My husband and I recently joined 10 other REEF volunteers on a Field Survey to Akumal, Mexico. Akumal is located on the Mayan Riviera, quite near the Mayan ruins at Tulum, and about 60+ miles from Cancun, Mexico. Our time was filled with diving and conducting REEF surveys, fish identification seminars, exploring cenotes, and learning about sea turtle nesting research.
We stayed at Gran Bahia Principe Resorts, part of an international resort group, which is really 3 resorts in one and covers an enormous acreage on the ocean. The area was so large that one had to catch one of the resort’s trams to travel from one place to another. Sunny weather is the norm that time of year and we had no rain the entire week.
One of the interesting geographic features in this part of Mexico is the cenote, a type of sinkhole which connects to subterranean bodies of water and sometimes cave systems. The rainwater which fills the cenote is crystal-clear because it has been filtered through rock substrata and contains very little particulate matter. The REEF group had the opportunity to dive and snorkel several of these cenotes when ocean conditions turned too rough for dives on the reef, and it proved to be an amazing and unique experience! Since freshwater and salt water are both found in some cenotes, REEF divers surveyed some unusual fish, and experienced the sensation of diving through a halocline, a region below the surface of a body of water where there is a significant change in density due, in the case of cenotes, to increased salinity. Many of the divers described the experience of ascending from salt water into fresh as akin to a dream state. –“The fresh water was so clear, it was hard to believe I was still underwater!" Strange and unusual formations in the caves accentuated the dreamlike atmosphere. Illuminated only by divers’ lights, stalagmites, stalactites and columns stirred the imagination. Fish, bats and birds find a sanctuary in these caves.
Another unique element of Bahia Principe was a local environmental group, Eco-Bahia, whose members work with the resort to help preserve the stands of coral and other sealife found off the beaches. Eco Bahia’s representative, Diana Garcia Urrutia, explained to REEF members all the goals of their program, including the preservation of sea turtle nests. Many sea turtles, mostly Loggerheads and Hawksbills, return to Bahia Principe’s beaches each summer to dig their nests and deposit their eggs. Members of Eco Bahia along with community volunteers protect the turtles as they nest, then collect the eggs and rebury them in a safe, fenced environment just off the beach. When the baby turtles begin to dig out, Eco Bahia volunteers gather them up and bring in local school children who name each baby and send it safely out to sea with a kiss and a blessing. What an excellent way to assure that younger generations will have an emotional connection to the wildlife of their area!
The Akumal Field Survey was certainly a pleasurable and enlightening experience! To find out more about the REEF Field Survey Program and to book your space on a dive vacation that counts, visit the REEF Trips section of our webpage. To view photo albums from the Akumal Field Survey, click on these links: Akumal album 1, Akumal album 2, Akumal album 3, Akumal album 4. The Akumal Field Survey Data Summary is also available online.