CENOTE ROADTRIP

Today was fun.  Not what we had planned.  But fun.

The “not what we had planned” is a reoccurring theme.

Ikkil Cenote

One of the most impressive cenotes in the area! Come along for a fun day of exploring, swimming & goofing around!

Takes 2 hours to reach by car…so bring supplies for the day! We will be near restaurants for snacks/lunch and can stop by for lunch or dinner at the charming town of Valladolid!

Depending how many want to join, we will arrange car groups! More info to come!

This was the original idea.  A bunch of people who are visiting and some who just moved here heard how amazing IKKIL  is and wanted to check it out.  In case you didn’t know, we are the parents of teenagers and they didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to hang it with their friends visiting a fun place.  Most of the people here do not have cars and do great using public transportation or just walking.  This is one of those days that would be me with as many people as we can cram into our Toyota Sienna and a lot of driving.

But there is a problem…

It has been raining.  A lot.  It has been raining every day since August.  We have had such an unbelievable amount of rain.  People who have lived here 20 years are shaking their (drenched) heads in wonderment at how much water has come down.  Even in rainy season, it’s expected to get a cloudburst quickly move in and downpour for 15 minutes and then pass on.  Still, there will be beautiful clear skies much of the day and then showers in the evening.  That usually ends in September.  Here we are at the end of November will constant torrent.

We have thousands of cenotes here in the Yucatan and hundreds that are accessible to visit right here.  So, the long drive on roads that have been worn away by bad weather made the trip “iffy” -is that a word?

Ikkel is such an “experience” with the sun streaming down into the 85 foot hole and shining off the foliage that hangs from the top all the way to the water surface that is wet from the lacey waterfalls that it looks almost like a magical ‘Pixie Hollow’ fairy land.  (You can see the influence our little Ginger Kitty who loves Tinkerbell has on how we describe things)

We have been there a couple times.  To check out some of my fav photos of Ikkel just CLICK on the pretty blue letters.

This morning, my friend Darci and I were texting back and forth on the thought of cancelling or changing plans.  We have all been a little stir crazy since the weather has cut down on our usual amount of outdoors activities.  We decided to alter our plans and head to the Coba cenotes.

Coba is a historical Mayan ruin that you can visit but more about that in another post.  😉

Bathing suits on.  Snacks packed.  Meet up.  Cars loaded.  Hit the road.  Get to Coba… and I almost didn’t not recognize the area.  All these months of rain have flooded the little town.  The lagoon is spilling across the road.  So much so that the parking lot for the Coba ruins in under several feet of water and the crocodiles from the lagoon have actually taken up residence in the parking lot.

 

The cenote we like there is actually a cavern that you go down into the ground.  We asked the dude selling the tickets if the cenote is still open (and safe) to visit.

When you descend this tight little stairway into the ground you find yourself in on a platform where you can put your towel, shoes, phone, camera.

No platform.

It is still there.  Just submerged under 2 meters of water.  The water level is 6 feet higher than normal.

So, we leave everything locked in the cars and go down the stairs ready to just jump right into the cenote.

There are 2 diving boards there that everyone had fun jumping off of.  The lower is about 3 meters and there is another above it that is probably 6 meters high.

Yes -Austin does them both.

Not too many pictures since it was tricky to bring the camera down.  In person, this is a pretty impressive cenote.

 

Afterward we all had different destinations.  The people in our car were hungry and wanted to do something else.  We grabbed some quick food and headed over to the beach at Tulum.  It seems we had used up the brief sunny weather and as we parked on the sandy dune, the rain poured down.

 

As we drove down the road we saw that there is flooding everywhere.

It has to stop eventually, right?

Cannot emphasize enough the need to be able to constantly readjust and be flexible.  That is how we find ourselves retelling the adventures with a smile and not wasting time being upset that things didn’t turn out the way we expected.

That night we ended up chilling out with some friends for a bit to recount the daily ‘adventures’ while Austin, India, Ginger Kitty along with Jake, Paige and Sammy set off fireworks on the roof.  Gotta love living in Mexico.

 

PS- I realize having finished this post that I casually mentioned 3 different incredible experiences that people come from around the world to see.  It is something amazing and unique about this area and our family loves the opportunity to be so close to this and the many other charms of the Mayan Riviera.

1. Check out this list of 27 SURREAL PLACES PLACES TO VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE (Ikkel Cenote)

2. Check out this list of MOST BEAUTIFUL ANCIENT MAYAN TEMPLES (Coba Ruins)

3. Check out this list of WORLD’S BEST BEACHES (Tulum Beach)

Of the thousands of cenotes in the Yucatan, the incalculable amount of Mayan ruins all over Central America, not to mention that it would never be possible to count the number of beaches in the world -these 3 items are tops on the list!