Cancun now has an all-inclusive beachfront resort with a twist: an environmental program spanning water reclamation to wildlife preservation.
In April, the 996-room Sandos Caracol Eco Resort earned “Sustainable Hotel” certification from the Meso-American Reef Tourism Initiative for helping protect the Riviera Maya’s fragile ecosystem. Being the region’s most eco-responsible resort “is a dream for us,” said assistant manager Alberto Selas. Green initiatives, started eight months ago, include composting, total water reclamation for landscaping, keycard-controlled room lighting, water systems that sustain mangroves and the coral reef, and habitat conservation.
The resort’s villas, restaurants, disco and pools were planned around the 65-acre site’s mangrove jungles, lagoons and cenotes — natural cavelike wells connected by vast networks of underground rivers.
“The entire Yucatan Peninsula is hollow,” said Moises Martinez Cerda, who guides hike-swim tours through submerged freshwater caves of Rio Secreto. Designated a nature reserve in 2007, this cenote network is a 20-minute shuttle from Sandos Caracol. After being outfitted in wetsuits, slippers and caving helmets with lamps, six tourists descend 40 feet underground to tramp and swim past surreal speleothems — features formed of minerals deposited by dripping water — and tiny darkness-adapted animals. Cerda covers geology and ancient Mayans’ use of cenotes for sacred rites.
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“You have to lay flat in the water to clear some passages,” said Tonya Shook after snorkeling in another Riviera Maya cenote. The Virginia resident saw bats, catfish, extensions of coral reef. “Everything was natural, even the steps going down into the sinkhole.” Sandos Caracol has 16 cenotes on-site, said Karol Sepulveda. The veterinarian, who cares for wildlife at the resort, began leading daily eco-tours last summer.
Sepulveda said the resort was built into natural surroundings to preserve habitats. Adopted animals left by previous owners include burros who reside near the spa, and cats. Sterilized and vaccinated, they feed at “Cat Cafe” shelters instead of restaurant backlots.
She shows visitors the Mayan Bee Project that fosters “Xuxan Kab” colonies, and points to free-roaming residents; peacocks, macaws, coati resembling a badger-raccoon cross. Basilisk, or “Jesus,” lizards skitter on water; Jicotea turtles glide across mangrove-rimmed lagoons.
Guests can snorkel in the resort’s largest cenote after showering to remove sunscreen and bug repellant that could pollute the natural well and connecting tunnels. “Don’t feed the alligators,” Claudia Monti jokes while dispensing gear.
It’s a sign of changing times when an all-inclusive resort adds nature encounters to its all-you-can-enjoy buffet.
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