The first cenote I ever saw, before I ever knew what a cenote was, was Dos Ojos. A faded, hand-painted sign on the federal highway 307 directed me 2.5km down a dirt road through the jungle. Decending into the sinkhole along a questionable set of wooden stairs, I slipped. Of course, it was worth it. The sight I saw was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and yesterday Luis Leal took me on what he called the "unofficial tour" of his cenote.
More than half of the dive was through caves, without any glimpse of the outside world. Gliding through inexplicably clear waters with 300 feet of visibilty, we passed through a halocline (where salt water and fresh water meet to create a hazy, psychedelic visual experience). Stalactites, stalagmites, columns as high as 4 meters and crystals litter these caves. One cave had an impressive naturally collapsed karstic roof and pigmentation in the limestone, evidence of prehistoric painting. Dos Ojos is known for the bat cave: a dark cave where you are able to surface that is the home to several hundred fruit bats. My favorite part of any cenote dive is when you emerge from a cave and see streams of light shooting into the cavern through the jungle. There's nothing quite like it and it takes my breath away every time.
The hand-painted sign, has since been replaced with a much larger, sophisticated one and at it's peak 250 divers visit the system daily. Luis Leal's dive shop is located right at the entrance to Dos Ojos.
3 comments:
so awesome! I wish I was as daring as you. Looks like fun!
It really doesn't require a daring sensibility at all in my opinion. Full cave diving is another story! You're too distracted by beauty to be worrying about anything.
I am going to visit this Cenote based on your beautiful description.
Post a Comment