The cenote’s name is Maya for cow water, after the unlucky bovine I guess, which in its thirsty haste must have stumbled in it, its bones still discernible among the fossil encrusted rocks covering the bottom.
Some time ago the landowner had the pool enlarged somewhat. In the hope of getting a more attractive and lucrative swimming hole like the neighboring Aktun Ha. The scheme didn’t quite work out. But it’s still a great portal to the amazing world of the flooded caves.
Initially the cave is very low ceilinged and some crawling is required, but soon it opens up in a great room with vast columns and pillars, after which it turns into a long tunnel. At some point the tunnel widens up into a low chamber, where the halocline – the boundary between fresh and salt water, here at 21m – is clearly visible, as if you were flying over a lake.
Due to the deeper average depth this usually is a deco dive. With nitrox however, long deco times can be reduced if not avoided.
