So when doing our favorite things series, I wish it could be like when Oprah did it, or even Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. When Oprah or Barney started talking about their favorite things, you were guaranteed a Volkswagen, or a velvet tracksuit. Unfortunately, in David’s and my favorite things series, all I can promise you is information, pictures, and probably a lot of travel jealousy. It’s not that great of a trade off. I wish I could give all of you a trip to a cenote in Mexico — (you get a trip to a cenote! You get a trip to a cenote! Everyone gets trips to cenotes!!!) But unfortunately that’s not how it works.
When David and I were visiting Cancun last year, we knew we wanted to do something besides lie on the beach all day. We aren’t great relaxers — if our vacation doesn’t have something adventurous in it, we kind of feel like we’ve wasted our money. We started doing our research and found the normal parasailing and jet skiing options, but then we stumbled upon something we had never heard of: cenotes. Our research told us that a cenote was a underground water-filled cavern, composed of both freshwater and salt water. There was supposedly over 7,000 just in the Yucatan Peninsula. These sinkholes in the Earth were made mostly of eroded limestone, and have become beautiful, blue, underground lakes. We knew after seeing pictures that this was our adventure — we wanted to swim in a cenote.
We booked a ATV/cenote combo package online before our trip. I was a little hesitant, since most of the companies I saw didn’t have much information available, but took the risk anyway. (I can’t remember the name of which company we used, there were only a few, and they all offered similar prices and virtually the same package). The company picked us up at our hotel in a 15 passenger van, and we ended with one other couple. After about a half-hour of ATVing, which took us to the cenote, we spent an hour swimming in the cenote.
The cenote was fantastic: blue, with light reflecting from everywhere. There was a zip line, as well as a kayak for our use. It was an unreal experience that I cannot encourage highly enough. Our excursion included a delicious home cooked lunch of quesadillas. All in all, it was an adventure worth experiencing, and one we suggest you book on your next spring break in Cancun.
