5th Anniversary Cruise: Day 5

Our last day in port was at Cozumel! Although, we spent only a few minutes on the island. Instead, we made our way over to mainland Mexico to explore the cenotes!

This part of Mexico has the second largest underground river in the world. Cenotes are basically the sinkholes where the river eroded the limestone away and you can access the underground caves made by the river. Mayans believed that these were entrances to the underworld and there has been extensive exploration of these caves to see if the different systems actually connect to each other!

Our exploration starts here!

And if you want to find out more about the Cenote exploration, check out this GoPro documentary on their YouTube channel!

On their mission to discover the world's biggest cave, veteran cave explorer Robbie Schmittner and his partner Toddy Waelde pledge to protect this Mecca of diving beneath the Yucatan. Robbie warns against the destructive forces affecting this area. Toddy discovers an unbroken Maya pot that could be thousands of years old.

Driven by "an obligation to protect," Robbie enlists the guidance of local legend Guillermo De Anda. The renowned archaeologist leads them to a dry cave with an ancient altar and other sacred artifacts. On their latest dive, the team scrambles to save fellow diver Jeanna Edgerton, who struggles for air when her equipment unexpectedly malfunctions.

Robbie takes us to his biggest discovery yet, the giant sinkhole, Yab Yum. This massive underground pit features a stunning array of stalagmites, stalactites, and other geological wonders. Guillermo and fellow archaeologist Dante Garcia join the dive crew to survey the bottom of the cave.