CENOTE ZACIL HA (Luke’s Hope) “Clear Water” 16Q 0449035 UMT 2241964 The land owner is the Ejido Tulum. KM 8 Carretera Coba, 77780, Tulum, Q. Roo. Monday – Sunday 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 A.M. Contact Phone: +52 984 155 1342 Email: cenotezacilha01@gmail This cenote is located on the Coba road seven kilometers from Tulum. The cenote is known as Cenote Zacil-Ha, which in Spanish means clear water, was discovered by accident that was almost a fatality. Known by cave divers as Lukes Hope, it was a lucky escape point for a Canadian named Luke who as an open water diver was led into Cenote Carwash by a guide about 34 years ago. He was accidently left alone by his guide (neither were cave diver trained) 300 feet/91.4 meters upstream and there was “no” guideline. Luke had no clue where he was and began swimming inadvertently upstream. He was down to his last 200 psi of air in his single 80 cubic foot cylinder and had made “peace” with God when he suddenly saw a glimmer of daylight peeping through a curtain of tree roots. Meanwhile, several open divers were alerted to the situation when the dive master guide had swam back to the open water without Luke and bleeding from his head apparently from striking it on the cave ceiling in his haste to escape from the underwater cave. No one was cave diver certified and had no idea and, luckily, no courage to search for Luke in the cave. Everyone presumed Luke had drown and now were trying figure out how to retrieve his body. That late afternoon back at Aventuras Akumal at the recently opened hotel (this was when the entire coast of the Riviera Maya was a jungle) several of the divers who were at the cenote along with other guests were at the poolside bar upset and trying to figure out how to retrieve Luke’s body. Suddenly, Luke walked up to the bar in his wetsuit and literally scared the “hell” out of everyone as they thought they were seeing a ghost. As everyone was rejoicing Luke explained that he found his way out of the cave by “discovering” this tiny cenote located 800 feet/244 meters from Cenote Carwash and managed to find his way through the thick jungle (the scariest part for Luke) to the Coba Road. He managed to flag down a Tulum taxi and get a ride back to the hotel. Thus, the true legend of Luke’s Hope. During 2007 the land owner had the cenote dramatically enlarged with big shovel machine and made the dive site into what it is today. With a depth of 7 – 10 feet/2.5 - 3 meters will leave you amazed by the green jade and crystal clear waters that let you see every detail of its beauty, its edges are covered with a wooden deck floor so that from any point you can admire its beauty without fear of slipping. The Cenote Zacil-Ha is ideal for swimming, snorkeling and especially for cave diving. This entry can take you to a chamber known as The Room of Tears named by a Venezuelan cave diver named Hector Indriago when shown the room by Parker Turner and Mike Madden who had discovered it months earlier. Hector was asked by Parker what he thought of the room and his reply was it was so beautiful it bought “tears” to his eyes, thus the name “The Room of Tears”. With this cenote connected to Cenote Carwash the cave system is a very popular cave diving training site along with drawing attention to many cave divers from around the world. Photos By Steve Gerrard. November 6, 2014 deephorizon.info
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 14:57:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015