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5 Days in Cancún: Part 2

Challis Hackley
Jun 27, 2017
5 min read

Thursday was our busy, adventure day. We went on a tour of the local ruins and visited some cenotes. We went with LDS Tours Cancún which was more of a religious thing because there are some special sites down there related to my church's history. However our tour guide was awesome and he does non-religious tours so you should totally look him up if you're planning a trip down there.

Coba was our first stop, Mayan ruins in the middle of the jungle. The jungle was so vibrant and full of life. It wasn't like the forests I'm used to where you can sit in silence and just think. It was thrumming with the sounds of life; it was never silent. The first area we visited at Coba had a temple and the stadium where they played pok-a-tok. In this first area we couldn't hike the ruins so we rented bikes and rode to the second area where we could climb the temple. The view was really unique for me. I've grown up surrounded by mountains all the time, but there at Coba, you look out and there is none of that. It's flat and green in all directions. You'll see a couple of mounds that rise above the tree line, but those are the remnants of other man-made temples.

It was interesting to see all the different people there. I heard at least three different languages and you had your traditional European backpackers and Asia tour groups as well as local school field-trip groups. It was awesome to see the mix of cultures, all of them coming to view a society that has been mostly gone for thousands of years. The Mayan descendants are still around; they still speak there own language and practice there own traditions (not human sacrifices anymore, thank goodness) but that whole culture has kind of crumbled. And still there were people from all across the globe coming to see what was left of it.

Our next stop was Tulum. While Coba was hidden away in the jungle, Tulum was built on some bluffs overlooking the beach and the sea, so there were a lot less trees and a lot more visible wildlife. There were iguanas everywhere! We never got to touch them but we did give them some food and water and that was really cool to watch them move and eat.

Anyway, we came to see the ruins, and the ruins did not disappoint either. They are remarkably well-preserved. You could see details of carvings and remnants of paint on a lot of the structures and I really liked having our guide there because the art style is very different from anything I'm used to and he would help explain what each thing was and what we were supposed to be seeing.

Our guide also told us about the reef and why the Mayans had built there. Looking out from the bluffs, I thought I could already see why people would want to build there home there, it was beautiful. But our tour guide pointed out the reef (second longest coral reef in the world) and the break in it. The reef created this impenetrable barrier for boats and there was only one entrance that lined up with the peak of the main temple. It was a strategic location as well as a beautiful one.

After both of our stops a ruins we went snorkeling at the cenotes, which was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. Cenotes are these sinkholes, underground holes filled with this crystal clear water that you can go swimming or snorkeling in. The first one we went to, after Coba was full of stalactites and stalagmites like a cave and there were these little blind fish that were just a little too fast for you to ever touch them. The stairs there spiraled down into the cenotes and they doubled as a diving board. There were two breaks in the railing, one higher up than the other, that lead to a plank which you could then jump off of and into the water. When I first got into the water, it was a little disconcerting to just tread water because it's cold and really, really deep, but once I started snorkeling (put on the mask and tube and swam around horizontally) it got a lot easier and was so much fun. I stayed pretty close to the wall for the first little bit and stayed on the surface but the view had me venturing out by the time we had to go. There were these beautiful rock formations on the bottom of the cenote and the light would filter and shift through the water in rhythmic patters. It was so relaxing and wonderful that it got me hooked. I am already trying to figure out the next time I can go snorkeling.

The second cenote we went to was a little more refined and nicer. There were picnic spots and hammocks and patches of grass on the surface and several staircases that led down to different sinkholes. There were several cenotes but our day was running short so we could only visit one, which was still amazing. This one didn't have a drop off like the first; it gradually got deeper as you went and there were plenty of rock formations tall enough for you to stand and rest on. This one was also more open to the sky than the first but there was a cave-like tunnel that connected it to another one. That cave was one of my favorite parts because of the bats. Now you may think I'm insane but bats are like my third favorite animals so I thought it was the coolest thing ever. There was a whole cluster of them just hanging out (sorry for the pun) in the cave and occasionally they would flit around above my head and I just loved it. So cool!

Both of them were so beautiful and I wish I would have brought a waterproof camera so I could have taken pictures. I am definitely hooked now though and I'm gathering gear and trying to find places near me where I can go snorkeling, not with much success I'm afraid.

Friday we decided to take it easy so we visited Plaza 4 and Mercado 28 where the market was. It was so colorful and lively there. The mercado (market) was made up of these two lines of shops, with a hallway in the middle, and each shop was open at both ends. And this isn't like a door way, no, where the wall should have been on either side (leading out to the street or facing into the hall) it was just open. With this set up you just kind of meandered from shop to shop and they all kind of blur together because it's just so colorful and a lot of them have the exact same stuff. It was really cool and a unique experience though, and I have another post coming next week that is solely dedicated to bargaining and what I learned from Mercado 28, so keep an eye out for that.

We went back to the beach and the pool and later in the day I got a massage. I ended the day with a dance performance of Moulin Rouge in the Hotel theater. It was a stunning performances with dance numbers and gymnastic performances done on rings and ropes hung from the ceiling. It was a stunning performance and I already loved Moulin Rouge so that helped. It was a wonderful way to end a fantastic trip.