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Quote: Originally Posted by pryzeless Thank you so much for the info. Does anyone know if these places will allow photography? Maybe they charge a fee? I was there a month ago & wasn't charged. There was a $5 fee if you wanted to take a picture with the donkey or iguana. I was told last night that they are charging $200 per hour at one of the cenotes, but I have not confirmed that. Hopefully someone who visits the cenote soon can chime in. Ana took pictures in a cenote a few weeks ago & there wasn't a fee.

Happy Happy Birthday!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 Morgan you Rock!! we are staying at the Gran Bahia Akumal it is about 30 minutes from Playa del Carmen, and 20 minutes from Tulum. oh, than you are right by all the action. also, check out yal-ku lagoon (sp?) I've heard it's wonderful. We didn't want to travel that far so we just went to paamul which I also loved. yal-ku is closer to akumal. ya-kul? OK, I'm not sure, but you'll find it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kristie Ottinger heres some pics of a cool cenote, not sure what its called but im sure morgan does...ana def will when she gets back in here, i was too consumed with taking the pics to notice where we were but i know its a cenote:) Photography By Kristie: theres more from where these came from asap:) CANCUN!! Actually, I don't know which one ana picked out. I just know it was the closest one to dreams cancun. It's definitly on my list to visit.

Quote: Originally Posted by jkcz0702 This is great, thanks! We really want to do our TTD in a cenote and are bringing a photographer from home so hopefully we can find one that we can use. where are you staying? here are all the cenotes open to the public. the prices are out of date. Cenote List courtesy of PlayaInfo . Chac Mool (Claw of the Jaguar) Location: 22 km south of Playa Del Carmen/Almost across from Puerto Aventuras. Description: 2 cenotes. Large cavern zone with beautiful views of jungle from inside cavern. Open: 10-5 daily. Facilities: Bathrooms, Restaurant. Snorkeling: Yes. Larger of 2 cenotes offers view to large room. Entrance Fee: Yes. Ponderosa (El Eden) Location: 3 km south of Puerto Aventuras. Description: Exceptionally beautiful. Short walk on path takes you to Coral Cenote, which has a large island in the center of it. Open: 10-5 daily. Facilities: Bathrooms Swimming: Very easy access. Nice overhang with tree that can be scaled to jump into cenote. Snorkeling: Excellent. One of the most popular snorkeling sites. Unlimited visibility. Wide variety of fish, eels, turtles & aquatic plant life. Entrance Fee: $5 US. Chikin Ha (Points of Direction) Location: 5 km south of Puerto Aventuras just before Xpu-Ha/Across from Barcelo Maya Hotel/Long way down bumpy road. Description: Footpath through jungle will take you to some other cenotes – one is big & almost dry with lots of fossils. Facilities: None. Swimming: Can swim through tunnel to underground air chamber. Entrance Fee: Yes. Kantun Chi Location: Just past Chikin Ha Cenote. Description: 4 mostly half dome cenotes (Kantun Chi, Zaskaleen, Uchil Ha, Zazil Ha) along a series of light jungle trails. Most remote one has ancient looking Mayan temple next to it. Several tours stop here. Facilities: Restaurant, bike rentals, horseback riding, small zoo. Swimming: Not very inviting. Snorkeling: Yes. Rental equipment available. Entrance Fee: $10 US. Cristalino Location: Just past Kantun Chi/Close to highway. Description: Beautiful, very primitive & rarely visited. Good for hanging out. Will probably have place to yourself. Likely to see more locals than tourists. Facilities: None. Swimming: You can dive into cenote from 3.5 m (15 ft) tall ledge. Entrance Fee: 25 pesos. Azul Location: Just past Cristalino Cenote/Close to highway. Description: In light jungle setting with more open air/sunlit than Kantun Chi, which creates more algae. Facilities: Snackbar. Entrance Fee: 30 pesos. Taj Mahal Location: 26 km south of Playa Del Carmen/5 km south of Puerto Aventuras/Just south of Xpu-Ha. Description: 4 interconnected cenotes. Open: 10-6 daily Facilities: Bathrooms, Restaurant. Snorkeling: Advanced. Requires swimming 5 m underwater under a rock wall to come into a large open cave with that has light shining through from ceiling above. Entrance Fee: 40 pesos. Dos Ojos (Hidden Worlds) Location: 48 km south of Playa Del Carmen/3 km south of Xel-Ha/On right 4 km down dirt road. Description: Part of Nohoch Nah Chich cave system. Location of filming for Imax Journey into Amazing Caves documentary. Open: 10-5 daily Facilities: Bathrooms, restaurant. Snorkeling: Superb. Very popular. Stalagtites & Stalagmites everywhere. Entrance Fee: $10 US/$25-40 US for snorkel tours. Temple of Doom (Calavera/Skull) Location: 2 km from Tulum on road to Coba on right/Very rugged rocky unmarked jungle path approximately 50 yds from road. Description: 3 holes in ground (one 30 ft & two 4 ft in diameter) create skull shape, hence the name. Shaded by thick jungle canopy. Facilities: None Swimming: Great. 10 ft drop down into cenote. Rope swing & ladder – though may want to bring your own rope just in case. Gran (Sac Aktun/White Water) Location: 5 km from Tulum on road to Coba on right. Description: Ladder steps lead to half moon shaped cenote decorated with small passages & openings. One of most popular sites. Good for all ages. Shallow on one side/deep on other. Famous for brilliant speleothem decorations & crystal clear water. Open: 10-5 Daily Facilities: Bathrooms Snorkeling: Fun. Fantastic. Spectacular. Paradise. Entrance Fee: 50 pesos. Car Wash (Aktun Ha/Water Cave) Location: 8 km from Tulum on road to Coba/4 km past Gran Cenote on left. Description: Can drive right in approximately 30 m (100 ft) to cenote & locals used to wash vehicles here, hence the name. Open: 9-5 Daily Facilities: Bathrooms Swimming: Very easy access. Like a small lake. Good. Fun. Snorkeling: Good in winter months. Too much algae growth in warmer months. Many small tropical fish. Entrance Fee: 20 pesos. Cristal (Naharon) Location: 4 km south of Tulum on right. Facilities: Bathrooms Swimming: Great Snorkeling: Great Entrance Fee: Yes. Includes entrance to Escondido across the street. Escondido (Mayan Blue) Location: 4 km south of Tulum on left/Across from Cristal Cenote/2 km walk in Jungle. Description: Tarzan & Jane style. Beautiful, crisp, clear, secluded. One of least known. Facilities: Bathrooms Swimming: Good Snorkeling: Good. Some great stone formations. Entrance Fee: Included in Cristal entrance fee.

Cave & Cenote Diving Mexico: TravelYucatan.com here is a website I used a lot while planning our trip

Bite Blocker Natural Mosquito Repellent Spray oh, here it is. I just googled "biodegradable mosquito spray." there were lots of options.

Quote: Originally Posted by lambert13 That is a great article. One thing to keep in mind is that the water from the cenotes flows out to the ocean. Anything discarded or left in the water makes its way out to the ocean and can harm the reef system there. When enough trash builds up it can plug up an outlet to the ocean creating flooding and making cenotes inaccessible. in that case you'd want biodegradable sunscreen. When we were there it was very clean so I was glad to see people were being respectful of the area. is there a biodegradable mosquito spray? That would be something to take too. Mosquitos were terrible there.

Quote: Originally Posted by lambert13 Imagine the photos of the bride and groom holding hands while jumping into the hole? That would be so cool. the video below shows someone jumping in. The hole he uses is too small for two people, but there are bigger spots there. YouTube - Cenote jump tulum mexico our friends jumped in to grand cenote like this. they tried to get us to take a picture just like that "taking the plunge" but I was too scared to do it. I always hurt my ears when I jump into water from high. Anyone know of a cenote that has the little zip lines? I'd like to do that on my next trip to RM. These are a natural wonder that only exist in riviera maya. If you scuba you can really explore the area. The trip to the cenote was my favorite part of the trip right after getting married

Cenotes of the Riviera Maya Home, Steve Gerrard Cavern, Cave, Technical Instructor here is a great website about being a responsible tourist

Quote: Originally Posted by lauren i LOVE to wear my hair like that. i used to have one of the things to do it, but it got lost somewhere. someone recently cut the middle out of a body-wash sponge (i'm having a brain fart - loofah?) mine was brown, so if a little hair poked thru, you couldn't tell. but if you got a bright green or white loofah(?) you might need some fake hair. you just put your hair in a ponytail, pull the pony thru the middle of the thingybobber and pin it around the thing. that probably wasn't much help. that was just what I needed to know. I didn't think about a loofa. I'll look for a brown one & if I can't find one I'll cover it with fake hair. thanks! That would be plenty big. the little thing I have now works that way, but it just makes a tiny bun. I want a big fat one

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt Adcock Just an FYI folks.. These cenotes are on private land and their land owners have awaken to the commercialization to their property and are charging photographers $200 per hour, specifically this cenote Morgan mentions. cheers! matt I'll update this in my post. I was not aware. No one there said anything to us when we walked in or as we walked around the area.

Quote: Originally Posted by misohapi I think we may do this also... just keep it simple. But i was wondering, do you need a witness? I think we were gonna just head down to the courthouse too, but didn't know if we had to bring someone? we needed two witnesses in NC. Mike had to go witness for the couple that went before us because they only had 1. it was great b/c 2 of my friends who couldn't make it to the wedding got to go to legal day. we had a great time. you live in vegas? it shouldn't be hard to get legally married then. you could do a drive through wedding.

I thought it would be fun to have a big fat bun for my BM hair in a couple of weeks. I'm in my brother's wedding. I've wanted to try this hairstyle since charlotte's first wedding on SATC. It's how carry had her hair for the wedding & I really liked it. I'm not sure if my hair is long enough. It's passed my shoulders, but not much. I have a doughnut for extra padding, but it doesn't make a big fat bun. How do you get one so huge? I can't find any larger doughnuts. Someone said they used socks. I'm going to a hairdresser, but if I need to buy something in advance I want to make sure I have it. Also, I've seen some stuff online where they cover a foundation with fake hair so it's easier to make the bun. should I get some fake hair? here are some inspiration pics. Do you think it will be cute? Or should I consider other BM hair? this is the dress. It's bill levkoff #184. I LOVE it!!!

i just noticed your wedding is in december. you might be able to wear it 1/2 up then. mine was in june. I'm also from texas so I didn't think it would be that hot to me. I have never experienced humidity like june in mexico. I've been in an outdoor wedding in san antonio in June & was OK. It was so sticky in Mexico! But, december might be really nice.

I went all up because it was so hot. your hair looks great both ways, but with it all up you don't have to worry about it falling flat.

our wedding video edit on Vimeo the edited version now I just to figure out how to convert it to burn on a DVD

Quote: Originally Posted by Bianca I have a question Morgan... In the first post you said it was 48 pesos entrance fee and in the review you said it was 480 pesos... I just wanted to clarify that. I'm pretty sure its only 48? yes, 48 I'll fix it. I was so tired when I wrote my reviews. still not recovered from mexico

there was 1 other wedding while we were there. it was the day before ours while we were all at coba. i wanted to take a look at it, but everything was taken down by the time we got back. I don't think "wedding mills" are a bad thing. You can get a cheaper/ simpler wedding. A big draw to getting married at a hotel was being able to get the cookie-cutter package. I loved the simplicity of it. I know it's not for everyone, but for brides that don't care to plan a wedding, these wedding mills can be pretty nice.

this is what we did http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t21718

thanks mod for merging these two threads. when i wrote my review I forgot that I had started the other thread before my wedding. I'll fix the link in my wedding review.

i think someone hired a notary so they could do it without vows. honestly it does not take away from the wedding day. we made it special, but in it's own silly way. it was so wonderful to have a legal day that was so relaxed & just the two of us + witnesses. nothing could have taken any excitement from the wedding day.

congrats! I love seeing people have a fun legal day. Your wedding pics are going to be so beautiful. you have such a great smile!!

thanks everyone! I have a lot to learn, but today I was feeling much more comfortable with my camera.

Quote: Originally Posted by Christa Wow Morgan, those are really great pics!! I love the dead snow man by the way - silly pranksters! my coworkers did that while I was in mexico. It was made with balloons filled with water & then put in the -80 freezer.