Cenote Dreamgate is the undisputed gem of the Riviera Maya’s cavern areas. It stands out with its unique features and unparalleled beauty.
Drive 2.8km (1.7 miles) after Dos Ojos Park entrance towards Tulum and turn into semiclosed gates on the 52nd kilometer from Playa del Carmen of the Cancun-Tulum federal road. You will find yourself at the car dump. Drive to the right and turn left. Following, the dusty, bumpy road leads into the jungle.
Cenote Dreamgate is part of the connected system Sac Actun-Nohoch-Dos Ojos. Moreover, it is the world’s second-largest underwater cave system, with 376,7 km (234 miles) of underwater lines. The maximum depth is 119.18 mts (391 ft). The Nohoch historical section is an anchialine cave system connecting to naturally intruding marine water and tidal influence in the cenotes. However, this cave system’s coastal discharge point(s) has not yet been explored into the ocean. Despite this, dye tracing to flow towards Caleta Xel-Ha, a nearby coastal bedrock lagoon, demonstrated large volumes of groundwater.
Sac Actun-Nohoch-Dos Ojos Cave lines with cenotes name General Map
The next world’s longest cave system, Ox Bel Ha, is very close — just a few kilometers south. So, perhaps shortly, a place will be discovered where these two cave systems connect. The combined cave system will be the largest underwater cave system in the world and the largest cave system in general, including dry caves.
A 1.9km (1.2 miles) potholed dirt road leads to the Dreamgate Cenote, which has become increasingly popular every year since its opening to the public.
Dreamgate Cenote water entrance
A few years ago, the landowner replaced the original ladder and platform with a safer stairway and larger deck area. A set of steps leads to a long deck walkway, providing a scenic route to enter and exit the water.
The upstream cavern tour’s gold line, a significant part of the cenote’s history, begins and ends at these steps.
There is both an upstream and downstream cavern zone area, allowing a double underground experience. With a steady daily flow of divers experiencing this cenote, an alarming damage rate has begun to show itself.
Dreamgate Cenote Cavern line map
Accessible to many vehicles, Cenote Dreamgate offers a convenient wood deck at the top of the rim, complete with a pulley and rope for dive equipment. Additionally, bathroom facilities and palapas allow divers to change their clothes into bathing suits.
Upstream and downstream cave areas
Although the cenote owner has not allowed cave diving (only cavern tours are allowed) for several years after the diving incident, upstream and downstream cave areas are considered excellent dives.
To dive the best main passage upstream, follow the cavern line on the left side and jump from the cavern tour line at the directional line arrow about 200 ft (60 m). There are several offshoot guidelines along the way on the main cave diving line. Moving further away northwest, you can reach Taak Be Luum cenote.
The downstream area you reach by swimming to the right of the platform facing west. Force yourself to turn right or eastward, and you will find the Gold Cavern tour line. Swimming clockwise, turn right at the first ninety degrees and jump 15 ft (5 m) to the permanent main cave guideline. The main line is the best dive. Moving further southeast, south, and finally west direction, you will reach the Nohoch historical section.
Buddy Quattlebaum and Chris Stanton were the first explorers. Steve Bogearts, Alain Pocobelli, Robbie Schmittner, and Alessandro Reato were other explorers.
This cenote was connected to Sistema Sac Actun from Cenote Koxul Ka’an on May 2, 2009, by Robbie Schmittner. This area was connected to Sistema Hidden World on November 11, 2012, by Alessandro Reato.
Cenote Nohoch Nah Chich is the world’s second-largest underwater cave system and one of the most beautiful underwater cave areas. First explored and surveyed during the summer of 1988, it grew in size annually until 2010 through the efforts of the CEDAM exploration teams directed by Mike Madden.
The name Nohoch Nah Chich means "Giant Birdhouse" in Mayan.
Cenote Nohoch Nah Chich is the central cenote of the Nohoch historical section of the connected system Sac Actun-Nohoch-Dos Ojos. Moreover, it is the world’s second-largest underwater cave system, with 376,7 km (234 miles) of underwater lines. The maximum depth is 119.18 mts (391 ft). The Nohoch historical section is an anchialine cave system connecting to naturally intruding marine water and tidal influence in the cenotes. However, this cave system’s coastal discharge point(s) has not yet been explored into the ocean. Despite this, dye tracing to flow towards Caleta Xel-Ha, a nearby coastal bedrock lagoon, demonstrated large volumes of groundwater.
Sac Actun-Nohoch-Dos Ojos Cave lines with cenotes name General Map
The next world’s longest cave system, Ox Bel Ha, is very close — just a few kilometers south. So, perhaps shortly, a place will be discovered where these two cave systems connect. The combined cave system will be the largest underwater cave system in the world and the largest cave system in general, including dry caves.
Since November 2024, a new cavern line has been available for recreational diving.
Nohoch Nah Chich cave diving
Cenote Nohoch Nah Chich was not only a site of exploration but also a source of inspiration for various art forms. From an underwater cave photographer’s viewpoint, this cenote cave region offers many stunning features to capture as images.
For many years, between the 1990s and early 2000, Cenote Nohoch Nah Chich held the prestigious Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s longest underwater cave. This was a significant achievement, a testament to the cave’s vastness and the team’s dedication to exploration. Currently, that distinction is a neck-to-neck race between Sistema Ox Bel Ha, the number 1, and Sistema Sac Actun, the number 2.
It offers an excellent snorkeling trail amongst many air pockets and air domes.
Ladders are available for safe and easy exits from the water.
Once in the water, swim to the right, where there is a massive overhang, into an area half filled with water and air. Do a surface swim for about 100 ft (30 m) and go down, swimming at ten o’clock facing in.
Nohoch Nah Chich cavern line
Explore a brand-new adventure! In November 2024, a stunning cavern line was installed here in Nohoch Nac Chich cenote, offering recreational divers the exclusive opportunity to be among the first to experience this incredible site. This cavern line pretends to be the longest in the world. Don’t miss your chance to dive into uncharted waters, previously available only to certified cave divers!
The permanent guideline is located approximately 75 ft (23 m) on the far side of a huge flat rock. There is an open-air area above the entire distance to the permanent guideline.
The upstream dive is a tremendous maze of passageways. The mainline goes to the spectacular formation named Heaven’s Gate and into the Disneyland area and beyond. It is the gateway to the spectacular Blue Abyss. Moving east and north, you can reach the Dreamgate area and the Tak Be Luum cenote.
Nohoch Proper area cave lines map
The upstream area’s first 2,500 ft (757 m) is a vast delta area of offshoot passages, commonly named the Nohoch Proper area. There is Charlie’s line, Ron’s (Ron Winiker) line, the Bill Carlson line, JJ’s (Juan Jose Tucat) loop line, Joanie’s (Joan Patrick) line, Parker’s (Parker Turner) line, and Alberto’s (Alberto Rodriquez) line. Swim upstream on the main line 800 ft (240 m), and you will see an air dome on the right with a wooden deck platform and a ladder to the surface. Swim another 100 ft (30 m), and you will swim between two massive and impressive formations named Heaven’s Gate. The following 300 ft (90 m) is known as Disneyland. All of the offshoot passageways are beautiful and inspiring.
Going away northwest from Nohoch Nah Chich’s entrance, you will reach a jump to the very nice Blue Abyss and Pet Cemetery area.
Blue Abyss area cave lines map
It is about a 3-hour DPV dive here and back. Continuing the main line, you will approach the Outland Cenote area of the historical Actun Hu cave system.
The downstream portions of the cave connect to the huge area of different cenotes and routes.
NohochCenote location map
Denny Atkinson, Mike Madden, Juan Jose Tucat, and Ron Winiker first explored this cenote. On their first dive, on November 26, 1987, they laid 2,620 ft (803 m) of line.
Other explorers were Shelley Baker Tarbox, Miguel Barcena, Patrick Bien, Len Bucko, Alex Buczkowski, Bill Carlson, Doug Carlson, John Curtis, Steve DeCarlo, Kashi Celler, Nancy DeRosa, Tony DeRosa, Pablo Diaz, Bob Eichert, Lamar English, Steve Gerrard, Veronica Guevarra, Charlie Hancock, Eric Hutcheson, George Irvine, Manual (Pio) Jimenez, Burt Jones, Mercedes Jones, Don Keele, George Krueger, Randy Lathrop, Kate Lewis, Dan Lins, Andres Matthes, Tom Morris, Eric Noftall, Robbie Osman, John Orlowski, Shelley Orlowski, Joan Patrick, Katja Peterson, Steve Pittman, Emanuelle Sach, Bruce Schadow, Maurine Shimlock, Karl Shreeves, Ray Siegfried, Wes Skiles, James F Smith, Chuck Stevens, Juan Jose Tucat, Richard Tuma, Parker Turner, Vicki Urbieta, Gary Walten, Kay Walten, and Ron Winiker.
Steve Bogearts and Robbie Schmittner connected it to Sistema Sac Actun on January 25, 2007.
Taak Bi Ha is a covered cenote. It’s great to begin your love affair with snorkeling and recreational diving among amazing speleothems. At first, a small entrance leads to a huge room featuring many beautiful formations of stalactites and stalagmites. Cenote is located on the road of Dos Ojos Park. Turn left 50 meters after the Dos Ojos Cenote entrance.
The name “Taak Bi Ha” means “hidden route of water”.
Dos Ojos cave system
Taak Bi Ha Cenote is part of the Dos Ojos cave system. At this time, the connected system Sistema Sac Actun-Nohoch-Dos Ojos is the world’s second-largest underwater cave system, 376,7 km (234 miles) of underwater lines, with a maximum depth of 119.18 mts (391 ft). Dos Ojos section is an anchialine cave system connecting to naturally intruding marine water and tidal influence in the cenotes. This cave system’s coastal discharge point(s) has not yet been humanly explored through to the ocean. By coloring the water, we discovered that large volumes of groundwater were flowing toward Caleta Xel Ha, a nearby coastal lagoon.
Located upstream from Dos Ojos West, approximately 800 ft (244 m), Cenote Taak Bi Ha offers a range of experiences, from snorkeling to guided recreational cavern tours and cave dives. Accordingly, the cavern line is available for recreational divers to enjoy beautiful speleothems around the cenote entrance in the cavern zone. Known for its spectacular speleothems dives, the cenote offers cave divers plenty of time to enjoy the beautifully decorated cave system.
However, you have to know that due to the absence of natural daylight, it is not considered a safe or legal cavern tour site under the APSA cavern tour regulations.
Finally, there are three cave lines available for exploration. The IMAX line is the main route, circling Taak Bi Ha Cenote from the Dos Ojos Barbie line (downstream) towards the LSD line area (upstream). Further, you can venture into the massive Kentucky Castle area (T-right), or, passing the Tikim Chi Cenote (T-left), cave divers can explore the El Pit Cenote area.
Travers from Taak Bi Ha cenote to El Pit cenote map
The cave lines suit beginners who are Intro to Cave (GUE Cave 1) divers who want to grow their experience before continuing to the Full Cave (GUE Cave 2) pass. Undoubtedly, you should install the main reel from the open water (but there is a trick where the open water in the covered cenote is located) area to comply with the Intro to Cave (GUE Cave 1) rules.
Taak Bi Ha Cenote location map
The first explorers were Jim Coke and Johanna DeGroot. Other explorers were Jesse Armentrout, Steve Berman, Mauro Bordignon, Steve Bogearts, Mike Cameron, Rich Chapski, Nancy DeRosa, Tony DeRosa, Pablo Diaz, Will Dooley, Donn Ellerbrock, Kenneth Furman, MaryAnn Gamble, Steve Gamble, Bill Gavin, Steve Gerrard, Dr. Lee Gibson, Sergio Granucci, Mark Grant, Jill Heinerth, Paul Heinerth, Hilario Hiler, George Irvine, Steve Irving, Brian Kakuk, Steve Keene, Keith Kinard, Michael Lang, Gary Lemme, Jonathan Lesh, Dan Lins, Connie LoRe, Travis LoRe, Kevin Mack, Mike Madden, Sandro Madeo, Sam Meacham, Bill Mee, Jim Mellon, Michael Menduno, Lance Milbrand, David Miner, Jim Osborne, Robbie Osman, Andrew Pitkin, Chris Pyle, Bil Philips, “Buddy Quattlebaum, Rosemary Redgen, Bill Rennaker, Kevin Retton, Donna Richards, Simon Richards, Daniel Riordan, Leo Sastre, Sue Sharples, Chuck Stevens, Nicolai Toussiant, Claudia Tolentino, Pierre Watson, Martin Wright, Tom Young, Dr. John Zumrick, Gary Walten, Kay Walten, Patrick Widdmann, and others unknown.
Here are the most well-known cave diving movies for your reference. Enjoy the list of Documentary and Feature Films related to cave diving.
Unfortunately, only the documentaries on our list show cave diving in any truthful way.
As for feature films, for the moment, Sanctum (2011) is probably the only more or less adequate one about cave diving yet. I suppose this became possible because the film was produced by diving enthusiast James Cameron and is based on a true story set in 1989 at the Nullabor Cave in Australia.
Natural World (1983)
Documentary
Natural World 1983 S23-E11 2005 Secrets of the Maya Underworld Movie Cover art
Natural World is a strand of British wildlife documentary programs broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history series.[1] It is the longest-running documentary in its genre on British television, with nearly 500 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983.[3] Natural World programs are typically one-off films that take an in-depth look at particular natural history events, stories, or subjects from around the globe.
Natural World was produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol under the stewardship of the series editor, who was responsible for commissioning or acquiring content. Programs are a mixture of in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters, or acquisitions from independent producers. There were 10 programs broadcast each year, of which approximately half were produced in-house.[4] The series is closely tied to the US series Nature, which was broadcast by PBS.[2]
The last episode was broadcast on 20 March 2020; no new upcoming episodes are currently listed.[5]
Season 23 Episode 11 Secrets of the Maya Underworld
The short cave diving movie “Secrets of the Maya Underworld” is available on YouTube.
Nullarbor Dreaming (1989)
Documentary
Nullarbor Dreaming 1989 Movie Cover art
Original real-life footage of the Australian Nullabor cave dive and freak cyclone that dumps 6′ of rain in 25 minutes and traps 15 cave divers underground. It was filled by a master diver in the actual cave-in. This story inspired James Cameron to film “Sanctum (2011)“.
Journey into Amazing Caves is a visceral, suspenseful expedition with a new breed of scientists who boldly explore places once thought off-limits to human presence, let alone IMAX cameras. Join Dr. Hazel Barton and Nancy Aulenbach as they travel to unique and forbidding ice caves in Greenland, underwater caves in the Yucatan, terrestrial caves in the Grand Canyon, and other spectacular locations. You will wriggle through tiny, twisting passages, swim through flooded underground vaults, drop into gleaming blue labyrinths of ice, and enter a world so extreme the microscopic creatures who live there are called extremophiles. For those compelled to push their limits in the world’s most hostile environments, the risk of fatal danger and the thrill of discovery are the everyday factors that make cave exploration such an awe-inspiring experience.
The underwater cave part of this amazing cave diving movie was filmed in the Dos Ojos cave system on the IMAX cave line, which starts from Taak Bi Ha cenote (to be precise, from Dos Ojos Barbie line) and goes up to the Tikim Chi cenote T-intersection.
Narrated by Liam Neeson and featuring a soundtrack with songs and music from The Moody Blues. Journey into Amazing Caves is MacGillivary Freeman Films’ third great adventure film. Photographed with IMAX cameras.
The Cave (2005)
Adventure, Sci-Fi, Horror
The Cave 2005 cover art
The Cave is a 2005 American action horror film directed by Bruce Hunt. It stars Cole Hauser, Eddie Cibrian, Morris Chestnut, Marcel Iures, Lena Headey, Rick Ravanello, Piper Perabo, and Daniel Dae Kim. Decades after, a rock church in communist Romania’s Carpathians caved when an expedition caused a landslide and buried everyone. Dr. Nicolai’s scientific team, exploring the associated Templar Knights monster fighting legend, discovers a deep, flooded cave system and hires the brothers Jack and Tyler’s brilliant cave diving team to explore it. Another explosion traps them after finding a mysterious parasite, turning all species carnivore, and later an independently evolved predator species. Jack may be infected and turning, but Tyler sticks with him, so the group splits, hunted by the monsters, which also fly.
Written by KGF Vissers. Underwater Unit Director, Wes Skiles.
Planet Earth (2006)
Documentary
Planet Earth 2006 series cover art
Planet Earth is a 2006 British television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Five years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC and the first to be filmed in high definition. Planet Earth premiered on 5 March 2006 in the United Kingdom on BBC One. It had been shown in 130 countries worldwide by June 2007. Its first broadcast in the United States was on 25 March 2007 on the Discovery Channel, with Sigourney Weaver replacing David Attenborough’s original commentary. The series comprises eleven episodes, each featuring a global overview of a different biome or habitat on Earth. At the end of each fifty-minute episode, a ten-minute featurette takes a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of filming the series.
Episode 4 Caves
Caves’ UK broadcast 26 March 2006, 8.98 million viewers (33 percent audience share); US broadcast 22 April 2007. This episode explores “planet Earth’s final frontier”: caves. At a depth of 400 m (1,300 ft), Mexico’s Cave of Swallows is Earth’s deepest Pit Cave freefall drop, allowing entry by BASE jumpers. Its volume could contain New York City’s Empire State Building. In this episode, divers explore the otherworldly cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula, appearing to be flying in water (because it is so clear), allowing viewers a glimpse of the hundreds of kilometers of caves that have already been mapped. Cave Divers were Steve Bogearts and Sam Meacham.
Borneo’s Deer Cave and Gomantong Cave are also featured. Inhabitants of the former include three million wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats, which have deposited guano onto an enormous mound. In Gomantong Cave, guano is many meters high and is blanketed with hundreds of thousands of cockroaches and other invertebrates. Also depicted are eyeless, subterranean creatures, such as the Texas blind salamander and (bizarrely) a species of crab. Carlsbad Caverns National Park is featured with its calcite formations. Mexico’s Cueva de Villa Luz is also featured, with its flowing stream of sulphuric acid and snottite formations made of living bacteria. A fish species, the shortfin molly, has adapted to this habitat.
The program ends in New Mexico’s Lechuguilla Cave (discovered in 1986), where sulphuric acid has produced unusually ornate gypsum crystal formations. Planet Earth Diaries reveals how a camera team spent a month among the cockroaches on the guano mound in Gomantong Cave and describes the logistics required to photograph Lechuguilla. Permission for the latter took two years, and local authorities are unlikely to allow another visit.
Sanctum (2011)
Action, Adventure, Drama
Sanctum movie 2011 cover art
The 3D action-thriller Sanctum follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful, and least accessible cave system on Earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain, and creeping panic as they search for an unknown escape route to the sea. Master diver Frank McGuire has explored the South Pacific’s Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank’s team-including 17-year-old son Josh and financier Carl Hurley, are forced to alter plans radically. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever?
Real story
In 1988, Andrew Wight and 21 others were conducting their final explorations of one of Australia’s longest underwater cave systems in the Nullarbor Plain. On the final day of the expedition, a cyclone of unprecedented strength from the sea caused a flood that filled the cave exit and trapped 15 people. The next two days were the most intense and long in their lives. Risking being trapped by unstable rock, they moved meter by meter into the depths to find a new exit to the surface. Fortunately for them, everything ended well, and none of the cave divers remained in those caves forever.
23 years later, thanks to Wight’s acquaintance with James Cameron, a feature adaptation of the above-mentioned events was released on the world’s theater screens. To accommodate the not-so-big budget and cinematic requirements, the film’s action was moved to South America, and the number of key event participants was reduced to 6 people. The 3D format was also included.
Sanctum: The Real Story (2011)
Documentary
Sanctum movie 2011 cover art
‘Sanctum: The Real Story’ explores the back story of producer/writer and expedition leader Andrew Wight, who teams up with Hollywood director James Cameron to make a 3-D feature film of a cave diving expedition.
Hidden Worlds: Caves of the Dead (2013)
Documentary
Hidden Worlds: Caves of the Dead 2013 Movie Cover art
In the days of the Mayas, cenotes – deep, natural pits on the Yucatan peninsula – provided the only means of obtaining drinking water. However, in the mythology of this advanced civilization, these waterholes and caves were also the entrance to Xibalba – the underworld.
In the days of the Mayas, cenotes – deep, natural pits on the Yucatan peninsula – provided the only means of obtaining drinking water. However, in the mythology of this advanced civilization, these waterholes and caves were also the entrance to Xibalba – the underworld. All deceased were obliged to pass through Xibalba and wait until they were called into heaven. It was where one sacrificed to the gods – objects of daily life and bloody human sacrifices. The relics of these acts are still in place and have been preserved underwater for more than a thousand years.
The entrance to the underworld begins at a dirty waterhole in the middle of the Mexican jungle, overgrown and barely recognizable. But a hall of breathtaking dimensions and beauty is revealed immediately after entry. As if they were sculptures, stalactites, and stalagmites lend the underwater cave an almost sacred ambiance. By now, one has succumbed to the fascination emanated by the world’s largest underwater cave system.
We accompany four professional research divers to Yucatan – a team of specialists who can squeeze their bodies through crevices and holes barely larger than their bodies and master dives that would push even the most experienced divers to their limits. You penetrate worlds only a few people have ever ventured into with them. Viewers encounter the remains of human victims, prehistoric fireplaces, and primeval animal skeletons and undertake a dive, which takes us from the primeval forest to the open sea.
We then enter Xibalba – the place of myths and the dead. In the days of the Mayas – a voyage of no return. Today, this is one of the greatest challenges one can face as a diver – the hidden world of the underwater caves of Yucatan – all filmed in 3D.
Diving Into the Unknown (2016)
Documentary
Diving Into the Unknown 2016 Movie Cover art
Four Finnish cave divers face their worst nightmare when two of their friends drown deep inside an underwater cave in Norway. When the official recovery operation is called off by the Norwegian and British authorities after being deemed too risky, the friends set out on a secret mission to retrieve the bodies themselves.
Diving into the Unknown isn’t just the dramatic story of a life-threatening mission. It is also a story about unconditional friendship that truly runs deep. While each team member has years of experience exploring dangerous deep-sea caves, as a team, they are about to face the biggest challenge of their lives. To make it out alive, they must be able to rely on each other every second of the way. The physical demands of this operation will pale compared to the psychological toll it will take on everyone involved.
With footage from the real cave accident and multiple cameras above water and deep below the surface, this film follows the breathtaking recovery mission from beginning to end.
On 6 February 2014, a terrible accident happens at 130 m. below the surface in a deep underwater cave in Plurdalen, Norway. Two divers drown, and three miraculously survive. The first victim became entangled in an equipment cord and drowned while trying to change the breathing apparatus (probably switch to bailout? – comment from article author). Police believe the second victim panicked when he came upon the scene several dozen minutes after the first tragedy.
The Plura cave system is located in northern Norway, approximately 50 km from Mo i Rana. It has two entrances: the Plura lakeside and the Steinugleflåget dry cave. The cave system is approximately 2 km long and 130 m deep, with large sharp rocks and extremely narrow passages. The water in the cave is ice-cold, between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius.
The official mission to retrieve the bodies is aborted after being deemed too dangerous by the Norwegian and British authorities. The Norwegian police close the entrance to the cave indefinitely. Determined to bring the bodies of their friends home, the three survivors, Patrik, Kai, and Vesa, with the help of another diver, Sami, put together their team and begin planning a secret recovery mission.
The team consists of 14 Finns and 11 Norwegians, and each team member has an important role. The Finnish team mainly includes people who knew the victims. To avoid being discovered by the authorities, the team splits and makes the 1000 km journey from Finland to Norway at different times.
British diver Rick Stanton, who had been on the first aborted recovery mission, told the BBC that he admires the recovery attempt but remains troubled by the event. He said that with proper training and planning, accidents like this should never happen to experienced divers. “This incident happened, and then they’ve made a film, and they all come out as heroes,” he says. “But these two people should never have died in the first place.”
Charlotte, Adrian, and Victor once served together in the same battalion. Therefore, they are used to overcoming difficulties and defying danger. Of the three, only Victor remains in the army. But they come together again to overcome a new obstacle – an unexplored cave system. Several years ago, two Finnish divers died there. The body of one of them was never found. After this tragic incident, the cave was closed. However, the three best friends do not pay attention to this. They want to explore the cave and find an exit on the mountain’s opposite side. They aim to be the first to do this and get out alive. It would seem that they have foreseen everything. Also, they have relationship issues – Charlotte is with Adrian, but she and Viktor used to be a couple, and he still has feelings for her – this complicates the expedition, and someone seems to be following them, even in the cave.
No matter how controversial the film’s plot may seem, the director of the film, Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken did his best to make the film better. Which naturally affects the film’s excellent audio visualization. The picture is shot very stylishly and beautifully. Like a long video clip. Especially with composer Johannes Ringen’s atmospheric soundtrack and Merete Soltvedt’s vocals, who effectively ends the film with her piercing voice and performance of the song Neverafter.
The atmosphere of mystery and hidden tension is also built quite well on the screen, which intrigues the viewer. Even if it does not consolidate the achievements with a reasonable turn of suspense and a decent spectacle in quantity and staging, the absence affected the overall impression of what was seen.
Curse of the Mayans / Xibalba (2017)
Action, Drama, Horror
Curse of the Mayans / Xibalba 2017 Movie Cover art
Led by ambitious American Archaeologist Danielle Noble, a team of expert cave divers embarks on an expedition to find the lost Mayan Hall of Records. Little do they know that instead of finding glory, they will find hell hidden in the underwater caves of Xibalbá.
It’s a bit far from real cave diving, plus a very, very low budget.
Это все таки не совсем фильм о пещерном дайвинге так как показанное достаточно далеко от реального пещерного дайвинга, плюс фильм имеет весьма ограниченный бюджет.
National Geographic/PBS Nova – Searching for a Skull (2018)
Documentary
Searching for a Skull 2018 Movie Cover art
Watch as a team of cave divers recover an ancient Naia skull – the name given to a 12,000 – to 13,000-year-old human skeleton of a teenage female found in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Her bones were part of a 2007 discovery of a cache of animal bones in a cenote called Hoyo Negro (Spanish for “Black Hole”). At the time of Naia’s death, the cave system was mostly dry, and she likely died falling into Hoyo Negro.
The remains are the “oldest, most complete and genetically intact human skeleton in the New World.”
Hoyo Negro Cave is located in Sac Actun – Nohoch – Dos Ojos – the second largest underwater cave system in the world, located in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)
Adventure, Drama, Horror
47 Meters Down- Uncaged Movie Cover art
47 Meters Down: Uncaged follows the diving adventure of four teenage girls (Sophie Nélisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju, and Sistine Stallone) exploring a submerged Mayan City. Once inside, their rush of excitement turns into a jolt of terror as they discover the sunken ruins are a hunting ground for deadly Great White Sharks. With their air supply steadily dwindling, the friends must navigate the labyrinth of claustrophobic caves and eerie tunnels to find a way out of their watery hell.
Unfortunately, the film crew forgot, didn’t want, or didn’t have the budget to hire diving consultants. So, in terms of diving, especially cave diving, this film is complete nonsense. But you can watch it once with a beer.
Dave Not Coming Back (2020)
Documentary
Dave Not Coming Back 2020 Movie Cover art
Two high-level technical cave scuba divers and long-time friends, Don and Dave, broke a world record for depth in the Boesmansgat cave in South Africa. It takes them 15 minutes to reach the bottom but 12 hours to surface. Having reached the bottom, against all odds, they find a body. They decide to come back and retrieve it. They call the parents, enroll 8 fellow divers, and hire a cameraman to document the dive. The camera will follow them throughout the preparation and the dive, including to the bottom of the cave. Little did they know that Dave would not be coming back on that historic dive. In this time of over-performance driven by self-promotion and self-filming comes Boesmansgat, a story of loss and mourning where egoism and altruism, hubris and self-control, risk-taking, and spirituality all go hand in hand. A cascade of choices and tense paradoxes lead to a tragedy long foreseen yet impossible to prevent.
The Rescue chronicles the enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. Using a wealth of never-before-seen material and exclusive interviews, E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin keep viewers on the edge of their seats as they bring alive one of the most perilous and extraordinary rescues in modern times, shining a light on the high-risk world of cave diving, the astounding courage and compassion of the rescuers, and the shared humanity of the international community that united to save the boys.
The tension-filled story of the rescue of 12 young soccer players, ages 10-16, and their coach trapped in the Tham Luang Nag Non cave in Northern Thailand in 2018. They found themselves surrounded by water two miles from the cave entrance, facing long odds for survival. To capture the drama, the filmmakers relied on 87 hours of footage filmed by a Thai admiral’s wife, interviews with the rescue team, computer graphics, and the use of reenactments when it became too dangerous to film inside the cave.
Trained cave divers were recruited as well as Thai Navy Seals, U. S. Special Forces, Australian medical experts, a Thai nurse named “Amp” Bangngoen who helped as a translator, and thousands of volunteers to undertake the rescue in the cave’s claustrophobic, winding underground passageways.
When Seals members concluded that they did not have the diving skills required for the rescue attempt, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, two highly experienced British divers, were called to Thailand. The inspiration of people of many backgrounds and training coming together from all over the world—including the U.S. and China—to engage in a joint undertaking captured the world’s attention.
The challenge became even more real when divers discovered four pump workers trapped not far from the cave entrance and had to undertake a dangerous rescue that became a trial run for the later attempt to free the boys. With the cave rapidly filling with water, the conditions became so daunting that one volunteer – a former Thai Navy Seal, died from a lack of oxygen.
The documentary not only depicts the bravery and determination of the divers, but offers a look into their personalities and goals, each with a compelling story. In one interview, one of the divers says that his dangerous hobby is “two parts ego, one part curiosity and one part a need to prove yourself.” The divers talk about how they had been “outsiders” all their lives, always regarded as misfits and “nerds.” Fittingly, Stanton and Volanthen first discovered the lost boys and their coach on a ledge two miles into the cave, where they had taken refuge after heavy rain submerged their route.
Thirteen Lives (2022)
Documentary
Thirteen Lives 2022 Movie Cover art
On June 23, 2018, twelve boys of the junior football team “Wild Boars” and their assistant coach, Ekkaphon Chanthawong, left practice to explore the Tham Luang cave. When the team failed to arrive at a birthday party organized by their parents, their families headed to the caves, only to find them flooded, the boys missing, and their bikes left at the entrance. The parents immediately alerted emergency services.
Royal Thai Navy SEALs, led by Captain Arnont (Teerapat Sajakul), arrive to search for the missing boys but find the dive too difficult to locate the team. Vernon Unsworth (Lewis Fitz-Gerald), a local British caver, shares his extensive knowledge of the complex and dangerous cave and suggests the authorities contact the British Cave Rescue Council.
British cavers Rick Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and John Volanthen (Colin Farrell) travel to Thailand and attempt the dive, finding the boys and coach four kilometers from the entrance. During an attempt to deliver air tanks to the boys to keep them alive in preparation for the rescue, former Thai Navy Seal Saman Kunan (Sukollawat Kanarot) drowns. Meanwhile, as hundreds of volunteers try to mitigate poor weather conditions, a water technician from Bangkok gets local farmers’ permission to divert water from the mountain onto their fields, destroying their crops.
Realizing the boys will have to be removed through the cave via a 6-hour dive, knowing the risks are, Stanton and Volanthen contact Dr. Richard Harris (Joel Edgerton), plus supporting divers Chris Jewell (Tom Bateman) and Jason Mallinson (Paul Gleeson). With permission from the regional governor (Sahajak Boonthanakit) and minister, the divers sedate the boys and, with one diver per boy, carry each member out of the cave safely. The coach is removed last. Removed to the hospital, the parents are reunited with the team.
The end scene is the boys celebrating the birthday party that was supposed to happen on the day they entered the cave. The end credits reveal that the coach and three of the boys, who were all stateless, are given Thai citizenship. The film is dedicated to Saman Kunan, the Thai Navy Seal who died on July 6, 2018, during the rescue operation, and Beirut Pakbara, a Thai Navy Seal who later died from a blood infection.
Nicte Ha Cenote is another stunning cenote in the pleiad of the Dos Ojos cave system cenotes. The entrance to this famous cenote is approximately 48 km south of Playa del Carmen. A 1 km dirt road leads from the highway to the cenote and parking.
The name “Nicte Ha” means “water flower.” It originated from the nice lily flowers growing inside the cenote's open water. Behind the name, a love story marred by tragedy explains the existence of a beautiful white flower in the cenote.
Nicte Ha Cenote is part of the Dos Ojos cave system of the same name. Connected system Sistema Sac Actun-Nohoch-Dos Ojos today is the world’s second-largest underwater cave system, 376,7 km (234 miles) of underwater lines, with a maximum depth of 119.18 mts (391 ft). Dos Ojos section is an anchialine cave system connecting to naturally intruding marine water and tidal influence in the cenotes. This cave system’s coastal discharge point(s) has not yet been humanly explored through to the ocean. Large volumes of groundwater were demonstrated by dye tracing to flow towards Caleta Xel-Ha, a nearby coastal bedrock lagoon.
Known for its shallow dives, Nicte HaCenote offers cave divers plenty of time to enjoy the beautifully decorated system.
Nicte Ha Cavern line map
A cavern line is available for recreational divers to enjoy beautiful speleothems around the cenote entrance in the cavern zone.
Nicte Ha Cenote underwater view
The owners remodeled the cenote entrance in 2013. They removed the old deck and palapa, enlarged the cenote’s open water area, and installed safe, easy-to-enter stone steps. Afterward, it was offered for swimmers and snorkelers to enjoy.
Dos Palmas, Mott Mott, and Nicte Ha Cenotes cave lines map
Upstream and Downstream lines
Cave divers can explore two permanent cave lines from the Nicte Ha Cenote cavern line. Accordingly, an upstream line toward Dos Palmas on the North and a downstream line toward Motz Say Ha and Monolito cenotes on the South. Besides that, there is one more short sidemount passage near the upstream main line.
The Nicte HaCenote cave lines suit beginners who are Intro to Cave (GUE Cave 1) divers who want to grow their experience before continuing to the Full Cave (GUE Cave 2) pass. Undoubtedly, you should install the main reel from the open water area to comply with Intro to Cave (GUE Cave 1) rules.
Nicte Ha Cenote location map
The first explorers were Chuck Stevens and Robbie Osman. Additional explorers include Steve Gerrard, Hilario Hiler, Dan Lins, Buddy Quattlebaum, Gary, and Key Walten. It was recently explored and resurveyed by Zack Bloom, Alex Fraser, Rory O’Keefe, Alessandro Reato, Severan Regehr, and Nicholas White.
