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.