Laguna Bacalar

Laguna Bacalar is the second largest fresh water lake in Mexico. It's also called Laguna de siete colores (7 colours lake) because of the different blue shades of the water . The lake is fed by cenote sweet water giving to the lake a Caribbean blue colours. Inside the lake itself there are 2 cenotes, while just outside the lake there is Cenote Azul, the second biggest cenote in Mexico. 

What is a cenote? 

It's an opening into the Yucatan underground river system, which flows beneath the entire peninsula. Millions of years ago the peninsula was a barrier reef. When the sea level fell, it was exposed to the atmosphere, the limestone dissolved and create cave systems. Many collapsed creating the cenotes. The rise of the sea flooded the cave systems creating two layers of water : seawater at the bottom and freshwater on top. 

The Maya considered the cenotes to be the entrance to the underworld and here were made sacrifices and offerings. 

In the Bacalar lake the cenotes are visible because of the darker blue colour, surrounded by light blue water. 

Unfortunately most of the lake is hidden by private villas and their fencing and only little parts of the lake are visible from outside. On the other side, I was lucky enough to met the owner of a camping situated on the best part of the lake and he allowed me to spend some time there and take a swim in his beach. He had no guests in all his camping area, so probably he was happy to have someone there. He got one of the best spot on the lake : between two cenotes and in front of the stromalites, "rocks" layered by sedimentation of biofilm of cyanobacterias that live in swallow waters. 

Cenote Azul, located just few minutes walk from the lake, is a perfect round lake, a 90 m deep hole. It was the first time I swam in a cenote and it's impressive. You enter into the water and there is no bottom, it's so deep that you don't see anything else than the dark blue. It's a huge hole in the ground filled with fresh water. Can you imagine a 90 m deep hole? Amazing! 

The little town of Bacalar has a history of wars between European countries for the possession of colony and pirates attacks from Belize in the XVIII century. For this reason in 1729 a fort was built : El Fuerte de San Felipe. 

Fuerte de San Felipe 

Main square 

My beautiful hostel 

Cenote Azul 

Stromalites