Buck and I drove north to snorkel Dos Ojos cenote. Cenotes are where freshwater underground rivers have carved their way inland, leaving miles and miles of underground caves.
We opted for a “guided” tour of the cenotes and rented wetsuits and snorkelng gear. I use the term “guide” loosely as it was more of a race to keep up with our Spanish-speaking friend as our 40 minute “guided” tour turned out to be a 12 minute race to keep up with our guides disappears flippers before us.
But, there are restricted parts of Dos Ojos that are only accessible when guided, like the “Bat Cave”. In order to get there, you have to dive, holding your breathe as you swim under a massive upside-down stone drip castle to reach the other side, surfacing into a beautiful vast cave. Bats hide in the stalagtites, occasionally swooping down but keeping their distance from the snorkelers. Thankfully, our guide rested on a rock for a few minutes, letting us swim around on our own. After the Bat Cave, we swam to the second “ojo” and then circled back to where we began.
I was happy to have a wet suit but could not seem to stay warm (one of the many benefits of a hypothyroid). At one point, Bucky and I separated and later, when I lifted my head to try and find him I saw him sitting on a nearby rock, waving and laughing at me. He explained that amidst all the other snorkelers in this cave, he quickly spotted me because my snorkel was the only one trembling out of the water due to my chill.
Cross eyed, cold, and accidentally snorting water
underwater rock formations
Even though the water was a bit uncomfortable for me, the experience was unique and unforgettable. We had no gage on the depth of the cenote until we watched a faint light slowly emerge and brighten over the time span of a few minutes as scuba divers surfaced. It was an eerie experience and even though the only inhabitants of these cenotes are small minnow like fish, I could not shake the feeling that a dinosaur sized monster lurked below.
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