tour to visit three cenotes (water wells) today, by bike. I get up nice and early and make my way towards the main colectivo staton, about a 15 minute walk from the Airbnb.

I flag a couple down, and they wave me off, so I figured they were full but tried asking some locals anyways. One person pointed me in the direction of the supermarket, so I walked that way but didn’t see any station. I approached a couple in the parking lot to ask, and luckily they said, “ah, we are going too, follow us!” They walked at about half my usual pace but I followed along.

I come up to a line of maybe 100 people, waiting for the colectivos. Before I started adding up the time I thought it might take to get to the front of the line, I noticed the colectivos also in a line waiting to be called up for passengers, and new ones were always coming in to wait, so I tried not to worry too much. The wait was only about 10 minutes, and once I got to the front a conductor was assigning them by location and announcing our stops to the driver, so I felt like I was in good hands.

I got on and sat down at the first empty seat which was next to a woman with a chiefs hat tied to her bag. “Chiefs! I’m a Chief’s fan too!” We talked about last year, and the Super Bowl before that which she attended. She used to live in KC and has lived all over North America. She was on her way to work as a tour guide specializing in archaeology. She gave me tips to remind the driver where I was stopping and when it would be coming up.

I got off at my stop, and was 10 minutes late for the tour but had already messaged them to warn them. Turns out the other couple was late too, even though they drove their in their rental car. They were from Vancouver! But had never tried Virtuous Pie since “oh right it’s vegan isn’t it? That’s why we haven’t tried it hahaha.” Of course I didn’t laugh at that joke.

The tour guide, Lalo, explained how our day would go, and when he asked how we feel about biking, I said, “yea I’m alright.” This was modest. The couple said the same, and this proved to be a lie especially from Sim who pretty much used the bike as one of those peddle-less balance bikes for the first 5 minutes. I wondered if they had read the headline of this tour which was called “biking to three cenotes”.

Next he asked if we could swim, and same story ensued. Sim could not without a life jacket at least. That’s all good, they had those!

From here we chose our bikes and did a test drive down the street. We were in Chemuyil, a tiny town made of 4 blocks halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and it felt nice to be in such a quaint place after so much city.

With a quick test ride under our belts we were off! Lalo led the way and another guide, whose name I never quite caught, stayed at the back end of our riding to watch for us. Each ride was about 10 minutes, and this first one was very slow with the couple getting their footing. That’s fine, I took selfies.

Our first cenote was off the side of a dirt road, and a minute walk into the forest, absolutely no way to know we were about to stumble on this beautiful place. This was a half enclosed cenote. I guess the older they are, the more open they are. As we dropped our bags and stripped down to our bathing suits, I noticed all the tiny fish! So cool, I thought. Lalo casually mentioned they will nibble on your skin, and as he got in first and I watched them crowd around his ankles I got a little creeped out. I’ve never wanted one of those fish pedicures! I put one foot in, felt the tickle of the fish on my skin and absolutely screamed in terror. Didn’t see that coming!

I thought this was the end of my day. The couple was not going in until I was, so I talked myself into mind over matter and just kept moving so the fish wouldn’t want to come near me. As I waded in and landed on a rock, I moved my hands around my feet to keep the water moving to keep the fish away still. Lalo said they wouldn’t bug me once I got all the way in and swam, so I believed him and went with it, swimming into the deeper part. He was right!

I had snorkelling goggles and started swimming around. Through the rocks underneath I could see that the cenote went way, way down deep, who knows how deep! It was black down there. In other parts you could touch with your feet or sit on the rocks. I explored while Lalo told us all about this cenote and his times here as a kid with his family or grandfather. It’s mildly salty since this one is very close to the ocean. There were names carved into rocks, like how we’d carve them into trees. He says sometimes he comes here, puts the football game on his phone on the grassy sides and beats the heat! Incredible place and covered enough to keep us out of the sun. Backstory - this tour didn’t allow sunscreen use so as to preserve the ecological systems of the cenotes.

Lalo asked if we wanted to try to swim under the rocks and to the air pockets. It sounded freaky but ya let’s do it! He went first to check the head clearance as it can change with the water level. He said it was about a foot, so me and T went for it. T had to scale the rocks a little with his life jacket on but I thought it was cool he wanted to try!

Lalo went first, then shined his flashlight to show us where to go. There was zero current so that part was easy. When I came up into the air pocket there was a foot of clearance but only about 3 feet wide. When T joined us it was very cramped so he quickly went back out. While inside, Lalo pointed out the fossils and the roots growing through the rocks. It’s limestone and porous. Very cool! He asked if I wanted to go to another one. Sure! He said this one has much less clearance, and held up his fingers to show maybe 4-5 inches. Without comprehending that I said, let’s do it! He went first, and as he left me I thought, I sure hope I don’t get turned around since I’m now alone in this water pocket. I followed his flashlight and he held his hand out to catch my head so I didn’t pop up too quickly and hit my head. He didn’t lie about the clearance - I couldn’t breathe with my mouth out of water without my ears being underwater. I could feel panic, but tried to tell myself I was fine. Lalo was good about checking in the whole time, but I was increasingly worried about breathing too heavily with what felt like such little air. I said, “I think I’m good let’s go. Right now”. And off Lalo went, I gulped some air and followed him all the way out, very very grateful to be finished that adventure.

After catching my breath we all moved down the cenote to another area with more to explore. We saw a unique bird to the area who had a tail like a pendulum. I didn’t have my phone most of the time so no pictures.

We spend about an hour here total and then got back on our bikes to ride to the next cenote. Iguanas were everywhere!

How many can you spot here?

The next cenote was also off a side road, and was fully enclosed over top. First thing we noticed was all the fruit and seeds on the floor of it, and then we looked up to see what felt like thousands of bats! Not just little black backs, they were fuzzy and ranged in size from having a lime-sized body to a grapefruit-sized body. So cool! They flew around or were sleeping upside down in their families.

The water here was colder, and the centre of the pool looked super shallow, maybe knee height. The guide explained that it’s very deceiving since it’s so clear. Sure, I said. He said, “Get in and see for yourself.” I did, and sank to the bottom. It was over my fingertips deep! Unreal.

Goggles on, I explored. This one has many more catfish than the last one. The biggest fish were maybe 6 inches long but it was fun to see some different types.

Lalo asked again if we wanted to try air pockets, and assured me that these ones were much bigger in clearance and overall size. T and I were into it so off we went. We went through sort of a narrow opening to get to the first area, then went underwater to the air pocket. Here we saw stalagmites crystals and other growths under the water, plus more fossils. So cool. Lalo asked if we could try turning off his flashlight for a minute, and when he did it was pitch black. Amazing! He told stories about how he brought his friends here one year for the day of the dead, turned off his flashlight and when he turned it back on he had a fake skull near his friends head. Hilarious!

We were able to move from this one through some narrow openings and then climb out. We spent another hour here.

The last stop we rode to was a bigger, more open cenote that had a hut with more life jackets if we needed. This one was sunny with lake vibes, but the algae and plants on the floor of the cenote made the water blue and green, it was beautiful. We could dive off a platform here! We hung out here for another hour and had it to ourselves for the most part. We had them all to ourselves for most of the day. You can guess how badly I got burnt spending an hour in 1:00 sun, in water where I couldn’t notice how hot it was.

We biked back through the town and had a “Mayan snack” waiting for us. This was vegan, just tomato, pumpkin seeds, and cilantro, with a spicy salsa on the side to add in as we wish, and we dipped into it with delicious chips. The tortilla chips are just so much better here. This dish was hot, and simple but so very delicious. I had three helpings!

Sim and T were heading back to Tulum in their rental car, so I asked to tag along. Sweet! This was their first time truly “travelling” and not staying in a resort. It was Sim’s birthday trip, and it sounded like they had some great things planned! They dropped me off pretty much downtown and I wandered to one of the first vegan stops I had saved in maps, a vegan donut place. Oh my word, they had almost all filled donuts which is my weakness, and so hard to find in Victoria. I chatted with the person behind the counter who happened to be the culinary mind behind the donuts. She told me the owner was from Canada and she checked out VP on Instagram. So nice to chat with her! I finally made my decision which was the feature of the day, a mochachino filled chocolate glazed donut and it was everything it promised to be. I enjoyed it in their super cute courtyard where I blogged a little, applied tons of sunscreen, and tried to dry out my phones charging port from its dip in the cenotes.

From here I wandered. It was very hot, and the main strip was dusty and windy but not breezy. We were further away from the ocean than in Playa. I found a vegetarian place to grab a cocktail. I got a spicy one and didn’t feel like paying for water; this wasn’t an ideal combination. There were street dogs everywhere begging for scraps.

Next I wandered, and window shopped the stores. I knew I wanted to eat here but there really didn’t seem like much else to do, and since I wasn’t going towards the beach I decided to eat and get going. I found El Bajon Tacos, a super vegan spot. I ordered the Al pastor, carnitas and something else. I’m not sure which of the tacos I had but it was my favourite on the whole trip! So moist and flavourful my goodness. I also got the “water of the day” which is typically an agua Fresca. I’m not sure what the fruit was but it was refreshing as hell in the little taco shop that didn’t have AC.

The colectivo was right outside and with the conductors help I was on board in just a couple of minutes. The hour long trip was nice to relax. The people around me were done work for the day and many of them fell right asleep after they found their seat.

At home, Misha and Alanna were ready for dinner. I wasn’t, but was along for the ride. So much around the air bnb was closed and none of us felt like wandering too far so we enjoyed some drinks at home, chatted, and called it an early night.