Cenote cave diving and beaching in Tulum

Tulum is a small Mexican town on the Yucutan peninsula about 2 hours away from the tourist hub of Cancun. Unlike the infamous party-town of Cancun, it is a quiet sleepy town that is more famous for its backpacker friendly atmosphere, excellent beaches and cenote cave diving.

From Tikal, it only took 2 hours to reach the Belize border where the transfer was pretty painless. Our driver drove us onward through the north of Belize where I noticed how poor the country was. Belize used to be a British colony so most of the signs were in English, a bit of a surprise to what I had grown accustomed to. 4 hours later we were at the Mexico-Belize border where I had to pay an exit fee of $15 USD... quite a hefty price for only spending 4 hours in the place!

Our driver dropped us at the Mexican border town of Chetumal where I got on the first bus to Tulum. That only took 4 hours too and it was still light when I checked into (the appropriately named) Weary Traveller Hostel. There I spotted Mikael, a Swedish dude I met back in San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua) who possessed a huge mane of blonde hair. I also met up with an Argentine guy called Martin who by chance had been in Aspen the same time I was there all those years back. We even knew many of the same people which was pretty bizarre.

Mike (Sweden) and Susie (Holland)

Mike playing his version of Gecko master

It was beach time again and we spent a large chunk of the day chilling on the bleached white sand right near town. The beach also has its own set of Mayan ruins which are quite popular to visit. The water was incredibly warm and amazing to swim in. Also with the swine flu issue, the beach was fairly quiet, allowing us to pick any shady palm tree we fancied to sit under.

Now that is a beach

Veronique (Holland) dressing Martin (Arg) up as Jesus

Martin and I swam a few hundred metres out to the offshore reef to check it out. We saw a spotted eagle ray but not too much else. Later we met some Mexicans and played a bit of beach soccer. My side won comfortably although the sheer over-competitiveness of one of my team members annoyed us a bit. I also met a "local" German guy who had been living in Tulum for the past 8 years. He was now over 70 and had travelled the world, visiting just about every country I could think of (and according to him, having several wives along the way). He now spends his days painting a bit and playing chess on the beach. I watched a few games between him and Martin and realised he was pretty damn good! He also loved to tell his theory of the evolution of humans, citing that we were genetically engineered by aliens to work for them long long ago.

Way in the background you can see the Tulum Mayan ruins

You have to be careful when swine flu is about

The town doesn´t provide much in nightlife but we entertained ourselves at the hostel by playing card games and listening to our own choices of music (ie. not latino music!).

Anne and Anne from Denmark signed up to do some Cenote cave diving with me the next morning. A Cenote is an underground sinkhole or cave network normally containing fresh water. Our first dive was at Grand Cenote. The water is filtered through layers of limestone, so when it reaches the subterranean cave network, the visibility is 200 to 300 metres! I was surprised at how warm the water was. Our guide (from the Czech Republic!) took us through a maze of tunnels and caves all of which had incredible stalactite and stalagmite rock formations. This was a totally different experience to what I was used to with scuba diving. Claustrophobia never took a grip on me however when you swim through a narrow tunnel and see there is no light above, only a solid wall, nerves can develop!

Entrance to the Grand Cenote

Me, Anne (Denmark) and Anne (Denmark)

The water was ridiculously clear

It was dark in there so these stalactites needed to have a torch shone on them for pictures to come out

I don`t think any of us were Cave trained. Naughty naughty!

You can even see my dirty Mexican moustache underwater!

Going through a tunnel

After 40 minutes we surfaced and drove over to the next nearby cenote called "Calavera" (Skull). Entrance was made by jumping 3 metres into a hole in the ground. Pretty fun especially when you are kitted out in scuba gear. Luckily there was a ladder on the side meaning we could make an exit when we were done. The cenote gets its name from the 3 large holes that lead to it. They shape to resemble a skull.

Entrance to Calavera

A 3 metre Giant Leap

This dive was a bit deeper (18m) and had one very interesting detail. The first 10m is composed of fresh water and then you go through a 2 metre halocline layer where fresh and salt water mix. The water gets all funky and blurry in this part and makes it very difficult to orient yourself. Below that the water becomes clear and is salt for another 6 metres. As the salt water erodes the limestone much more aggressively, the lower layers are all smooth, shiny and white. A total contrast to the more jagged and grey caves just above us. We were guided by our torches and I was totally amazed how unique this diving was. All too soon it was over and we were dropped back at the hostel... money well spent for sure!

When diving through cave networks, signs with the Grim Reaper can upset your rhythm and focus

The bubbles we released formed silvery blobs on the cave roof. These gradually seeped back up the limestone and released on the surface

One of the "eyes" of the skull

The Cenote doubled as a bat cave

I had intended on leaving Tulum the next morning and proceeding to Isla Mujeres near Cancun but I decided to hang around for one more day to go to Playa Akumal where you can swim with turtles. An earlyish start had us at the beach at 11am. Stig (Nor), Mikael (Swe), Martin (Arg), Veronique (Holland) and Susie (Holland) all came along. We found a secluded spot a bit down the pristine beach and decided to spend the day there. There were tons of palm trees around so Martin showed us how to open up the coconuts simply using a glass beer bottle. We drank loads!

Another great beach

Martin showing how to open a coconut with a glass beer bottle

Once we had setup camp, we got our snorkel gear on and ventured out into the water. A short swim out and we spotted our first Hawksbill turtle. They seemed quite unconcerned with our prescence and even got close enough to touch (I resisted). We spent ages trying to get good shots of them and succeeded to a certain extent. The turtles were large and moved gracefully through the water. While we were diving down to get closer looks, some local officials reprimanded us for "disturbing" the turtles.

Stig with the first Hawksbill turtle we spotted

Turtle Rides were great

Close enough to touch!

A large stingray with his fish buddy

Stig (Nor) showing us how he likes to drink coconut milk - a la snorkel

Next up was a fiercely contested game of beach soccer against some french guys. We were losing badly at one stage but came back to win a nailbiting 15-14 victory. In the process just about each one of us got injured several times. I only had a few blisters and a massive bruise on the top of my foot which forced me to limp a bit. We dried our eyes and went to the nearby shopping centre to buy ingredients for a big pasta we were cooking up. Martin was the chef with Flavio (Switzerland) and myself assisting in making an excellent pasta.

Beach football

I slept in a bit the next day but eventually got the motivation to pack my bags and walk to the bus station. Next stop, Cancun and Isla Mujeres.