26 metres below you, the emerald water sparkles in the sunlight. Vine tendrils pitch themselves over the edge of the hole, reaching down to touch the water, and waterfalls tumble down the rock faces in misty veils of spray. The surrounding jungle buzzes in its tropical warmth, and the stairway curling around the hole’s stone walls to the water’s edge offers a singular invitation – Dive in!
You’re at Il Kil on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, one of the world’s many spectacular swimming holes. This one is formed by a cenote or collapsed limestone cave that exposed the crystal groundwater beneath. It’s a place of sublime beauty. (In fact, such is its setting that it was a stop on the 2010 and 2011 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, of which arena was a co-sponsor).
Swimming holes are nature’s way of combining pristine water with stunning backdrops to give outdoor and water lovers an experience that tantalizes and heightens your senses. There’s just something about swimming in a natural pool in a natural setting – it’s thrilling, liberating, daring, calming, inspiring, dreamlike, … not to mention invigorating and refreshing, given the bracing temperatures of some of them.
They’re not all cenotes like Il Kil. They could be…
