Yucatan Road Trip: Taak Bi Ha Cenote Stop
Leaving Playa del Carmen on a warm Tuesday morning in December, we picked up our friend, Fred, and headed south on Highway 307 towards Tulum. We hooked a hard right onto a dusty, narrow dirt road about two hours into the trip. Signs along the road pointed to various cenotes - each touting some unique feature or other. We turned onto a rutted off-shoot, coming to a stop in a shady, mostly-empty cul-de-sac. Turning off the engine, we heard only jungle bird calls and the whir of cicadas welcoming us to Taak Bi Ha cenote. We paid the entrance fee, which included a life preserver, and then followed the signs to an obscure hole in the ground. We descended the steps into a large underground cavern and pool.
Taak Bi Ha cenote, Yucatan, Mexico
For the moment, Taak Bi Ha remains off the typical tourist radar. We enjoyed this treasure with just a handful of Europeans — and a trio of American scuba divers way down deep. The cenote is underground: cool air, dim, with mild water temperature. We swam around with goggles on, exploring submerged stalagmites, shadowy caves, dangling plant roots, and little fish. Visitors spoke in hushed voices; we could hear the squeak and occasional flutter of bats above. We had planned to stay an hour and ended up being there for more than 3 hours. Magical.
There are tons of cenotes to choose from in this area and you could easily spend a whole day cenote-hopping here. We are a late lunch at a central resting pavilion that seems to serve all the surrounding cenotes. This was followed by a short siesta in the hammocks, swaying to the beat of soft reggae and a cool breeze.
