SCUBA Diving The Hells Bells (Zapote) Cenote In The Rivera Maya

• published: 02 Nov 2014
• views: 7

There's nothing anywhere in the world like the stalactites in this Cenote. Rather than the typical stalactites, stalagmites and columns, the stalactites in this Cenote are shaped like bells. Nobody is sure how or why it happened. But I've been in probably 100 caves above and below water and I've never seen anything like these, or I guess, has anywhere else. Some people think there might have been wind blowing in the cave when they were formed. But nobody knows. Down the rabbit hole. This Cenote is way out in the Yucatan peninsula. Getting there proved to be a harrowing 250 kilometer adventure. ( More later). But this Cenote is also a bit different than the others that I've dived. Rather than a big open pit, you go down a narrow tube for about 90-100 feet. Then you launch off into a side tunnel where you'll find the bells. Going down the tube certainly isn't for the claustrophobic, faint hearted or beginning diver. Once down through the somewhat mucky water and after the halocline (Where salt and fresh water meet.) area, the view of the bells opens up and makes it all wonderfully worthwhile. And if you've been through cave tours, you know that you walk on a path and look up at the decorations (what they call stalactites, stalagmites and columns) but you can't get very close to them. When diving Cenotes (most of which are much easier than this one) you simply float up so that you can be within inches of the formations. You get a super up-close look. And it's fabulous. Just be sure your buoyancy is well under control so you don't touch anything. After all these formations took thousands of years to form. A typical stalactite that looks like a straw or stick can take 100 years to grow an inch. You're looking at 1000s of years for these formations. Last thing. To get to Hells Bells Cenote we had to head up north from the Rivera Maya and then cut inland on a dirt road for many kilometers. When we were close, a group of 8 men with a barricade of rocks was blocking the road. So we couldn't' get by. And they wouldn't let us pass. It seems the Mexican government wants to do something with their land and not pay them enough. So, after failing to convince them what good guys we were, we went back to the main highway, cut inland a few kilometers further and took back roads, dirt roads and paths that were barely wide enough for our truck to get by. We did see some of the wonderful Mexican rural countryside and small villages. But after several hours and over 250 kilometers (Including our return), we made it to the Hells Bells Cenote. I owe it all to my dive guide Willian's tenaciousness to be sure I got to dive Hells Bells. He's with Blue Life Scuba and he's awesome. Hells Bells is certainly a major bucket list dive.