Three Cheers for Labna-Ha!

Today's adventure was to go to the wild untamed adventureland of Labna-Ha. Actually, it is pretty well tamed for the average tourist to go visit and they have three primary attractions (snorkeling, zip line, and a dry cave) and the only wild parts are (1) the bumpy road to get there and (2) the plethora of large hungry mosquitoes. I kept a bottle of Cutters 100% DEET in my pocket and applied liberally whenever necessary. I still ended up with 2 or 3 more welts.

Mosquitoes aside, our group went there to venture into Labna-Ha's 4th and less well known adventure, Cave Diving. The owners of Labna-Ha bought this property specifically to explore and exploit its underground cave system. The cave here is marvelous. It is mostly white formations in excellent condition, though the water has more bluish tint than other cenotes close by. By comparison to the well known cenote Nohoch na Chich which is nearby, Labna-ha is a much smaller passageway with many minor restrictions and delicate cave formations in close proximity to the line. These take extremely good buoyancy and finning technique to avoid damaging.

We are first given a briefing by both Pep and Sergio, two of the owners. We will be in three groups: Connie will take the Carolina folks as one group (six people all told). The Mikes and myself will go with Sergio. Alex 1 will go with Lena as a 3rd team. Mike 2 decides not to go, so Sergio's team is just Mike 1 and myself. We are 2nd in the water, just two or three minutes after Connie's team leaves.

Everyone else is doing the main line. Since Mike 1 and I have been to Labna-Ha before, Sergio will take us off the main line to a side passage that, after two T's and lots of twists and turns, ends up back on the main line. Sergio's pace is slower and more relaxed than Lena's. This gives us more time to enjoy the passage and take our time through the many minor restrictions.

Cave Diving is a really amazing experience. The most aethereal and undoubtedly the most dangerous of all that I do. Rock climbing might be more physical, ultralight flying might be more exciting, and machining is undoubtedly more hands-on. But cave diving is a sport where I never get bored. Never. I can spend two hours on one cave dive and I'm more likely to get cold or hungry than to want to leave the cave for any other reason.

There are natural formations in these caves that I cannot adequately express in words. And I am ever surprised that one cave can have such a variety. Today in Labna-ha I saw long stalactites which were mostly smooth from roof to tip, but at the very bottom on the last 3 or 4 inches there was a sharp barb of rough spiny material. It reminded me of a rack of morningstars... yes, the medieval weapon. No idea how something like that would be made by nature.

Sergio is an excellent guide. Mike 1 is an excellent cave diver. Our dive is flawless, making it onto the side passage, past two T's and a jump back to the main line. Then maybe another 300 yards before Mike 1 calls on 3rds, at about 58 minutes. On the way back, Sergio stops us to take a side trip up into a tiny cenote, just large enough for the three of us to rest and admire the blue sky through the beautiful water well we have come up into. After finishing the dive we had completed 107 minutes of bottom time. Very nice dive, and the best I've had so far this week!

The other team also had a successful dive making to about the same point on the main line where we turned. However they reported two more primary light failures. This time both were Dive Rites. (oh, no!) Fortunately at least one of them was simply an inadequately charged battery which does not mean the light is damaged. Still, this tour seems to have it in for the lights.

Up Close and Personal

I am sometimes asked by people who see my cave diving pictures "How close are you to these stalactites?" I say, "often times this close" and show a span with my fingers about two inches apart. Diving in caves is not like the sterile conditions you find in a commercial dry cave like Luray Caverns. To the public, they have made those caves so protected it is impossible to even touch a stalactite unless you climb a fence or gate. In cave diving, there are no ropes, no gates, no grills. A lot of training and a fierce amount of attention span goes into techniques that allow us to glide through extremely tight spaces with minimal contact with the cave.

Damage to the cave is inevitable, however, as even our exhaled air bubbles are forceful enough to cause the delicate stalactites above us to loosen and fall. On virtually every dive there are pieces of calcium carbonate raining down. Even the most skilled divers will kick up or run into formations and break them. A diver sometimes finds a stalactite stuck between their tanks or valves after they get out of the water. Once the damage is done, it's too late.