Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula is flat as a tortilla and blanketed with a thick jungle. Surveying the landscape from the top of a Mayan pyramid, the only bumps on what looks like a vast green carpet are unexcavated Mayan pyramids. The land is honeycombed with sinkholes, called “cenotes,” that are filled with crystal-clear fresh water. Some are like pristine lakes, surrounded by lush vegetation. Others are in dramatic caves, lit by sunrays streaking through holes in the natural ceiling.
A highlight of any Yucatán adventure is to swim in a cenote. I was here 30 years ago, and my memories of a cenote swim were so dreamy, I had to see if they could actually be as ethereal as I remembered. In this clip, I visit a cenote again with my family.
(On my first visit to the Yucatán, the cenotes were free and empty. Today, most are privately owned by families who build wooden staircases into them and charge visitors a few dollars to enter.)
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