Just 45 or so kilometres from Uxmal is a small cenote on private land owned by a local family.  I had read that for a small fee you could camp there and enjoy the cenote.

For those that may be unfamiliar with cenotes, here is the official definition that I found on line (thank you wikipedia):

A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. Especially associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, cenotes were sometimes used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings.

We turned off the highway and drove through a small town on a paved road, which then turned into just a single lane.  We had to slow to a crawl the few times we met oncoming traffic in order to pull half off of the road to allow the other car to pass.

Next we drove a narrow, red dirt road for several km. that led to the “toll booth” where we paid for our swimming and the camping. We got set up, and decided to wait for the 4 other tourists to leave before we took our first ever swim in a cenote.

Well, more cars showed up, and then more, and suddenly there were 8 cars in the parking lot…so we waited. When we finally did go into the cenote, one couple remained, but they soon finished up and finally we had the place to ourselves.

The steps down into the cenote.

We hadn’t bothered to dig out our snorkel gear, but one lady told us it was well worth it, as the cenote at one side gets very deep and you can see stalagmites rising from the floor of the cenote. She said it is really cool when there are scuba divers there, as they shine their underwater lights into caves and crevices far below the surface, allowing snorkelers to see details of what, without the light, appears as very black underwater caves.

The water was very clear and shone different hues of blue and green as the sun moved in and out of the clouds.

Another shot with a woman snorkelling to give some perspective.

The next morning we decided to take another swim, this time with our snorkels and masks and this time all alone. The sun was shining a bit stronger than the previous afternoon (we had been having a lot of rain the last week or two), and the colours inside the cave were amazing; green rock above, intense blue green waters below and crystal clear water. At one point a flock of swallows flew into the cave entrance, swooping and chirping in circles above our head. And indeed, with our masks on, we could see that the floor of the cenote did drop off into deep, dark depths, allowing one’s imagination to go wild with thoughts of what might live down there.

You can get a feel for how deep the water is in this picture of Derek….pretty sure he was wearing a bathing suit that day….

The colours were spectacular.

Some early morning swimmers arrived, and we were starting to get a bit cold, so we climbed the slippery, tree branch ladder to the stairs and exited the cenote so that they too could have the magical experience of swimming in a magical underground pool.