After a long time, we managed to visit our first cenote in Motul, close to Mérida. Earlier I was in “covered natural pool” in Hungary, in the Cave Bath of Miskolc-Tapolca. That one is not under the ground level, but I felt similar in the cenote like there.
What is a cenote?
Cenote definition is – a deep sinkhole in limestone with a pool at the bottom that is found especially in Yucatán. After the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
The water is visible under the surface, you can see in the picture where we had to go down.
Cenote Sámbula in Motul is a small cenote, at the time we were there with just a few people. The water in the cenote is usually cold much colder than the ocean here. But I think it was not so very cold, as I expected. And added to this they say it is absolutely not the coldest one. It was really refreshing after the heat of Mérida sink into the chilly water. Although the first steps into the water were absolutely not easy. I think for everybody. (The picture is made with my phone in the dark, so not the best.)
Here is a professional picture of the cenote.
Picture: http://www.seduma.yucatan.gob.mx/cenotes-grutas/cenote-sambula-motul-yucatan.php
The light in the middle comes from the outside. There is a hole about 5 meters high and let the sunshine in. Behind the lights, it was quite dark at the time of our visit, not like in this picture. In the crystal-clear water, we could see fishes (Wondering where do they have their food from?). Behind the bright area, you can swim to the end of the water and enjoy the sight of the cenote from over there.
The cenote from above is not to recognize. The ground looks like everywhere around here. (I might find some photos about that later that I can insert here.) There is a nice park with trees, some tables, and there are some sports fields here.
So the cenote is a place I want to visit again. There are also much bigger cenotes, and there are lots of them, so this is definitely a natural phenomenon I want to enjoy again.
