Mexico
Sistema Nohoch Nah Chich - "Giant
Bird Nest" in Mayan
   
My jaw
dropped in complete an utter amazement as we rounded up the corner. And the next corner.
And the one after that. Few corners later, my
jaw got very tired and all the words evaporated from my mind as I was trying to take in
the splendor of that cave. It was then that I knew I would not be able to find the right
words to describe it to those who have not been there. After all, “incredibly
beautiful”, “gorgeous formations” and the like do not even begin to
describe that unbelievable creation of Mother Nature that is known as Nohoch Nah Chich.
If you are coming to dive
the caves of Yucatan and have a choice of timing this dive, make it the last one
of the trip, otherwise, you would spend the rest of your vacation comparing all the
subsequent caves to Nohoch saying something like “well that was about 50% of
Nohoch” or “that one came kind of close”. And do not ask me how I know
that…
The cave was very shallow,
or at least the parts that we visited. There are three different lines: Parker’s
Line, Main Line and Alberto’s Line. The max depth was 18ft on
Parker’s Line, 24 ft on Main Line and 21ft on Alberto’s Line. The average was 14ft for all
three lines, so the longish dives were a rule rather than exception.
Cavern area did not have the
dramatic features of Carwash or Grand Cenote, but the rays of sun dancing all over the
cavern fully compensated for lack of drama.
   
The entrance to the cave was
a bit tight (especially with the bulky camera) and very decorated, so we had to be careful
not to disturb anything with the wrong fin kick. The cave then opened right up into some
huge passages, massive formations and grand rooms on the Main Line and somewhat smaller
flatter passages and intricately decorated tunnels on Parker’s and Alberto’s
lines.
   
Main Line
Main Line had couple of rooms so big that my light was lost in the
darkness trying to reach the opposite wall. The walls and formations of all sizes and
shapes were pure white and the sediment on the cave floor shifted colors from bluish white
to golden. The beauty of the cave was so unreal, that more than a few times I thought
“this is what a cave diving heaven would look like”. Being there was magical.
               
And I was not the first one
to invoke the Heaven comparison either. The
first T from the Parker’s Line and Alberto Line both end up at the Main Line in the area
aptly named “Heaven’s Gate”. That area featured two insanely decorated
walls of formations on both sides of the massive vertical passage. The whole area was so
immense that my 12mm lens could only capture the very little part of it.
  
Parker’s Line had
smaller flatter passages with lots of various speleo forms decorating all available
surfaces. Other notable attractions included the “Curtain” formation just past
the T. I thought this was the prettiest of all three lines there. We noticed that someone
put plastic cups with the distance markers on the Parker's line in 2007. Not sure why this
was not done with arrows like in Florida, but is was nice to know the distance from
entrance.
                       
Alberto’s Line
was similar to Parker’s and felt too short as it ended suddenly right at
Heaven’s Gates on the Main Line. The tree roots that were hanging from the ceiling on
Alberto’s Line added an element of
surprise to an already surreal experience.
       
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