More Activities - Diving and Caving

On Monday February 1 we wanted to take Rob diving. Diving has been kind of crappy lately or not even possible because of high waves. It has been weird in both the north and west so we actually had a couple weekends we skipped. We did hit a couple nice, clear days and were hoping we'd be able to dive the caves up at Shacks in Isabela but it didn't happen. Instead we took Rob to the Rincon Wall and did the long swim out. When we dropped down it was pretty good vis for there - 60 feet or so - and you could see the entire wall and all it's bushiness. Unfortunately the sun wasn't out so the colors and all the magnificent fish were lost but he got the idea. There was a strange current there we hadn't had before so we headed in a lot sooner than usual (plus Rob sucks with air consumption - his nickname is Hoover - like the vacuum!). We then rounded up with David for another dive and ended up at Natural where again there was an odd current and surge. We did make it to the cracks but there were no sharks or turtles to be found. Oh well. On Tuesday we headed back up north for some more caving. First we went to Los Chorros. We hiked back to the waterfall and all the way to where the sump was. The water was a little lower than last time but not enough to go further.


Seeing a cave for the second time makes it almost look new - you see different things. Little tunnels and side shoots that could lead somewhere! Or nowhere. No swimming bats this time but the group was smaller and quieter. Everything in the caves echo so we always disturb bats.

Does this tunnel above Jeff's head go somewhere? Hmmm.

I just love the implausible geology. Look at how there is stuff going in a different direction wedged in this tunnel. This is NOT Jeff's favorite thing - he is convinced the tunnel will flood and take him out!

After a few hours in Los Chorros we headed to Ventana which is more of a cavern than a cave. There are a couple dogs that lead the way so off we went. This cavern is immense - on the way to it from Los Chorros you can look up at the mountain and see the window as well as a couple more higher up. Inside is huge as well.

There were some nice columns.

The main attraction however is the "window" that lets you look out onto the whole valley/jungle below. The picture isn't complete however without the little curl of the dog's tail in the view! So we had a great day (although busy) and got to see Ventana for the first time. It was nice to be able to show our friend Rob what it is we are doing here in Puerto Rico...

Next stop is Cueva Yu Yu tomorrow....gotta go, again.

Cueva Los Chorros - Very Interesting...Like 3 Caves in One!

We were invited to join a small group of people going into Los Chorros. Any cave that starts out like this is going to be good! We were told we should expect to be wet, not need climbing gear and that we would be going behind the waterfall to get to the cave. Some how this was not what we were expecting.

The cave is the tunnel (or series of tunnels) made by the water that is in this underground river that cascades out the mountain as a waterfall. To get into the cave you follow the waterfall up to where it comes out.

There was quite a bit of force and the rocks were slippery but Manuel stood at the slippery part to help out any one in need.

Once everyone was through the waterfall and into the cave the water was pretty still and shallow and we headed up river.

This cave reminded us of Zumbo, maybe it is a future Zumbo - the formations were similar in places but not as polished. The narrow tunnel was a darker rock and had all kinds of different formations.

After a bit we got to this spot that required a small climb. Manuel climbed up and added a rope to help those who needed it. It is handy to carry a small rope I think. Up we went. You can see the rope in the background along with a few people on their way up.

What was kind of different about this cave is that it was dark and a lot of the formations and walls were a deep cocoa color. The ceiling had dark and light areas and formations going in all directions.

A lot of the formations looked like misshapen carrots or gnarled teeth.

Other formations were a kind of three dimensional Jackson Pollack painting.

There were layers and layers and layers of twisty root like formations piled one upon another.

Los Chorros Part 2

We came to a spot where the water was chest high and we had to dip under the rock. The water was a little high and to continue required going into a sump and the leader thought the space on the other side would be full of water. We had lunch and then were headed back the way we came.

There were a lot of bats in this cave. This seemed odd since we usually see bats in dry caves or drier areas anyway. There were so many that when our lights disturbed them some were falling into the water, doing a little "bat paddle" and flying back up. In a dry cave when bats fall they cannot fly up from the ground - in the water they just paddle a little and fly up! I don't know what the relationship of these bats was (mother-child, husband-wife, just dating) but one seemed to be shielding the other. Their faces were pretty cute.

We navigated some narrow spots but they were high vertically.

I don't know what these formations are but I call them the ice-cream fountain formations.

When we were near where we came in a few folks left and some of us decided to continue through a side passage and this is where it got really interesting.Manuel had been down this part before. It was very narrow and really cool.

Then it opened up a lot.

Then it constricted some more and we got to this little hole you could climb through or you could go under. Bro contemplated climbing and decided to go under. I prefer wiggling into tiny spots and went through it. A few of us continued and a few stayed back (you guessed it - Jeff didn't want to do it). Finally we ended up floating in a small spot looking at another sump. Manuel thought it would be full of water so we didn't continue.

Here he is popping back up after having gone under. I don't have a problem when it is a short little sump in clear water. We noticed another side shoot that Manuel hadn't been down. We headed straight for it..the thrill of discovery.

The terrain started looking different

The formations looked like fudgesicles. It looks like the stalactites are covered with mud or something but they aren't - the rock or minerals or whatever are a chocolaty cocoa brown. Then the unexpected happened - saw some light and we went to it. We looked out onto the road we came in on above the waterfall. We continued the other way and it led to a very large dry cave that had a lot of guano and lots of bats in it.

There were two Puerto Rican Boa Constrictors eating bats on the floor. (see the little bat wing popping up?) This room was huge and dry which was interesting. It didn't even seem like the same cave. Well, we continued on after this great discovery and it led back to the original tunnel. This cave was like 3 caves in one - a dry cave, a Zumbo area, and another dark cocoa area. This was a lot of fun and a lot of variety. As always it was a nice group of people and was a little exercise. It had so many different areas in it it was like a new discovery at every turn!