A New Chapter Unfolds At Seadust Cancun

Our group is enjoying a refreshing dip in the vivid blue waters of a cenote in the Puerto Morelos area — roughly one hour from Cancun’s Hotel Zone — when a tour guide from Cenotes Zapote Prehistoric Park emerges from a platform above and shouts: “Do you want to know what was found in this very cenote? I’ll tell you when you get out of the water!”

Before moving onto the next cenote on the property, which includes an aquatic zip line for any thrill seekers, our guide explains that the fossilized skull of a prehistoric sloth dating back to between 10,647 and 10,305 BC was found by divers on the site.

“Even for us as locals, cenotes have meaning because you enjoy something that is unique to the area,” explains Silvestre Vazquez, the general manager of Seadust Cancun Family Resort, which offers excursions to Cenotes Zapote Prehistoric Park. “In the next five years, the Ruta de Cenotes [a trail linking together all the cenotes in the region] is going to be one of the most popular activities in the region. The route is about 35 km long and has more than 150 cenotes. It’s a protected area — nobody can build there.”

Cenotes Zapote is one option along the route, which in addition to being the spot where the new species of giant sloth was discovered, also features other memorable attractions like two outer-worldly swimmable underground caverns.

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