On my last day in Playa I've signed up to do a Cenote dive. A cenote is a deep water-filled sinkhole in limestone that is created when the roof of an underground cavern collapses. This creates a natural pool which is then filled by rain and underground rivers. There are over 2000 cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula. These were ritually significant to the Maya because they were considered passages to the underworld. I'll be diving the Kukulcan and Chac-mool cenotes and am slightly apprehensive as I've never dived in anything but open water before and also because I'm slightly claustrophobic.
The divemaster who is a specialist cave diver hands out a torch to everyone and briefs us on the area, emphasising that we must be spot on with our buoyancy as we'll be passing through some very narrow spaces. This scares me and I briefly consider bailing out. As I'm only just certified he points to me and says 'You stick close to me'.
I feel sick and faint as I fall backwards into the startlingly clear blue pool but it's refreshingly cold and revives me. As we swim through the cave past stalactites and stalagmites, I find my buoyancy in freshwater much easier to control than in saltwater. I've already been briefed about the halocline, where salt and freshwater mix creating a pixellating, almost-blinding effect so I don't panic when I can barely see ahead. It feels feel like I've been given some really strong reading glasses but a after a few seconds of disorientation and I can see again. Although I found it a slightly strange experience I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to keen divers.
(Photo - not the cenotes I dived but the one at Chichen Itza)
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