We spent the night very close to the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá. There we saw the importance of the cenotes at that time and got a first impression of such a water hole. Now we want to go all the way and literally dive into the Cenote Ik Kil.

There are hundreds of cenotes on the Yucatán Peninsula. These naturally formed water holes are equally popular with locals and tourists. With a water temperature of about 20° C, they also offer a welcome cooling off from the hot air temperatures of constantly over 30° C and very high humidity, which makes the actual air temperature seem 4-5 degrees warmer.

Different forms of cenotes

During our visit to Ik Kil we are already surprised with a surreal sight while walking to the cenote. The path passes the edge of the cenote and we can look down to the water surface 18m below. As if in another world, roots of the plants protrude from above far into the depths in order to get a little bit of the water. This is possible in Ik Kil because it is an open cenote. Furthermore, there is the half-open cenote, which has only a very small hole in the dome above the water. Finally, there is the closed cenote, which is only accessible through a tunnel and has no daylight from above the cenote.

A cool oasis in the tropical climate

In many cases, the waters here in Mexico are not very refreshing either, as water temperatures around or above 30° C are the norm. In complete contrast, the freshwater cenote is a real cool down with water temperatures around 20° C. In addition, there is a lot of shade, the sun shines – because of the shape – only around noon until early afternoon inside the cenote, then it lays again in the shade. With that said, we don’t stay in the water as long as we thought. At the latest after half an hour we are cold and we are glad about the warm air temperatures.
It just can’t really be done right for the two Swiss. It is all the time in Yucatán rather too warm and then when the real cooling comes it is again too cold. Nice funny the two travelers. That’s just how it is since we have also slowly adapted to the temperatures, everything below 28 ° C is directly fresh. So 28° C air temperature…

Fish, plants, a whole ecosystem

Beside the bathers, in Ik Kil are also many water plants as well as fish. We learn that in the cenotes there is actually always a small ecosystem of its own with a great variety of plants and animals. We learn that also many crabs and water snails have the cenote as their home. But besides all this, the great experience of this bathing place is finally the main attraction for us.

To drift on the water (in Ik Kil a life jacket is mandatory) and to look at the bright blue sky with the dark green border: Uniquely beautiful!

Ik Kil was perhaps our first cenote, but certainly not the last we visit here in Yucatán!