Sac Actun and Dos Ojos systems connection discovered! - video

After years of effort and hard work, a dream come true for many lovers of Mexican cenotes – the connection between the flooded cave systems Sac Actun and Dos Ojos has been found. The result is the longest flooded cave system in the world, measuring exactly 347 km!

A huge success crowning several years of effort and the last 10 months of hard work has fallen to a team of explorers working within the GAM – Gran Acuífero Maya project. Robbie Schmittner, Marty O Farrell, Jim Josiak and Sev Regeh will go down in history as those who managed to find the almost mythical link between the two systems. Suffice it to say that the project’s exploration leader, Robbie Schmittner, dedicated the last 14 years of his life to achieving this goal!

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[blockquote style=”2″]”It’s a huge team effort… I couldn’t give up for 14 years until I found the connection.” – Schmittner explained[/blockquote].

Officials of the Gran Acuífero Maya, led by underwater archaeologist and Mayanist Dr Guillermo de Anda, dedicated their discovery to the recently deceased Bill Phillips, who dedicated most of his life to exploring and surveying the caves of the Yucatán, serving as an inspiration and mentor to generations of cave divers.

Information about the merging of the two caves had been leaking into the cave diving community for several days. Now we know officially that Sac Actun and Dos Ojos have managed to merge into one, the longest flooded cave system in the world. What follows is that the fourth longest Dos Ojos system, with over 83 km and 30 cenotes… has ceased to exist.

All this is due to the principle that when two systems merge, the larger absorbs the smaller and from now on they appear under one name. So the Sac Actun, which until recently had a length of almost 264 km and 192 cenotes, was thus enlarged by the dimensions of Dos Ojos.

As of now, the system is 347km long and is the longest flooded cave in the world, dethroning the previous number one, Ox Bel Ha, which measures over 270km. Interestingly, in the past, as a result of successive explorations, both systems have repeatedly changed the leader’s seat. Sometimes even several times in one year. All, of course, due to similar dimensions.

But now it seems that Sac Actun has overtaken and outclassed the competition for good. But at 347 km long and 222 cenotes, the record-breaking numbers of the newly extended system don’t end there. With the absorption of Dos Ojos, Sac Actun has also taken over the deepest spot in the Riviera Maya caves, the Skid Road Passage, which is over 119 metres deep.

[blockquote style=”2″]”I have no doubt that this is the most important submerged archaeological site in the world. We found over 100 objects, including the remains of extinct species, but also people, Mayan ceramics and burial sites. It is extremely significant that this discovery allows us to see the possible patterns of settlement at that time. From the Pleistocene, to the ancient Maya, to the colonial era,” said Dr Guillermo de Anda.[/blockquote]

With the successful attempt to merge the Sac Actun and Dos Ojos systems, some personal reflection comes to mind. I remember quite well, that when we started to create and develop DIVERS24, this topic fired up many diving heads in our country. All thanks to the Poles who also contributed and made attempts to connect the caves.

It was about 7-8 years ago that I became interested in projects with the names of Krzysztof Starnawski, Irena Stangierska and people associated under the banner of Dualrebreather Team. So for me the combination of both systems is also a buckle that binds a certain whole and an opportunity to reflect. Of course I always wanted to be able to write about the fact that I succeeded. But I did not think that I would wait so long…

The achievement of the goal of uniting Sac Actun and Dos Ojos does not, however, mark the end of this wonderful story. It is more to be seen as the end of an extraordinary adventure and the closing of a chapter. Soon it will be time for a new adventure and the opening of another one, especially since there are 3 more flooded cave systems waiting nearby, which very possibly have a connection to Sac Actun.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Przemysław Trześniowski of Alpha Divers. It is thanks to his knowledge and knowledge of the subject that the above text is full of details not included in the “mainstream media” reports, and which for people passionate about diving and cenotes, certainly make the whole thing more interesting and complete.

Source: alpha-divers.co.uk, granacuiferomaya.com, mexiconewsdaily.com
Photo: Herbert Meyrl/Proyecto GAM

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