Our first few days in Mexico had been a whirlwind of surprises as Bart and I started to explore the many adventures and types of tequila the country had to offer. Travelling further along the Yucatan peninsula, we arrived at Tulum, a popular stop for tourists due to the nearby white beaches, Mayan ruins and chance to dive in underwater cave systems.
Cave or cavern diving had not been at the top of my to-do list; it sounded amazing but I was scared. Diving, although I had done it quite a few times, still made me nervous due to the fact that I had to use a ‘machine’ to breathe. Diving into a cave system added the fear of ‘getting stuck’. What if there was an emergency? In an underwater cave system, you could not just swim up…
Yet I was determined to try it once because as I had learned, facing experiences that make you uncomfortable or scared often hold the biggest reward at the end. Bart, who had only just begun diving, had little fear when it came to the water and was excited about this new challenge. We would have to wait a few days before I could confront my fears, as Sander, a good friend of mine was on his way over, and wanted to go diving with us as well. So instead Bart and I made our way over to the beach, where our new Australian friends Lizzy and Andrew were enjoying cocktails and lunch.
Tulum boasts a rich historical past. Being one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayas, Tulum is the only area where you can find ancient ruins located along the shores of Riviera Maya. More to the South of this famous historical site, where we were sitting, the long powdery beaches have become a popular tourist destination.
During the evening we walked around the town of Tulum. Once just a dusty strip along a highway, with the growing tourism, it has evolved to an area with many choices of restaurants, shops and budget accommodation. I didn’t find the town especially pretty or interesting, but the great food that we had in the following days made it an enjoyable place nonetheless.
One of my favourite dining experiences was the following day, right after Sander arrived. By recommendation, we walked all the way to the other side of the strip and arrived at a busy taco-restaurant. You wouldn’t think that the restaurant would be described as atmospheric, with the dozens of plastic tables and chairs that were squeezed into the bare and badly lit room, yet somehow it was. Every chair was filled with a mix of locals and tourists munching on tacos, quesadillas, tortas and tostadas topped with an array of items.
The most popular topping seemed to be ‘al pastor’. The cooking method of the layers of pork was on a vertical sport, which is very similar to gyros, belying the taco's Arab origins. Once you received your taco or other ‘base’ of choice with your main topping you walked over to a buffet of sauces and sides. A nice lady recommended that I put onions, cilantro and pineapple on my al pastor taco and warned me about the ‘green sauce’. Others in the group had not received that warning and after a few bites, those faces started to turn red. Mexicans don’t joke around with their spices!
Sander, Bart and I headed back to the hostel quite early, after filling our bellies for just a few bucks as the time had come: we were going cave diving.
Let's say you're just wandering around the Yucatán Peninsula, maybe close to Tulum looking for Mayan ruins or just on a jungle hike or whatever. Then all of a sudden you feel the ground disappear, and you're falling down and end up swimming in a pool at the bottom of an underground cave.
That is seriously how many of the nearly 7,000 cenotes in the peninsula were discovered. An underground river system flows beneath the entire peninsula. During the ice ages when the ocean levels were much lower than they are today, what was once a giant coral reef became exposed to the atmosphere and eventually became the Yucatan Peninsula. Massive cave systems were formed by the gradual dissolving of the highly porous coral limestone.
Many of the caverns eventually collapsed and the sea levels rose partially or completely flooding the cave systems. The water table of the entire peninsula is filled with seawater at sea level and freshwater 'floating' on top at varying depth depending on the distance from the sea. It has been estimated that there are approximately 30,000 cenotes or exposed access points to these cavern and cave systems. Thousands of miles of underwater cave passageways have already been explored and exploration continues in too many systems to count.
Our diving guide was a cavern diving enthusiast who aimed at exploring and mapping these vast systems. While he explained the formation of the caves, I felt relieved to know we were in experienced hands.
The first dive was in a cenote called ‘The Pit’, a dive I chose not to go on due to its depth. I had gotten ‘narced’ a few times on deep dives in the past. Narcosis while diving is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while diving at depth. It is caused by the anaesthetic effect of certain gases at high pressure. Narcosis produces a state similar to drunkenness or ‘being high’. It can occur during shallow dives but does not usually become noticeable at depths less than 30 meters. Although a slight ‘narced’ feeling could be fun, I was fearful of it happening on my first cave dive, a feat I was already nervous about completing.
Bart, who had been competing in water polo for many years and Sander, who had been a dive-guide himself, both had no such fears and were excited to complete the challenging dive.
Bart and Sander descended to darkness over 40 meters in depth. After 35 minutes they both reappeared and were on an adrenaline high. The most special part of the dive they agreed was when they had to swim through a halocline layer.
Haloclines are a type of chemocline, which means that the chemical makeup of the cline is what makes it different from the surrounding water. Specifically, a halocline has a different level of salinity than the rest of the body of water.
Usually, the halocline is the layer that has a much higher level of salinity than the layers above and below it. This high level of salinity also makes the layer denser. The layer on this dive was so dense, that both men first mistook it for the ground, surprising them when our dive guide signalled to dive through it.
While they raved about their dive, I was trying to calm my nerves. A short drive later we arrived at Dos Ojos, the location for our second and third dive, which I would be joining in on as well.
The name “Dos Ojos” means “Two Eyes” and originated for the two circular shaped Cenotes which are connected to one and another. I put on my wetsuit and gear and slowly followed the dive guide to the entrance of Dos Ojos. The beauty of the entrance of the cave distracted me away from my fears for a moment. The cave framed by vines was filled with the clearest turquoise coloured water. Our guide quickly double-checked if we were suited up correctly and had us descend.
My heart was pounding. We slowly glided over the bottom of the cavern into a tunnel with a variety of stalactites and stalagmites. Initially, I couldn’t fully appreciate my surroundings. Seeing walls below, beside and on top of me, made me feel claustrophobic, and for a moment I panicked. I gestured to the group to slow down, held onto a rock and focused on slowing down my breathing. Although I felt calmer, I only felt true relief once the dive was over. I had made it through my first cave dive! I was tempted to sit out on the last dive, but Sander strictly said: “No, do the last dive, otherwise you will regret it!”
So I did, and he was right, somehow surviving the first dive, made the second one a lot easier. I finally could appreciate the underwater cavern system, and it was beyond impressive. It was like we were floating around on a whole new planet.
We also came up for air during the dive, in another limestone ‘room’ where many bats had made their home. But my favorite sight was the ‘air bubbles’ trapped in various pockets that gave the illusion that they were tiny light filled mirror – trippy!
Cave diving in Mexico, might’ve not initially been on my bucket list, but is should be on yours. Back in Tulum, exhilarated, we toasted to our adventure that day with a shot of tequila (or five) as we celebrated another night in Mexico.
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