Paradise Under a Zoo

After a rather adventurous journey to Mexico, we found ourselves in the bustling tourist town of Playa Del Carmen. The differences to the villages of Costa Rica immediately apparent. Quintana Roo Mexico, which contains Playa del Carmen, hosted 12.5 million tourists in 2021, about five times more tourists than Costa Rica. And as you would expect, the scale of tourism infrastructure is many many times larger. 

In many ways, there is nothing eco about Playa del Carmen. Most of the tourists here seem to care very little for the natural environment (if you can call it that) that they find themselves in. Instead, Quintana Roo Mexico largely serves as a warm place to escape from the cold gray winters of the U.S. Hop on a plane, and in a few hours you find yourself on a beach with warm oceans, hot sun, and bars galore.

As we walked the streets, I was sickened by the endless rows of chain restaurants selling expensive food and gaudy trinkets to middle-age Americans looking for an escape from their lives. Honestly, to me this area represented the worst parts of american culture, the greed, the entitlement, and the carelessness towards people and place. Definitely not the place I would visit on vacation. 

So why did we come here? Previously we had made plans to visit Honduras, and then take a ferry to Belize, to prime eco tourism destinations. But after learning that Honduras rated level 3 on the U.S travel advisory (Wastson does not allow us to travel to countries rated above 2) we had to change those plans. Flying through Mexico, and then taking an eight hour bus to Belize, proved a cheaper option than flying straight into Belize City (unsurprisingly traveling in tourist countries with two people is rather expensive, even with a Watson fellowship, and we found ourselves needing to tightly budget our traveling.) Not only would it be cheaper, but it would allow us the opportunity to visit a mass tourism state, and meet Sam Meacham with Cindaq (El Centro Investigador del Sistema Acuífero de Quintana Roo A.C.). 

Judy Dourisin introduced me to Sam through email and suggested that we meet if I found the opportunity. 

I took a taxi from Playa del Carmen to Puerto Aventuras to the office of CINDAQ. I entered the building to see a dive shop, and a cafe right next to each other. Sam soon came down from the office to meet me. We sat down at the cafe for a delicious latte.

“This coffee fuels most of my work” he said, “that’s why I’m a part owner of it.” 

Quintana Roo happens to be a mecca for cave divers. Sam is one of the fourmost members of underwater cave exploration worldwide. His passion for exploring submersed caves brought him to the area in the early 2000s. He served as a diving guide, exploring deeper into the cenotes in his freetime. Soon he began mapping the caves using manual measuring tapes. His explorations of the caves led to archaeological discoveries, including extinct animals, human remains, and human tools and artwork. At one point the cenotes were dry, but about 18,000 years ago the sea level rose filling the caves with water. Now the water at the top of the cenotes is filled with freshwater, but underneath, you will find the heavier salt water. These unique caves have been largely unexplored until recently, and contain many incredible relics preserved through years untouched. 

Sam’s passion for cave diving led him to the area. Soon he started CINDAQ realizing that his discoveries bridged many scientific fields and needed to be brought to international attention. One thing led to another and as he continued to catalog and explore the underwater universe, the non-profit took off. Advancing technology allowed data taking to become more efficient, extending the rate of exploration.  Soon he was able to hire on a few staff working with scientists around the world. 

The goal of his work is discovery. Most of their work consists of data taking and processing. Unused data is useless. This realization and mission forced them to become extremely organized in record keeping to the point that some universities have replicated their methods. 

In addition to data keeping,  CINDAQ realized that if they couldn’t bridge the gap to sharing their data, in many ways their work was useless. And that was when they really began investing in high quality underwater photography and videography equipment.

As the years passed CINDAQ gained more and more international attention. Now their work is featured by National Geographic and BBC, to name a few large media outlets (their work is featured on the latest Planet Earth III with David Attenborough). CINDAQ continues to work with many scientific communities providing data of their discoveries whenever called upon.

Sam’s ultimate hope is to prove that the Cenote systems of Mexico are the longest caves in the world (right now they are only second to Mammoth cave.) So far more than 1500 kilometers have been explored and mapped. To this point they have mapped a system of caves that extended to about 500 kilometers. Soon he hopes they will cross the 650 kilometer line that currently sets Mammoth cave as the longest in the world. 

“Kentucky will be seen as the second fiddle,” he said, laughing. It’s not their main goal, but still one that gives the explorers additional drive. 

He has noticed that tourism has had a negative impact on the system of cenotes. 

“I could take you to a cenote that you would think was unbelievably beautiful, meanwhile I would be crying knowing what it was, and now it has degraded to” he told me. 

Most of the impact comes from sewer systems. And to this point, the government is addressing the issue. Only a small number of tourists come to dive and are even aware of the international treasure that lies beneath their feet. 

Perhaps Sam’s work will help to raise awareness of this incredible natural wonder, and shift international attention towards its preservation and protection. 

You can read more about CINDAQ by clicking on the button below:

CINDAQ