Cave Diving

By the mid 1990s a push into the central Yucatán Peninsula by dedicated deep cave explorers discovered a large number of deep sinkholes, or pit cenotes, such as Sabak Ha, Utzil and deep caves such as Chacdzinikche, Dzibilchaltun, Karkirixche that have been explored and mapped. To this day these deep caves of the central Yucatán remain largely unexplored due to the sheer number of cenotes found in the State of Yucatán, as well as the depth involved that can be only tackled using technical diving techniques or rebreathers. In the end of the last millennium closed circuit rebreather (CCR) cave diving techniques were employed in order to explore these deep water filled caves.
By the end of the 1990s, The Pit in the Dos Ojos cave system located 5.8 km from the Caribbean coast in the state of Quintana Roo had been discovered, and it is presently (2008) 119 m deep. At that time, technical diving and rebreather equipment and techniques became common place.
By the turn of the millennium the longest underwater cave system, called Ox Bel Ha was established by cave diving explorers whose combined efforts and information helped join segments of previously explored caves. The use of hand held GPS technology and aerial and satellite images for reconnaissance during exploration became common. New technology such as rebreathers and diver propulsion vehicles (DPVs) became available and were utilized for longer penetration dives. As of January 2008, Ox Bel Ha includes 170 km of underwater passage (QRSS for current statistics).
Active exploration continues in the new millennium. Most cave diving exploration is now conducted on the basis of "mini projects" lasting 1 – 7 days, and occurring many times a year, and these may include daily commutes from home to jungle dive base camps located within 1 hour from road access.