Monday, March 20, 2006

Cave dive in Grand cenote

It being my first dive with Nadia, a freelance cave guide recruted by Xibalba, and Olli, a German cave diver, we keep it simple: Grand cenote's main line. And beyond. Cool with me, as I haven't actually dived Grand cenote's vast cave system yet on this trip.

After checking our gear and doing an S-drill, we head for the main tunnel. About 25' later we pass cenote Ho-tul and reach the end of the main line where Nadia closes the gap to the Cuzan Ha loop. Shortly after we pass another unnamed cenote. Though I remember some of the passages, there's places that seem totally new to me. Sac Aktun is truly a great system, with some wonderful formations.

Olli calls the dive, less than 10' from closing the loop. Being the last one in, I'm now leading the dive out. And of course everything's different when seeing it coming from the other direction. Nice and easy 80' dive, with plenty of air left, thanks to a maximum depth of only 13m.