Deep Horizon Blog

Exploring remote cave diving sites along the edges of the Riveria Maya

Text and Photos by Brett Sunderland (except as noted)

What I had in mind was this: Can we dive some of the more out of the way dive sites that you don normally take your guests to? This was part of the correspondence we had with our dive guide, friend, cave instructor and overall Jedi Master of all that is the Riveria Maya, Steve Gerrard.

A little history first. My friend and dive partner Robert (Marty) Reid and I have been diving together since the late 1960 . We had been diving in the springs of north central Florida for many years while the sport of cave diving was beginning to develop into a recreational sport. You had to really search for cave diving instruction back in the early 1970 and it was expensive for a couple of teenagers from Atlanta who had only recently acquired their driver licenses.

Fast forward a couple of decades. Marty is living in Florida and begins cave diving, having taken instruction from Bill Rennaker. We understand that Mexico is the place to see highly decorated cave systems in relatively shallow and warm (relaxing) waters. Always looking for the next adventure, we organize a trip to Akumal, Mexico. We are recommended to Steve Gerrard who, at the time, was exclusively teaching cave diving and conducting guided cave diving tours for his clients. (For the past couple of years Steve has taken other career directions but still trains and teaches cave diving. Now he doing it for fun however and seems to be enjoying a renewed spirit for this passion of his)

Our first visit to the Rivera Maya, and our introduction to Steve, was to take his cave diving course as sanctioned by the NACD. This included the three basic courses, Cavern, Intro to Cave and Full Cave. While three of our group were focused on the training over the 8 days of our trip, Marty was exploring dive sites with guides that Steve was able to arrange for him.

Having completed the required dives, and then some, and having taken the examinations as required by the NACD, we were awarded certifications as full Cave Divers. Our graduation dive was held at the Nohoch Nah Chich, or (as everybody

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who has been cave diving anywhere in Mexico knows) the Giant Bird House. If we weren completely hooked on cave diving after swimming through the Giant Bird House, we never would be.

So, this is where our adventure begins. On future trips to the Rivera Maya we knew we wanted to go back to the est of the Best (the Giant Bird House being one of those) since you cannot possibly see all of the passageways in a system as big as that. However, we also wanted to dive the systems that Steve and his friends were diving. We wanted to explore the newly found sites where most visitors to Akumal were not being shown.

This story is about some of those caves.

To be able to convince your dive guide that you are orthy (my word) of his time and trust requires one simple acknowledgement: that there will be no whining!

Of course, it is assumed that you have better than average cave diving skills and get along well playing in the sand box with the other kids. When asking someone to make an extra effort on your behalf, I have always found that it is a good thing if you can make that person life easier. Little things do matter and I believe that Steve felt that our group, after numerous trips to dive with him, believed that we could handle a little ut of the way exploring. I think we were able to convince him that we were pretty easy going and that we understood the risks and disappointments that were inevitable with our request.

The first exploration that he invited us to participate on was actually a dive site that was being explored by one of his friends (and Owner at the time) at Aktun Dive Center in Tulum, Gunnar Wagner.

Gunnar was originally from Germany. He and some of his associates had discovered a new system called The Monkey House. They had cleared a path to the site and built the somewhat crude but sufficient infrastructure to support their planned diving operations. We were told, at this time, that we would be some of only a handful of Americans that had explored this system and, at that, not more that 40 people total had dived in this cave up to that time. Of course we absolutely had to dive it! We were already full of the egends in our own minds bravado. I don think that anyone was able to sleep the night before.

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Steve let us borrow his truck, and we met at Aktun Dive Center first AM on the morning of the dive. We followed another truck out into an area we did not recognize which would not be unusual for a couple of tourists.

After jeeping it through some back trails we came into a clearing where there were some additional helpers waiting to assist us in carrying our gear through the jungle to the spring. It was a 45 minute hike. It was not a very good trail. We were starting to understand why Steve did not want to come along. (He had already made the trip earlier in the year) The good news is that the tanks were already at the dive site. The bad news? Walking on sharp limestone embedded rock trails in flimsy neoprene booties, does a number on your feet. Remember, no whining.

Upon arriving at the dive site, we saw an outpost that was made up of a compressor shack (how in the world did they get that in here????), a covered sleeping hut, a meal preparation hut and a community/dining/hanging out in hut. They were all raised off the ground to provide a level floor. In the middle was a camp site fireplace. This was all located within the crater of an area in the jungle which fell away from the surface to expose the waters edge where our underwater journey began.

Gunnar was already at the dive site preparing for us. Upon arrival and after huge consumptions of water and rest, we gathered around the camp site to discuss the dive plan.

Gunnar explained to us that this dive site is also known as the Playground or Mastodon Cave. Maybe that why it is so unknown, because nobody knows what to call it. I don know if they ever figured out what to call it. We all liked the Monkey House. There was supposed to be a clan of monkeys that make this part of the jungle their home. They were probably watching us along the way but we saw no signs of their presence.

Back to the dive plan. This was going to be a stage dive since the dive was going to be about 4,000 ft. We would pass over a Mastodon jaw with the teeth still intact. Gunnar was going to bring his camera to take photographs for us. Just after the

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Mastodon jaw we would drop our stage bottles and continue through the urtain

of roots which is an area where the roots from the trees in the jungle above make their way down through the limestone floor and into the spring below. There are walls of roots which one must pass through to continue on towards the ang Room which is a huge room with stalactite structures that appear as huge fangs piercing through the water into the sand floor below. Just past the ang Room we will surface into another cratered area. Gunnar cautions us to be careful upon

surfacing here because many wild animals use this location as a watering hole. At this point we should still be within thirds and will turn the dive, pick up our stage bottles and back track as we came into the system. They have already run a permanent line into and through this main tunnel.

The dive went just as planned. This was the first cave system that I had been fortunate enough to see which had no markings from outside intruders. Not one broken stalactite, not one fin mark in the sand and no one had stolen the Mastodon Jaw or taken away any of the teeth. We had 2 hours and 17 minutes from beginning to end, no decompression and approximately 4,000 ft (according to Gunnar) in the Monkey House.

After exiting the spring we were treated to a wonderful barbeque lunch. Gunnar told us that they did not know where the other end of the cave we came up in was. They had not yet been able to explore that far into the jungle. They kinda thought they knew where it was, and I sure by now they know a lot more than they did at the time of our dive.

This was exactly what we had intended, to explore the somewhat undiscovered country.

On another occasion to dive with Steve and after going the wrong way in cave systems that we had already gone the right way in, we (again) challenged Steve to introduce us to ther dive sites. Being the perfect host, Steve didn want to start us off in some little hole that had a big possibility of being a really bad dive and a wasted day. So, we would usually get in a couple of et work the cobwebs out dives which is exactly what he should do. Once gauging our current abilities and helping us with fine tuning our skills, he (or any other guide for that matter) could then consider taking us to more complicated or unfamiliar sites. If everything went in the toilet after diving some really great sites then, at least, the week would not have

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been wasted. I can understand that viewpoint. As our guide (and friend), he felt a responsibility to make the most out of our time. So much for the SOP (standard operating procedure). Where are the other new dive sites that you have been diving and can we go there?

Our next challenge occurred one morning when Steve tells us that haven been to this place in a while but I think I know where it is Not a real good sign for our first dive of the day, but maybe he was just trying to keep us guessing. On this trip, Wayne Kinard, (Owner of Amigo dive shop and air station in Ft. White) was with me and Marty. It was his first time diving in the Cenotes in Mexico. At least he got to see some pretty amazing sights before we took him on one of our exploratory missions. Little did he know.

To his credit, Steve found the general location of the cenote along Highway 307 known as Chan Hol or Small House. Actually, I think it was his trusted steed Joe T Cocker (a Cocker Spaniel who has been along Steve side for as long as we e know him/them), who sniffed out the (almost) overgrown pathway off of the highway and into the interior of the jungle where the small spring opening in the ground is located.

After a little further exploring we realized that there was a pathway, not quite a road, that Steve could drive his truck up to the spring, almost. Usually, the springs that no one ventures to have very little supporting features/structures that we typically see at most of the more well known and commercial sites. There are rarely tables to set up on, no bathrooms or changing facilities, and certainly no restaurant or security available. You e pretty much on your own. And remember, no whining. The trade off is going where very few others have gone before. Not that that is anything really special, unless it is to the person(s) doing it. To us it has been more about the overall adventure, the experience and the opportunity to learn new skills and practice old ones. But the diving is really what this is all about.

The main challenge to this dive is just getting into the cave system and then getting back out of it. Upon locating the very small pool of water that is under a limestone overhang we all realized that this dive was going to take some patience on everyone part. The surface of the spring had been enlarged a little by the land owner. It was probably about 6 across. Hardly enough to get more than one or two divers in at the same time. In addition, by digging out the stone the land owner had

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created a mud pit. Steve found the thin white nylon line that marked the entrance to the shaft which would lead us to the main tunnel. He recommended that we go in two at a time, one behind the other. The entrance shaft is really more conducive to side mount as it has more width than height. It goes down at about a 60 degree angle. Not straight down but pretty steep. He also told us to keep the guideline on our left as that will keep you positioned in the highest part of the shaft allowing clearance with the twin 104 on your back.

Steve described this entrance as a ight minor restriction With no visibility. I don remember being in a more difficult cave entrance ever. Fortunately for me, I was able to go in first. This was because I was taking my Nikonos camera system with two strobes and Steve thought it would be helpful for me to have a little visibility with the additional task loading. I curled up the two strobe arms in order to make the camera system structure as compact as possible in anticipation of the narrow passageway.

Once everybody was geared up, we had a final review of our dive plan. We would all assemble in the main cave entrance after dropping down out of the entrance shaft and make sure that we rechecked each other for any tank valve roll offs or other gear issues than may have occurred while squeezing through Steve ight minor restriction

After clunking my way through the shaft with one hand on the guideline and one hand pushing my camera system I dropped out of the top of the cave below into crystal clear waters. I made some quick buoyancy adjustments since I was sinking pretty quickly due to the fact that I didn have a third hand to operate my inflator during the descent. I probably could not have reached it anyway. This was a short stretch of tunnel that requires one to adjust his breathing to manage his buoyancy. Talk about task loading!

After clearing the shaft entrance into the cave so that the next diver didn fall on top of me, I had a chance to gather myself and re-group. One diver after another came out into the cave in what looked like a cloud of smoke. We all assembled into a clearer section of the cave entrance to get out of the silt. As we moved off we were able to see the display of clay pots and jugs that have fallen through the shaft from the spring pool above. They property owners have been using this spring for everything from kitchen clean up to a source of fresh water. I guess some of their

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earthen ware got away from them. Divers into this cave had set up the pots and jugs on a shelf along the side of the cave. Our halogen lights lit the display up just like we were in Macy . Some of them seemed to be too big to have slipped down the narrow passageway.

Steve had also told us that this cave was highly decorated but was dark from the tannic acid running through the water as a result of the organics and limestone chemistry. This cave would not be a good dive for anyone that is easily claustrophobic. However, once in it, the dive is very easy and shallow. My deepest reading was 36 Our dive was one hour and 23 minutes. No decompression, just a very challenging exit.

Steve had also brought his camera system which was a digital Nikon in an Aquatica housing with twin strobes. The housing also had a domed port. Even with all of the light out put that 4 divers can bring to bear, it seemed that we were hardly able to sufficiently light up this dive. At least not nearly close to what we had been used to in the other bright white caves we had traveled through.

As we got back to the point of exit we noticed that the silt had cleared. It was obvious where we had come through the ceiling. After tightening the lens cap on the 15 mm lens on my Nikonos and adjusting my buoyancy, I found the nylon line connecting us to the surface and proceeded very carefully up the shaft. There was no way to avoid kicking up silt. In fact, I didn really kick at all fearing just more silt for those behind me to navigate through. I remembered to keep the line to my right but still got caught up a couple of times. I could feel my chest rubbing against the muck on the bottom of the shaft and knew the guy behind me would not be happy.

We all reached the surface safely with Steve coming up last. Unfortunately, with all of the silt and absolutely no visibility, the dome port on Steve camera housing got scratched from the limestone rock somewhere during the exit. He was a good sport about it though. I would have understood if he would have pitched a fit but the damage was done. I think he realized that, at this point, and as he would say, ou just have to solve the problem On subsequent dives we could see the faint line from the scratch on his digital images. That not an inexpensive fix. I sure that he got around it one way or another. All in a day work, huh?

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The dive ended with a really nice lunch of chicken fajitas in Tulum. I believe that we all felt like we learned a lot diving Chan Hol as it humbled us into having to rely on our training and sharpen our skills. That was a very satisfying experience.

Steve next challenge for us was another dive site he had not been to for some time. It is part of the larger Naranjal system and is called the Jailhouse. It is

identified in his book but is a pretty far ride out off of Highway 307, working its way south towards the coast.

Steve was expecting to have about a 6-10 minute hike through the landowner property to access the cenote. After paying a nominal entrance fee (a cold coke and

some pesos everything negotiable) to the land owner, we were surprised to see that a road had been cut to within about 100 feet of the cenote. This road is much like the others in that, if your means of transportation does not have the clearances usually associated with a truck like vehicle, you might as well plan to consider the road a wide and rocky trail.

As we approached the cenote, Steve explains that the reason it is called the Jailhouse is because of the barbed wire around the perimeter of the spring that was there to prevent the cows from getting into it. He told us that the site is rarely dived. At the time of our visit, some of the wire was still present but there was direct access around the wire and it did not present a problem for us.

As we got closer to the cenote I think we all (in our minds) realized exactly why the site was arely dived The surface of the cenote was about 20 in diameter and was a nasty brown and muck filled pit. The only immediately evident positive visual characteristic was the ample shading that usually accompanies an oasis.

Except this was not an oasis. Then again, it depends on who you asked. Joe T. Cocker was in heaven. He immediately ran up to and jumped into the mud and muck chasing the various frogs and other amphibious creatures that he could surprise. The funny part was watching his dad. Steve had given Joe a bath the evening before and he was as soft and cuddly as he had probably been in a while. Joe T coat is the light brown and white that you would normally expect to see in a cocker spaniel. On this day, all of the efforts made the night before were a thing of

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the past as Joe was now covered in the most nauseating combination of slime and mud that one could possibly imagine. And he was loving every minute of it. We were too. Except for Steve until about a half second later when he realized that there was nothing he could do about it. So, we just had a good laugh at Steve expense and got on with the dive.

With Joe running about chasing the fish and the frogs, we went about unloading the truck. Lugging it over to the cenote to find a boulder to set it up on that was also in the shade took some doing. Everyone seemed to find a favorite rock though.

Did I mention the bugs? This gave us all additional encouragement to get ready quickly. Or at least get into our wetsuits or, as Steve would say, et rubberized

This melting pot of biological miracles had produced some pretty interesting mosquito varieties. They were big and they were ruthless. Usually, I wait until just before going underwater to put my mask on. This day, it was being used as a defensive mechanism and mainly to reduce the amount of flesh exposed to these creatures. We couldn get underwater quickly enough where we were certain they could not follow. Who said anything about whining?

We had already gone over the dive plan. This cenote connects into the same system that Mayan Blue is on. It just further over towards the coast. Steve told us that we will be seeing more of the ighly decorated passageway downstream from the power passageway that is associated with diving Mayan Blue.

Besides seeing this part of the Mayan Blue system, Steve wanted to replace the guideline from the basin into the cave because it was old and decaying from the nastiness of the spring. In addition, he told us that in order to get over to the main passageway, we would be taking a short cut and have to do a couple of jumps. So, not only was this dive going to challenge our sense of smell, but we would also be able to practice some of our basic cave diving skills as well.

After clearing the surface, and escaping our dive bombing mosquito enemies, we went through a dark and narrow passageway which eventually cleared once we got down into the spring normal water flow. This dive included (besides the surface whining) a variety of cave characteristics including the delicate formations, a dark section of rooms from the tannic effects, some minor restrictions and some very

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large rooms. Every turn seemed to open up another fantastic and totally different geologic encounter. It was all over before we knew it. Something that seems to happen a lot when cave diving.

The dive went on for one hour and 37 minutes with a depth of 86 feet. Upon surfacing, we were greeted by a tuckered out dark brown and smelly Joe T. Cocker.

Of course, he could have probably said the same thing about us. I hope he likes baths. I am thinking that Steve does that a lot.

One might wonder why we (or anyone) would want to put ourselves through the efforts and experiments that can be characteristic of searching out these remote

dive sites. Especially when you e on a schedule and don have time to lose a day to a goose chase. There are already so many cenotes that offer such fantastic cave diving opportunities and experiences. Most of these dive sites have permanent access in place (you can drive right up to the cenote), bathrooms, dive decks and many more qualities that make the diving easy and easy going.

I fully expect that many if not all of the sites mentioned in this article have since then been turned into hopefully profitable operations for the resident landowners. We look forward to returning again and again to explore other undiscovered dive sites.

No two cave systems are the same and as Steve Gerrard notes in the introduction to his book The Cenotes of the Riveria Maya, f You Don Go, You Won Know

I think that says it better than I could ever express.

Having an nsider as a part of your team in anything or anywhere can be very rewarding, especially as you travel to remote dive destinations. If they are a friend then so much the better. As one can gather by reading this article we will continue to plan around Steve schedule so that we can continue to see new dive sites as well as new areas in previously visited cave systems.

There are many more professionals in this area that can provide the same services as we have experienced as well as other professional cave divers that conduct trips to the region. I would encourage interested divers to contact the NACD for references and recommendations for training and guide services.