Mexico
Sistema X'tabay - "Evel Forest Spirit cave" in Mayan
The cenote was most tastefully decorated with stairs, fences, etc. done in the most unobtrusive ways using natural materials like stones and tree branches. Being first visitors in the morning, the site was eerie quiet save for occasional bird performance and the scenery was breathtaking. Cenotes on this site provided a striking example of how the sinkholes were created. You could see the huge boulders hanging on the sides of the opening where the roof of the sinkhole collapsed years ago. In the Rainbow cenote, you could get under the overhang and see the composition of porous limestone as well as calcified remains of marine life.
There were both cavern and cave line or two on the property. The cavern line went between cenote Chikin-Ha and Rainbow and back and was very popular with cavern tour groups.
On the cave line, the main attraction of that cenote for a beginning cave diver is Wizard's Den - a very decorated room very close to the entrance. The formations are of yellowish color which is very unexpected and stands out of the plain background. A lot of sizeable and decorated chunks fell from the ceiling and landed on their sides, so that the stalactites are now horizontal. Lots of stalagmites as well. Past Wizard's Den, the cave changes appearance entirely from highly decorated to the variations of porous rock and silt and your mind starts to wonder if you are still in the same cave.
There is a halocline in this cave - at about 38 ft - and I managed to capture it on film.
Wizards' Den
Halocline
Cavern and open water
