On Friday, we went with Joaquin to the mainland.  We took the UltraMar ferry from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen where we were met by a man on a large tricycle.  He piled all of our dive gear on the trike and we followed him to the shuttle bus.  There we met Joaquin “Dos” – our driver and all around dive Sherpa.  After about a 45 minute drive on a strange highway system (there really aren’t any lanes…people drive very fast and all over the road) we found ourselves at a dirt road through a jungle that led to Dos Ojos Cenote.

 In the Mayan culture, Cenotes are sacred bodies of water.  Many of them are the ruins that collapsed - in Dos Ojos, you actually walk on what is believed to be the top of a Mayan temple to get to the water.  Apparently the Mayan people would build their temples by these bodies of water because they believed them to be sacred and because they provided a steady flow of fresh water.

 The diving was amazing.  We have never seen anything like it.  You swim through stalactites and stalagmites, piles of limestone and incredible rock formations that have built up over millions of years. 

 Dos Ojos means “two eyes” – they call this Cenote dos ojos because there are two caverns that each have a round opening (a sinkhole) part way through.  About two-thirds of the way through the second cavern we actually surfaced and talked for a few minutes with Natasha and Joaquin Dos before finishing the dive.

 After we finished the dive and packed up our gear, we played with the cenote owner’s pet monkey, drove back to Playa del Carmen and had lunch at one of Joaquin’s favorite local restaurants and caught the ferry back to Cozumel.

 Back at Casa Del Mar, the rest of the group was hanging out by the pool enjoying the group’s favorite drink - the Mono Sucio (also known as the dirty monkey).  The girls caught a cab into town for a little shopping while the guys kept the barkeep company.  Later that evening we all gathered back at the bar/restaurant for more drinks and some fajitas mixta.  All told, it was a great way to end a fantastic trip.