The anatomy of a Giant Stride - Cave style

[kidsdream]

Back on December my buddy Chrisp and I made our first trip down to Playa del Carmen to see the famous Cenotes for the first time.

I flew in from San Francisco (via Houston) while Chris came in from Miami. Our flight came in within a 30 minutes of each other so after a quick beer, we were off on the 50 minute ride down to Playa. I had
arranged a private driver before our arrival as we didn't need a car while we in Mexico.

We stayed at the Hotel LunaSol Calle 4 between 15th and 20th avenue. The hotel turned out to be a great choice. Just a short from the main drag on 5th and as we were diving with ProTEc Playa also located on 4th. And best of all (especially if you know Chris) is that there was a bar located right over the dive shop.

We made 6 dives during our stay.

Day 1
Ponderosa 105 minutes @ 56'
Ponderosa 82 minutes @ 45'

Day 2
Chan Hol 97 minutes @ 38'
Cahn Hol 72 minutes @ 28'

Chan Hol was simply fantastic. After a short restriction this caves just opens to wide spaces, and beautiful structure and remnants of old civilization.

Day 3
Mayan Blue 75 minutes @ 78' We dove Nitrox at Mayan Blue, the other dives were done on air
Mayan Blue 72 minutes @ 78'

Mayan Blue a big darkish cave located South of Talum (as was Chan Hol) was the only dive where I remembered to bring my camera. Uniquely Mayan Blue offered the opportunity for a 8' giant stride off of the ledge of the Cenote.

The stairs/ladder at Mayan Blue

The Mayan Blue Cenote

Getting ready to jump

The Stride

Yahoooo!!!

Perfect Form

We had great time in Mexico and I certainly loved the Cenotes/Cave systems. No flow and great vis. - what more could you ask for.

 

[w ripley]

Beautiful shots. Thanks for the post. I remember that leap but probably didn't look as good doing it as you guys!

 

[CamG]

Great shots Jeff it sounds like you guys had a blast.
I would love to get the unabridged version of your trip perhaps sometime.
Over a beverage would be wonderful.
The bar over a Dive shop sounds quite perfect that is for post dive debriefs!
Safe diving my friend, see you soon.

Cam

 

[TSandM]

I've never had the courage to do the leap -- fun to see someone actually do it!

BTW, if you characterized Mayan Blue as dark tunnel, you did A tunnel. B tunnel, once you are under the halocline, is gorgeous white limestone and cobalt blue water.

Chan Hol is one of my very favorite caves -- I can dive it over and over again, and find new things to look at each time. It's too bad the human bones are gone, though, although they probably do belong in the museum research program.

 

[Phreatic Fanatic]

Nice photos! Looks like it was a lot of fun!