Riviera Maya, Mexico

Exploring the Yucatan’s network of underground rivers and tunnels

I arrive in Cancun in late evening and drive down the flashy strip of hotels and night clubs to my resort at the north end of what is essentially an island. The air is lovely and warm, redolent with the perfume of tropical blossoms. The hotel courtyard is full of luscious green gardens and exotic plants, while the night is filled with murmurs of the ocean. My bungalow sits above the white sand, and in the darkness, I make out the elegant curves of palm-thatched canopies, anchored sailboats, and the ocean stretching to Isla Mujeres on the horizon.

Isla Mujeres—the Isle of Women—will be my morning destination during my planned week of water play along the Riviera Maya. I’ll also head west on a catamaran, snorkel the beautiful corral reef of Cancun’s Isla Mujeres National Marine Park, and scuba dive amongst the turtles and tropical fish.

The thick impenetrable jungle and limestone plateaus of the Yucatan Peninsula force most human life to the coast, while the humid heat directs you to the water. In Cancun you can go deep sea fishing, drive a speedboat on a wild ride careening down a jungle river, or charter a private yacht. At the many resorts and hotels that line the western beaches there is sailing, wind surfing, jet skiing, parasailing, and water skiing. If you like a view of the ocean world, there is snorkeling, scuba diving and, my favorite, cenote diving - exploring the Yucatan’s massive network of underground rivers and tunnels. Once exposed, these caves and caverns have flooded, as rain water permeates the limestone on its journey to the sea.

Our group of five divers is transported by van south of Cancun into the jungle, where steps carved in the limestone lead us down to a small freshwater pool backed by a sheer rock wall. This reservoir will be our magical window to the underworld. It is called Chac-Mool (Chac being the Mayan rain god). Our guide Alberto takes us on two dives, floating through the subterranean maze of passages and caves with a sublime feeling of weightlessness. We use our breathing to carefully control buoyancy, adjusting in the narrow chambers to avoid scraping our tank-back on the delicate roof, or to sink too low on the passage floor.

Every now and then there are windows to the outside world. Beams of daylight pierce through the gin-clear water like a spotlight from a stage show. The natural light illuminates a beautiful display of stalactites and stalagmites. At other times there is only darkness. Our underwater torches highlight the passage and play a laser show on the chamber walls.

I twirl in the subtly lit caverns, float on my back like a playful otter, and watch rising bubbles from my regulator in the glow of refracted light. In places, tree roots have grown downward through cracks and fissures in the limestone ceiling. The water is cooler than the ocean, but crystal clear. Where salt water meets fresh, the liquid is layered like a fruity Cancun cocktail.

If the scuba diving or cave diving is a little too extreme, you can pay a visit to the wonderful Xel-Ha (pronounced “Sell-Ha”) meaning the place where water is born. Here you can enjoy a natural water park, drift on a boat through a jungle hedged with mangrove as crystal clear water slides smoothly over rocky outcrops and rounded boulders. You can also climb a knotted rope up a rutted cliff and dive back into the deep gorge below. Or, you can snorkel with grouper, parrot fish, snapper, yellowtail and jack fish, which look like silver flashes in the sun.

Returning to the beautiful main lagoon, I put a space-like helmet on my head, and take a “Sea trek,” walking twelve feet deep along the ocean floor. Here, a sting ray—a well-fed one—comes close for a visit, rubbing its velvety-smooth wings past my leg like a friendly cat. Visitors can also swim with dolphins, or snuba, a combination of snorkeling and scuba diving.

Approximately 40 minutes south of Cancun is another Mexican marvel, one that receives an average of 2,000 visitors daily. Xcaret (pronounced “esh carett”) is a Mayan word meaning “little inlet.” The Mayas came to this magical spot to bathe in the clear waters, purifying both body and soul. I do the same, snorkeling down a 500-meter underground river through limestone passageways and chambers before paddling through dark waters, then out into the brilliant sunshine, the jungle canopy overhead. The half-hour trip had me feeling like Indiana Jones.

As at Xel-Ha, guests can frolic with dolphins, swim in beautiful lagoons, do some sun-worshipping, or enjoy the many water sports. In the evening, I dry myself off to enjoy a spectacular live dinner performance. The nightly show is an extravaganza, awe-inspiring and unrelenting, bombarding the viewer with one fine performance after another. The history of the Mayan people is presented in a fine theatrical display, and then you are treated to the dances and music of historic and modern Mexico. The colorful costumes, music, songs, and lights create images full of energy. Two hundred and fifty performers take part, and the open-air auditorium seats 6000.

It is a magnificent—and dry—way to cap off my week of water play in what has been called the water sports capital of the Caribbean, the 100-kilometer beach corridor south of Cancun, running the length of the Yucatan’s eastern state, Quintana Roo. Here, water is life, that magical element that attracts us to the Riviera Maya’s ocean, lagoons, inlets, cenotes, and mystical underground rivers.

If You Go to Cancun, Mexico:

Contact the Cancun Visitor’s Bureau

Phone: (52) 998 884-6531

Website: www.cancun.info

Accommodation: Avalon Bay Resort/Avalon Reef Club

phone: (888) 838-0533

E-mail: reservations@avalonmail.net

Website: www.avalonvacations.com

Attractions: Xel-Ha - www.xelha.com.mx

Xcaret - www.xcaret.net

Author: Jamie Ross