Joined a cavern tour today to try out my CamOne below water, using the original DiveBox with domed lens, meaning I had to manually re-adjust the camera's focus by rotating its optical element, about 90° counter-clockwise, so as to get relatively sharp underwater footage.
Note that with this solution you can't have it both ways, it's either sharp above or below. Evaluating the Full HD clips I'd say I haven't quite hit the optimum setting yet, but it's hard to tell due to grain.
Showing posts with label Aktun-Ha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aktun-Ha. Show all posts
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Room of Tears
Upon arrival at Aktun Ha, a.k.a. Carwash, we're greeted in watchful silence by a small (<1m) but apparently well fed lagarto, enjoying a warmup sunbath by the cenote's edge.
After taking our time to gear up, Richi and I step straight into the cenote's refreshing 24°C water, perform a mutual equipment check, slowly descent to about 4m for some safety drills, then head for the cavern's entrance, where RIchi starts laying a continuous line towards the cave's permanent main line. About 20' later we pass Luke's Hope, another small cenote, now completely cleared from overhanging vegetation, thus letting in a lot more daylight than before. Then off we jump into a small hole and through a narrow tunnel in order to reach the Room of Tears, still as wonderful as ever. Having almost used 1/3 of my nitrox mix, I give the turn around signal after 37'.
Back in the cenote's entrance pool I tried to find the small alligator but couldn't see it. Maybe later? The good news is that my modified DiveBox remained dry this time, after having replaced the first flat lens prototype with the second one I got. So there's still hope indeed.
After taking our time to gear up, Richi and I step straight into the cenote's refreshing 24°C water, perform a mutual equipment check, slowly descent to about 4m for some safety drills, then head for the cavern's entrance, where RIchi starts laying a continuous line towards the cave's permanent main line. About 20' later we pass Luke's Hope, another small cenote, now completely cleared from overhanging vegetation, thus letting in a lot more daylight than before. Then off we jump into a small hole and through a narrow tunnel in order to reach the Room of Tears, still as wonderful as ever. Having almost used 1/3 of my nitrox mix, I give the turn around signal after 37'.
Back in the cenote's entrance pool I tried to find the small alligator but couldn't see it. Maybe later? The good news is that my modified DiveBox remained dry this time, after having replaced the first flat lens prototype with the second one I got. So there's still hope indeed.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Solo check dive in Aktun Ha
Went to Xibalba this morning to set up my gear. To my dismay my backup second stage, a Scubapro S550, is not functioning, despite having been serviced recently by Gerda's Dive Shop. Had to swap it with my R190, brought for stage diving. So much so for german Gründlichkeit. As you can imagine, I'm quite disappointed :o/
After lunch a taxi drove me to Aktun Ha, where to my surprise I got greeted by Miguel surfacing from a photo dive as I was about to splash in. Miguel was my cave guide four years ago. Small world indeed :o)
Friendly surface chat over, I took my time slowly diving around the shallow open water area, still clear of algae, just getting used to being underwater again with plenty of gear all over, before lining my way into the cavern zone to check my lights and also drop a little deeper to pressure check my two DiveBoxes. The original remained dry down to 18m, but the modified housing alas leaked, from the looks of it, through the hand-glued prototype lens :o(
At 4pm my driver picked me up again and brought me back to the dive center for 180 Pesos return, i.e. only 100 more than for mexicans.
After lunch a taxi drove me to Aktun Ha, where to my surprise I got greeted by Miguel surfacing from a photo dive as I was about to splash in. Miguel was my cave guide four years ago. Small world indeed :o)
Friendly surface chat over, I took my time slowly diving around the shallow open water area, still clear of algae, just getting used to being underwater again with plenty of gear all over, before lining my way into the cavern zone to check my lights and also drop a little deeper to pressure check my two DiveBoxes. The original remained dry down to 18m, but the modified housing alas leaked, from the looks of it, through the hand-glued prototype lens :o(
At 4pm my driver picked me up again and brought me back to the dive center for 180 Pesos return, i.e. only 100 more than for mexicans.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
A look into the Room of Tears
The original 320x240 30fps AVI source clips used for this video were recorded in Aktun Ha with a Sea&Sea DX8000G digital compact camera fitted with a 0.6x WAL, by the light of a TillyTec HID 35 with 80° flood reflector and a TillyTec LED 1000 with diffuser.
For the record: Uploading this 2'22" (15.6MB) video-clip took about 25', excluding a failed first attempt and post processing by Blogger.
Aktun Ha
This cenote is actually better known as Carwash, though I much prefer its Mayan name, which simply means water cave.
Somehow today I felt like doing a mourning dive to the Room of Tears, a relatively easy one jump cave dive, through a small hole off the main line, requiring some crawling, before being rewarded by the sight of this most famous & highly decorated little room.
Called back into action is my almost 3 years old Sea&Sea DX8000G, which despite two powerful lights alas still won't let me take sharp pictures in the darkness of the cave... so it will be down to low-res video-clips from here onwards. Shows that my drowned Xacti's one stop more sensitive lens and EIS clearly made a huge difference.
Somehow today I felt like doing a mourning dive to the Room of Tears, a relatively easy one jump cave dive, through a small hole off the main line, requiring some crawling, before being rewarded by the sight of this most famous & highly decorated little room.
Called back into action is my almost 3 years old Sea&Sea DX8000G, which despite two powerful lights alas still won't let me take sharp pictures in the darkness of the cave... so it will be down to low-res video-clips from here onwards. Shows that my drowned Xacti's one stop more sensitive lens and EIS clearly made a huge difference.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Carwash
Equipment check and training dive: Air share, laying of the primary reel line till the cave's permanent main line on the way in and retrieving it on the way out, shutting off & turning on of each tank and the manifold between the two, harness removal & replacement and of course constant buoyancy control while going up and down following the cave's main tunnel.
Showing me around is Miguel, a PADI OWSI & cave diver from Spain, with an interest in underwater videography.
Showing me around is Miguel, a PADI OWSI & cave diver from Spain, with an interest in underwater videography.
[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Cavern tour in Carwash
After drying out for three days I badly needed to get wet. Attila having a day off, I'm taking Petra, a German woman, for a photo dive in cenote Carwash.
Getting there however turns out to be a bit harder than anticipated. Halfway between Grand cenote and Carwash, Aktun's monster truck starts coughing and then just stops in the middle of the road...
Out of gas I guess? The gas gauge doesn't work so it's hard to tell. There being only jungle in front and behind us, I start walking back. It's almost noon and the sun is blazing.
But I'm lucky, the second car passing by actually stops at my hand signal and drives me to Aktun dive center. Where I'm lucky again as there's a half-full jerry-can with about 10l of gas waiting for me. I then quickly jump into a taxi for the short ride back to the waiting truck.
An empty Gatorade bottle and my dive knife come in handy to make an improvised trough to feed the thirsty monster. It's not that easyly satisfied however and it just refuses to start. Probably the greedy monster is hoping for more gas...
Opening the hood turns out to be impossible without some secret knowledge. So I can't try to pour a bit of gas directly into the carburator, as suggested by the taxi driver before he left in a hurry, fearing I guess to be asked to give it a friendly push. (Optimistically assuming I would have been able to tell which weird piece of the engine is the carburator.)
After several unsuccessful tries to get the monster to roar, Petra gently pushes it back and forth, and yes, the monster is actually lulled into a better mood and finally starts up!
When we finally arrive at Carwash I'm pretty hot and in desperate need to submerge into the cool water, for a soothing hour in the cenote's dark embrace.
Getting there however turns out to be a bit harder than anticipated. Halfway between Grand cenote and Carwash, Aktun's monster truck starts coughing and then just stops in the middle of the road...
Out of gas I guess? The gas gauge doesn't work so it's hard to tell. There being only jungle in front and behind us, I start walking back. It's almost noon and the sun is blazing.
But I'm lucky, the second car passing by actually stops at my hand signal and drives me to Aktun dive center. Where I'm lucky again as there's a half-full jerry-can with about 10l of gas waiting for me. I then quickly jump into a taxi for the short ride back to the waiting truck.
An empty Gatorade bottle and my dive knife come in handy to make an improvised trough to feed the thirsty monster. It's not that easyly satisfied however and it just refuses to start. Probably the greedy monster is hoping for more gas...
Opening the hood turns out to be impossible without some secret knowledge. So I can't try to pour a bit of gas directly into the carburator, as suggested by the taxi driver before he left in a hurry, fearing I guess to be asked to give it a friendly push. (Optimistically assuming I would have been able to tell which weird piece of the engine is the carburator.)
After several unsuccessful tries to get the monster to roar, Petra gently pushes it back and forth, and yes, the monster is actually lulled into a better mood and finally starts up!
When we finally arrive at Carwash I'm pretty hot and in desperate need to submerge into the cool water, for a soothing hour in the cenote's dark embrace.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Staged cave dive in Carwash
Hannes small rental car packed full with cave diving gear we head out to Aktun Ha (entrance: 100 Pesos) for an extended -one stage- cave dive. The objective being some video shooting in one of the more remote passages.
At the cenote we meet Steve Gerrard, Yucatan's cave guru, busy teaching two students in the art of cave diving. We take our time gearing up, as there's no point in getting overheated, splash in, do a final gear check and slowly submerge. I lead the way in, laying the primary line to the cave's main guide line, which starts way back beyond the cavern zone, in order to avoid tempting inexperienced divers into the cave's total darkness.
About 22' later, shortly after passing Luke's Hope, we each drop our stage tank, then jump off the main line through a short restriction, emerging in the Crystal Palace's lower section. Continuing past the Room of Tears, into a narrow tunnel, where we get to practice our maneuvering skills. Shortly after we reach a T, mark our incoming path, go left a few meters then immediately jump off again upwards.
At some point we find ourselves so shallow that the water turns greenish-brown from tannic acid. Formations here are colored brown too. And there're lots of them, whole armies of ancient stalactites drooping down. Guarding the gates to Dreamland. 55' into the dive we reach the end of the line. After having passed another T and probably a couple of other jumps.
We're about 800m into the cave. Time to turn around. When we finally surface it's two hours later in the world of humans. But for us, the experience was timeless.
At the cenote we meet Steve Gerrard, Yucatan's cave guru, busy teaching two students in the art of cave diving. We take our time gearing up, as there's no point in getting overheated, splash in, do a final gear check and slowly submerge. I lead the way in, laying the primary line to the cave's main guide line, which starts way back beyond the cavern zone, in order to avoid tempting inexperienced divers into the cave's total darkness.
About 22' later, shortly after passing Luke's Hope, we each drop our stage tank, then jump off the main line through a short restriction, emerging in the Crystal Palace's lower section. Continuing past the Room of Tears, into a narrow tunnel, where we get to practice our maneuvering skills. Shortly after we reach a T, mark our incoming path, go left a few meters then immediately jump off again upwards.
At some point we find ourselves so shallow that the water turns greenish-brown from tannic acid. Formations here are colored brown too. And there're lots of them, whole armies of ancient stalactites drooping down. Guarding the gates to Dreamland. 55' into the dive we reach the end of the line. After having passed another T and probably a couple of other jumps.
We're about 800m into the cave. Time to turn around. When we finally surface it's two hours later in the world of humans. But for us, the experience was timeless.
Saturday, March 4, 2006
Solo cave dive in Carwash
I borrowed one of Aktun's big van's and drove to Carwash (a.k.a. Aktun Ha) for a solo cave dive. As I know the old caretaker, I don't have to pay the 100 Pesos entrance fee. It being already late afternoon, two other groups are on their way out and so I pretty much have the place for myself.
The entrance pool is crystal clear this time of the year. I quickly gear up and jump into the cool 25°C refreshing water. After a short equipment check in the open water part I set out for the cave, a pretty good line laying exercise here as the main line only starts way back into the cave. I stick to the main line, passing another smaller cenote on the way and the jump to the Room of Tears, yoyoing up and down quite a lot having to follow the caves meandering tunnel. I'm lucky enough to see quite a few cave creatures: several tiny translucent ghost shrimps and even an elusive cavefish. About half an hour into the cave I turn around.
Switching off my light as soon as the first blue tint of day light appears at the end, in order to take in the whole cavern zone and enjoy the glory of day light seeping in. My HID light by the way gives off a pretty nice wide beam of even light with its flood reflector. So I'll try to use it like that with the camera, without the frosted glass diffuser, which, besides widening the beam even further would also dimininish the output.
The entrance pool is crystal clear this time of the year. I quickly gear up and jump into the cool 25°C refreshing water. After a short equipment check in the open water part I set out for the cave, a pretty good line laying exercise here as the main line only starts way back into the cave. I stick to the main line, passing another smaller cenote on the way and the jump to the Room of Tears, yoyoing up and down quite a lot having to follow the caves meandering tunnel. I'm lucky enough to see quite a few cave creatures: several tiny translucent ghost shrimps and even an elusive cavefish. About half an hour into the cave I turn around.
Switching off my light as soon as the first blue tint of day light appears at the end, in order to take in the whole cavern zone and enjoy the glory of day light seeping in. My HID light by the way gives off a pretty nice wide beam of even light with its flood reflector. So I'll try to use it like that with the camera, without the frosted glass diffuser, which, besides widening the beam even further would also dimininish the output.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Cenote Aktun Ha
Aktun Ha, meaning water cave in Maya, also known as Carwash, lays less than 15m from the side of the road. Supposedly taxi drivers used to wash their cars here, from where its nickname.
Since the discovery of its cavern and cave system, the cenote has become a popular tourist attraction. There’s a changing hut and restrooms, besides very practical wooden tables for gearing up. A wooden platform and stairs allow for easy entry and exit. Both the open water area and cavern zone are an ideal training and skills review ground.
At first sight the cenote is nothing more than a pool of not very inviting greenish water, surrounded by the typical low Yucatan jungle. The water’s color is due to microscopic algae that reduce visibility in the upper 3m to nearly zero. Below that however, the water becomes crystal clear and noticeably cooler. This green algae bloom, not present during the colder winter months, adds a lot to the cenote’s ancient and mysterious atmosphere.
As soon as one jumps in, dozens of hungry little fish form an inquisitive escort, a real hunting party that seldom relents before the end of the dive, following the diver all the way into the cave and back, looking for an easy caught meal of helpless tiny cave creatures caught in the dive light’s merciless beam.
The bottom of the pool, at 5m, is easily stirred up by careless fins, so watch your step. The entrance to the upstream cavern zone is partially obstructed by fallen trees. The branches of which form a perfect spot for a first tie off of the mandatory guideline.
As one enters, little is visible at first, but as the eyes slowly adjust to the twilight, the cavern’s great hall seems to grow bigger, the rock-strewn bottom dips down to 18m and large ancient stalactites loom out of its gaping void.
In the back, where the floor rises up again to about 9m, a sturdy column seems to support the whole ceiling. Behind it, past the no nonsense warning sign: "Stop! Prevent your death! Do not dive further unless cave trained.", several thinner columns of joined stalactites and stalagmites decorate the low chamber, which lead the knowledgeable cave diver deeper into the cave, away from the last faint glow of daylight.
A lonely catfish seems to patrol the area where the main line starts. Once well within the cave, it is not uncommon to see the white almost translucent ghost fish here, or even a shrimp scurrying away on some of the silt slopes.
The main line leads to Adriana’s beautifully decorated room. Before getting that far, it is also possible to do a side jump through a narrow tunnel to the Crystal Palace and the famous Room of Tears.
No matter how fantastic the cave, it is always a magical moment, when near the end of the dive, after an hour or more in darkness, one slowly returns back into the daylight. This is especially true for Aktun Ha, whether the light is tinted misty green by the algae cloud or not, the view out is always fabulous.
A couple of colder nights is all it takes to totally clear up the cenote’s open water area, and this allows one to check out the pool’s edges for the many fresh water turtles living here. If lucky you might even spot a small alligator at the water’s edge, warming up in the sun, floating around like a log or even slowly snaking its way around underwater. I’ve also seen a diving duck here in the past, speeding through the water like a torpedo.
Since the discovery of its cavern and cave system, the cenote has become a popular tourist attraction. There’s a changing hut and restrooms, besides very practical wooden tables for gearing up. A wooden platform and stairs allow for easy entry and exit. Both the open water area and cavern zone are an ideal training and skills review ground.
At first sight the cenote is nothing more than a pool of not very inviting greenish water, surrounded by the typical low Yucatan jungle. The water’s color is due to microscopic algae that reduce visibility in the upper 3m to nearly zero. Below that however, the water becomes crystal clear and noticeably cooler. This green algae bloom, not present during the colder winter months, adds a lot to the cenote’s ancient and mysterious atmosphere.
As soon as one jumps in, dozens of hungry little fish form an inquisitive escort, a real hunting party that seldom relents before the end of the dive, following the diver all the way into the cave and back, looking for an easy caught meal of helpless tiny cave creatures caught in the dive light’s merciless beam.
The bottom of the pool, at 5m, is easily stirred up by careless fins, so watch your step. The entrance to the upstream cavern zone is partially obstructed by fallen trees. The branches of which form a perfect spot for a first tie off of the mandatory guideline.
As one enters, little is visible at first, but as the eyes slowly adjust to the twilight, the cavern’s great hall seems to grow bigger, the rock-strewn bottom dips down to 18m and large ancient stalactites loom out of its gaping void.
In the back, where the floor rises up again to about 9m, a sturdy column seems to support the whole ceiling. Behind it, past the no nonsense warning sign: "Stop! Prevent your death! Do not dive further unless cave trained.", several thinner columns of joined stalactites and stalagmites decorate the low chamber, which lead the knowledgeable cave diver deeper into the cave, away from the last faint glow of daylight.
A lonely catfish seems to patrol the area where the main line starts. Once well within the cave, it is not uncommon to see the white almost translucent ghost fish here, or even a shrimp scurrying away on some of the silt slopes.
The main line leads to Adriana’s beautifully decorated room. Before getting that far, it is also possible to do a side jump through a narrow tunnel to the Crystal Palace and the famous Room of Tears.
No matter how fantastic the cave, it is always a magical moment, when near the end of the dive, after an hour or more in darkness, one slowly returns back into the daylight. This is especially true for Aktun Ha, whether the light is tinted misty green by the algae cloud or not, the view out is always fabulous.
A couple of colder nights is all it takes to totally clear up the cenote’s open water area, and this allows one to check out the pool’s edges for the many fresh water turtles living here. If lucky you might even spot a small alligator at the water’s edge, warming up in the sun, floating around like a log or even slowly snaking its way around underwater. I’ve also seen a diving duck here in the past, speeding through the water like a torpedo.
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