Let me start by saying that my plan from the beginning was to propose to my girlfriend in a cenote, in the water. When I looked at pictures of different cenotes, the pictures had tons of people in them and some cenotes had long lines, so I decided I would need to get there very early to beat the other tourists and have the cenote to ourselves for our special moment. I considered just renting a car and going and exploring the cenotes myself, however I was hesitant because this was such an important moment, I didn't want to mess it up.
So instead I messaged Absolute Adventure. I did not book, I only asked them if they could accommodate my plan, and recommend a cenote. Claire emailed back and was friendly and told me of some suggestions. I decided to hire them, and it turned out to be the best decision! Claire continued to be responsive via email as I tried to figure out which cenote would be best and I researched the various options. Ultimately we decided on Taak Bi Ha for the proposal and I told them I would decide the second cenote after the proposal.
We start off getting picked up at our hotel in the Hotel Zone, where we met our guide, Arturo, and our driver, Omar. Arturo promptly loads my girlfriend into the van and discretely pulls me aside to let me know he is aware of my plan and willing to help any way he can. We begin our journey and there was a lot of traffic this day, which Arturo explains is uncommon, but Omar is an expert managing the chaos of Mexican traffic. If you've never seen it, it can be intimidating and difficult to manage, but Omar made us feel safe and comfortable - so much so that my girlfriend fell asleep and slept all the way to the cenotes!
The drive is about an hour or 1.5 hours to Taak Bi Ha from hotel zone. At the cenotes, life jackets are required by the cenote owners. Omar and Arturo had brought life jackets for us as well as snorkel masks. Taak Bi Ha was beautiful. We swam for a while before I proposed in the water. I left my phone with Omar who was on the shore, and he made a video of the experience for us (she said yes). Afterwards, we climbed out and went to Nicte-Ha which is an open cenote and swam there for a while, before going lunch. The lunch was delicious and authentic. Make sure you bring some money in case you want to buy something additional for lunch (I bought guacamole). After lunch, we relaxed for a few minutes, during which Arturo snuck away and came back with a bottle of tequila and poured my fiancée and I a shot to celebrate our engagement!
During the entire tour, Arturo was so kind. He loves his job, and he knows so much about the local plant and wildlife. He explained many things about the history of the cenotes and how they're formed. He constantly points out various birds and lizards and tells you what they are. He explains plants and trees as well. For us, we are nature-lovers so we really appreciated his sharing of knowledge. We saw bats, birds, iguanas, basilisk lizards, and lots of fish.
Everything was perfect and we could not ask for more. The tour was great and I would HAPPILY sign up with Absolute Adventure again. Next time, we will do the tequila tasting with Arturo!
Thank you Arturo, Omar, and Claire!