The sargassum stink is bad. It’s not all day, but I smell it for at least part of the day every day. And I’m a 10 minute drive from the water! A lot of tourism in this area is dependent upon the beach, and if the beaches reek of rotten eggs, people won’t visit.
Courtesy of Riviera Maya News and Events
You can see in the image above, the sargassum–when not being removed by beach workers practically 24/7– piles up in a significant amount along beaches.
What can I say! I like bats.
IDC stands for Instructor Development Course.
We dove The Pit first, even though according to the handy graphic on the right, you’re supposed to begin with Level 1 and progress through harder and harder cenotes. I initially asked the dive shop if I could join an easy, beginner cenote… but when I told them my certification level and number of dives, I got the impression that they figured I’d be fine starting in a more advanced cenote. I’m happy to say they ended up being right.
I can’t believe how clear the water was. It’s so clear, you forget you’re underwater. It really feels like you’re flying through space.
I wish I could do the experience justice, but it’s hard to capture the weird beauty on paper. You kind of have to experience it!
Entering the halocline is very sudden, there’s no gradient. I blinked, and suddenly the world was pixelated. If I held my hand up about 4 inches from my face I could read my computer– otherwise, the salty water reduced everything to grainy colors and vague shapes. Having unique, or brightly-colored gear might be a good thing to invest in…! It’s not very thick though, so you aren’t in the halocline layer for long enough for it to be a true safety issue.
I was marveling at everything when I saw a huge commotion to my right– tons of divers were waving their flashlights at something near the bottom, getting everyone’s attention. There was a guy swimming right on the sulfur cloud, dragging his fin tips. What struck me as odd was that nobody went down to try and pull him up or physically get his attention.
We had been told, under No Circumstances should you touch the cloud. Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200, Do Not Touch The Cloud.
Why exactly? We were assured it isn’t a hazard to anyone (I dunno about that, but okay), but up until 6-8 years ago divers were allowed to actually pass through the cloud and descend to the bottom, or swim on/in it. The cloud ended up being agitated to the point where it rose, filing more of The Pit. This reduced visibility and made the available area much smaller. Smaller space means fewer people can dive, which means fewer people visiting, which means less money is being made. And when it comes to money, people can get very serious.
Most cenotes are on private land, and often owned by collectives of indigenous locals. Entrance fees can be their main source of income, so anything that threatens their livelihood is bad news. The Pit was closed temporarily in the hope that the sulfur cloud would eventually sink back down to its pre-agitation levels…
And thankfully, it did! Since that incident, it’s strictly forbidden to agitate the sulfur layer. Like I noted above, it’s taken so seriously there was talk of calling the police. Photos were taken of the offending individual, which were shared among the staff, so I have a feeling this guy got banned.
