Exploring the mystical Mayan world of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Riviera Maya goes beyond visiting its famous ancient ruins such as Chichen Itza and Uxmal.
The region is also home to numerous fresh water sinkholes called ‘cenotes’; beautiful sites, which the Mayans believed to be sacred. Plan South America will arrange for you to discover extraordinary underwater scenery on private diving and snorkelling adventures to these astonishing cenotes.
Gran Cenote
PSA’s private guide will collect you from your hotel to take you on a morning of discovery at Gran Cenote – the earlier the better to avoid peak time. With an expert instructor, you’ll dive through crystal clear waters exploring from one underwater chamber to the next, swimming between marvellous natural rock formations of stalactites and stalagmites. You’ll enjoy two separate dives to experience the different caverns, and we’ll have lunch waiting for you as you surface, before taking you back to your hotel to relax. This visit also combines perfectly with an exploration of the coastal ruins of Tulum, very close by.
Tajma Ha
You’ll experience scuba diving paradise on a journey through the Tajma Ha Cenote. The beautiful effect of sunshine streaming through small tunnels sending light into the caverns is mesmerising; it casts spectacular shadows across the fields of stalactites and stalagmites lining the walls, making for an eerily beautiful cave diving experience.
Angelita Cenote
Travel south of Tulum to Angelita Cenote. This trip combines really well with Tajma Ha to enjoy two very different, but equally as impressive diving experiences in one day. What makes Angelita so visually unique is that a layer of hydrogen sulfide separates crystal clear fresh water in the first one hundred feet with salt water in the other half. Few dives in the world allow you to dive in a mystical cloud at 100 feet and see trees, but this is one!
Rio Secreto
A spectacular turquoise river flows underground through vast caves exquisitely adorned by natural rock formations. You’ll swim through a veritable museum of thousands of dramatic stalactites, stalagmites, and shimmering crystals. This is one of the most beautiful natural sites in Mexico and there’s no wonder the Mayans deemed cenotes to be sacred; their mystery is quite confounding.
Coba
Surrounded by rainforest, Coba archaeological site is one of the largest Mayan city-ruins in Mexico, housing sensational climbable pyramidal temples and stelae. Combine your visit with an exploration of one of the Yucatan’s newest discovered (and relatively low on tourists) cenotes nearby, deep in the jungle. You can swim and relax in the refreshing water, basking in tranquility.
Loltun Caves
The underwater cave system at Loltun is one of the most remarkable of its kind, showing evidence of the Maya civilisation dating from the late pre-classic era (300 BC). Explore with a local guide to learn its fascinating history and see the site’s most important stalagmites, stalactites, cave paintings, fossils, and Mayan hand-prints. From here, continue your discovery of the ancient Mayan world with a visit to the splendid ball courts and temples of Uxmal.
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