Indiana Jones Day Trip to the Cenotes at Cuzama

Better catch this one before it gets popular! At these natural caverns, you will find breathtaking beauty and crystal clear sapphire blue water to cool off in.

And not only do you get to see three amazing Cenotes in one location, but your journey begins by hiring a ‘truck’—a cart pulled on narrow-gauge rail by a horse with a driver. The truck is a reconstructed relic from the 18th century hacienda used to transport harvested henequen from the plantation fields to the processing plant. The truck will take you to each of the three Cenotes where you can spend as little, or as much time as you like.

Each of the Cenotes is distinctly unique from the other and well worth your time. I don’t want to spoil your discoveries and tell you everything, so I’ll just give you the highlights… At the entrance, you’ll see Swallows navigating dense cross traffic above you as they expertly fly in and out of the caves. You’ll see huge vertical columns of roots in free-fall cascading down 30 meters from the exposed limestone surface tapping into the crystal clear pools of water below. You’ll see stunningly uncommon geological rock formations and millennia’s-old stalactites above while you peer through the watery depths to see their ancient stalagmite counterparts below. This is a very primitive and other worldly experience as you descend from the teeming Yucatan jungle wildlife interior into the relative silence of the caves.

I couldn’t help thinking this was a scene right out of an Indiana Jones movie. The trucks look and feel a little rickety, like a very slow, flat terrain version of a ‘woody’ roller coaster complete with the ‘clankety-clank’, scraping metal sounds. You’ll hear strange forest sounds off in the distance and feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. And that’s what makes it so cool…you are!

I know there’s treasure here somewhere!

Access to the last Cenote is straight down a ladder—hand made out of cut-tree limbs placed through a cylindrically-shaped, goose-bumps producing, claustrophobicly small rock hole at the surface into the deep, dark cavern, [some creative exaggeration here]. This experience is great fun…and your eyes will adjust… really! Enjoy!

As it turns out, I did find treasure here…it’s the Cenotes at Cuzama!

Catch the Chelentún, Chansinic’che and Bolonchoojol Cenotes at Cuzama today as it is rapidly ‘improving’ to accommodate an ever increasing number of visitors. A trip to Cuzama is about a 40 minute drive from Casa La Barenda. Several trucks are available for hire at about 100 pesos per truck. Each truck holds up to four persons.

Environmentally speaking…please no protective body sprays or creams if you plan on swimming. Pack out whatever you bring in. Take only pictures…leave only footprints.