Naharon

On Monday, Elissa's sidemount class started, so Don was diving with us. Naharon is a bigger cenote than the other two had been, but it is not as scenic, I think because the land around it is flat. However, the basin had tons of little fish, which I liked. It was totally empty when we got there, and eventually another team showed up. The area where you park is very close to the water, and there is a retaining wall that you can setup gear on. There is a nice big gazebo sort of thing which was convenient for changing and eating lunch. There are also some bathrooms which I would categorize as "uncivilized". After using them, I decided I prefer peeing in the jungle, where at least you can see what critters are crawling around you. Getting into the water seemed a bit treacherous due to slick rocks and algae-covered steps. Rob and I donned gear in the water for dive 1, and though neither of us drowned, it wasn't totally graceful.

The two of us dove together and dove the mainline first. It was so dark on the way in, it was totally creepy -- I briefly considered thumbing the dive. The water seemed a bit milky too on the way to the main line. It reminded me of our first dive at Peacock where the viz was bad (although now that I look back on it, it reminds me more of a creepy dive at 40 Fathoms). It was not very decorated on the mainline -- overall, we weren't big fans of the mainline. It had the fabled darkness of Naharon, but the structures just weren't very exciting to me. For dive 2, we moved the reel to the Descondido line, very shortly (maybe 2 minutes) up the mainline. This line was more interesting. Eventually it became very decorated with black icicles on the ceiling; earlier on it had big chunky stalagtites, which aren't as cool looking and look like it would hurt it you rammed your head into one.

For lunch, we had more of the same from the grocery store, and then we headed back up the Descondido line. Since the morning gear-up was not very graceful, I decided to sit my gear on the top of the steps and get into it there, then inch down the steps. That worked well. We did one dive as a team of 4, and then after depositing Don and Kevin back in the cavern, we headed back in for another short dive. Rob told me after the morning dive that if you go up to the very top of the cave on the way out (or in, but before you get to the mainline), that it is really tall and very decorated at the top. I hadn't gone up there because it was so far from the line (though Rob tells me it's because I am a "bottom-dweller"). So on the way out as a team of four, I decided to check it out. Rob was behind me (#4), and decided it would be a good time, while behind and above me, to cover his light. As I was flapping around trying to figure out where he had gotten to, I rammed my head into one of those big chunky stalagtites. Ouch.

We tried to go to a bar on the beach in Akumal, but it was closed. And since it was intermittently raining in torrential downpours, we decided to just head home and hit the pub.