Ponderosa and Gran(d) Cenote

Hello again, I'm back in Aventuras Akumal staying in Villas de Rosa on another of Connie LoRe's cave diving weeks. This is a larger group (9 divers total, split into two teams) and competence level on both teams appear to be pretty good.

Our first dive this morning was at Ponderosa (as cave divers call it, or "Garden of Eden" as it is marked on the signs) which is a relatively large cenote and a rather plain cave. There are virtually no formations along today's route, but our destination which is called "The Chapel" made up for that, and more! The Chapel is an air dome formed from a breakdown. The water is about 20 feet deep, and the dome itself is a mere 3-4 feet above the waterline. The roof is totally coated with stalactites! Thousands and thousands of them. And they are still growing. It was an awesome experience to lie on my back in the water and float around, watching a whole carpet of stalactites drifting past my field of view. Connie said that the cave diver legend is that if you catch a drop of water in your mouth as it drips off the end of a stalactite, you'll be blessed with long life. I was able to get drops to fall, but only by blowing on them to agitate them. That may have been cheating, I dunno.

Our dive time at Ponderosa was 86 minutes, almost exactly 43 minutes in and 43 minutes out. With a 20 minute break inside the air dome. Dive was called on end of plan, and thirds. One of the most memorable aspects of this dive was the water temperature! The salt water layer, which starts at -38 feet, was measured at a scorching 84 F ! That may be the warmest water I've ever experienced in a cave. There was not a well defined halocline in this cave. I don't know if it was because of all the divers agitating it, or if the freshwater flow is just stronger in this cave.


The afternoon dive was at Gran (or Grand) Cenote. Here the two teams went mostly the same plan: Gran Cenote, past Ho Tul Cenote and then around Cuzan Ha Loop. Both teams were supposed to go up the line in the middle of the Loop, but since we were the first team in the water and the last out, I didn't see Connie's group. Our team also did a jump up the La Boca line (which the other team didn't plan to do), to go until 3rds were called. We made it maybe 500 feet along the line before 3rds, which is respectable considering the distance and tight passageways. We did the Cuzan Ha loop clockwise this time, which was maybe only the 2nd time I'd gone that direction. I have to say that going counter-clockwise is more dramatic.

Tomorrow is Labna Ha day. More later!