Post by L Roebuck on Oct 7, 2006 18:26:00 GMT -5
Mexico's subterranean scuba
DARRYL LENIUK
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Cancun, Mexico — Cool water works its way into my wetsuit as my guide, Dave Tomlinson, gives the "thumbs down" signal and I descend into the gin-clear waters of Grand Cenote, an inland freshwater cave 130 kilometres south of Cancun, Mexico. Shafts of sunlight shimmer in the open pool. With Tomlinson leading, our group of divers follows single-file into the liquid-filled void. Ahead is only darkness. My eyes slowly adjust to the pale blue light, and the whole expanse of the cave comes into view.
The water is crystal-clear -- I can see a hundred metres or more. Giant columns have formed where stalactites meet the cave floor. I pass through narrow openings with little room to spare. As the cavern fades to black, I flick on my dive light, illuminating alabaster and brown stalactites, hanging from the ceiling like broken icicles and bulbous breasts.
Exploring an underwater cave is exhilarating, unlike anything I have done before. It's an experience that is becoming increasingly popular with many of the 3.5 million visitors to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula each year. Once an ancient coral reef, the porous limestone bedrock of the Yucatan contains about 3,000 freshwater sinkholes, or cenotes. Many make excellent swimming holes, superb snorkelling sites and offer scuba divers the chance to discover a strange subterranean world. The water is always calm, always clear and there's no chance of getting seasick on the way to the dive site.
I based myself in the town of Tulum on the Caribbean coast, a two-hour drive south of Cancun. Tulum lacks the mega-resorts of Playa del Carmen and Cancun, but is home to many picturesque beach bungalows fronting a near-perfect white-sand beach. My waterfront digs at Azulik Villas were equal parts urban spa and Robinson Crusoe. An hour's walk north along the coastal strip brings you to the Tulum Ruins, a Mayan archeological site perched on sea cliffs overlooking the Caribbean.
To explore the cenotes, I signed up for diving with Cenote Dive Center, a Tulum dive shop run by Tomlinson, a ponytailed 36-year-old from Revelstoke, B.C. Tomlinson has been guiding divers here for nearly a decade. Because I don't have special cave training, I'm required to dive with a guide. There are seven dive-able cenotes within a 10-minute drive of Tulum.
Full Article
DARRYL LENIUK
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Cancun, Mexico — Cool water works its way into my wetsuit as my guide, Dave Tomlinson, gives the "thumbs down" signal and I descend into the gin-clear waters of Grand Cenote, an inland freshwater cave 130 kilometres south of Cancun, Mexico. Shafts of sunlight shimmer in the open pool. With Tomlinson leading, our group of divers follows single-file into the liquid-filled void. Ahead is only darkness. My eyes slowly adjust to the pale blue light, and the whole expanse of the cave comes into view.
The water is crystal-clear -- I can see a hundred metres or more. Giant columns have formed where stalactites meet the cave floor. I pass through narrow openings with little room to spare. As the cavern fades to black, I flick on my dive light, illuminating alabaster and brown stalactites, hanging from the ceiling like broken icicles and bulbous breasts.
Exploring an underwater cave is exhilarating, unlike anything I have done before. It's an experience that is becoming increasingly popular with many of the 3.5 million visitors to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula each year. Once an ancient coral reef, the porous limestone bedrock of the Yucatan contains about 3,000 freshwater sinkholes, or cenotes. Many make excellent swimming holes, superb snorkelling sites and offer scuba divers the chance to discover a strange subterranean world. The water is always calm, always clear and there's no chance of getting seasick on the way to the dive site.
I based myself in the town of Tulum on the Caribbean coast, a two-hour drive south of Cancun. Tulum lacks the mega-resorts of Playa del Carmen and Cancun, but is home to many picturesque beach bungalows fronting a near-perfect white-sand beach. My waterfront digs at Azulik Villas were equal parts urban spa and Robinson Crusoe. An hour's walk north along the coastal strip brings you to the Tulum Ruins, a Mayan archeological site perched on sea cliffs overlooking the Caribbean.
To explore the cenotes, I signed up for diving with Cenote Dive Center, a Tulum dive shop run by Tomlinson, a ponytailed 36-year-old from Revelstoke, B.C. Tomlinson has been guiding divers here for nearly a decade. Because I don't have special cave training, I'm required to dive with a guide. There are seven dive-able cenotes within a 10-minute drive of Tulum.
Full Article