Xel-Ha
After our morning in Tulum, we made the short trip
north to Xel-Ha (pronounced 'shell-ah'), one of the more popular sites in the
Mayan Riviera for snorkeling. The park features a fresh water river that connects
to a salt water lagoon. Many species of tropical fish can be seen in the lagoon.
An adventurous snorkeler can swim into underground caverns and see more exotic
sea creatures like crabs and sting rays.
After arriving at the park, it took us about 45 minutes to get into the river.
Part of the time was spent waiting in line to rent the snorkeling equipment,
for a cost of US$9 each. We could have saved the rental fee if we had our own
equipment. The park provided life jackets and inner tubes at no extra cost.
After we had all of the gear, we changed and checked our valuables into a locker.
Then the tour operator brought us to the shuttle that would take us to the river's
entrance, 2 kilometres away. It looked like 'standing room only' on the shuttle
so we decided to walk. Once at the river's entrance, our clothing was placed
in a locked bag which was transported to the other end of the river. It was
easy to get exasperatingly overheated during this 45 minutes, which had followed
our sweltering morning in Tulum. Fortunately, once in the water, Xel-Ha was
very cool indeed.
This was Ann's first ever snorkeling experience. So, it took a bit of coercion
and instruction on Ross' part to get her into the water with the snorkeling
gear. Once we were in the river, we had to stop to adjust our masks. We chose
a poor location to stop, because the people in inner tubes kept running over
us. Although the river was fresh water, it wasn't a great place to snorkel because
the bottom was all stirred up by the large volume of people.
The lagoon was by far a more interesting a place to snorkel. The water was
clear enough to see an occasional sea urchin on the sandy bottom. We encountered
a school of thousands of minnows which parted as they tried to swim around us.
There were also small schools of bigger fish such as Angelfish,
Sargeant Majors and Blue Tangs that swam within arm's
reach. The fish that were out in the open tended to be dull coloured and often
had striped patterns. The more colourful varieties could be found closer to
the rocks. Most of the fish we saw were small, less than one foot long. However,
we did see one parrot fish which was almost three feet in length. Ross hung
around it closely for about five minutes until it showed a little too much interest.
Ann decided to keep a little more distance.
Conclusion
The organization of the park could be better. It was annoying having to carry
all of the snorkeling equipment and life jackets all the way to the river's
entrance. They should have additional rental facilities closer to the entrance.
The fish were abundant at Xel-Ha, but less colourful when compared to a reef
dive. Nevertheless, it was a great experience. Overall, the Tulum/Xel-ha
tour was enjoyable and worthwhile, but Xcaret, a very
different excursion, remained our favourite.
