Sistema Car Wash

A little over eight kilometers from the Highway 307 intersection, Car Wash (Aktun Ha) is the popular cave system furthest out the Coba Road. You will find it on the left hand side; the sign will say “Cenote Cristal.” (Be sure to go to the facility at the far end of the cenote, not the one closest to Tulum.)

Car Wash is famous for its delicate, soda-straw-like formations — especially in the Room of Tears. Before the discovery of Sac Aktun and Nohoch, it was considered the area’s most beautifully decorated cave.

The facilities at Car Wash make suiting up and getting in easy (you will be parking only a matter of steps away from the water). The large, upstream entrance will be immediately to your right; the downstream entrance to your left. Most divers choose to go upstream.

Car Wash is an excellent example of the importance of using a professional guide to get the most from the area’s caves. At Car Wash, the permanent line upstream starts a considerable distance from the entrance. To find it, you have to negotiate your way through a veritable forest of huge, dark columns. It is easy to get lost. Without the help of a competent guide, you can waste an entire dive just looking for the main line.

Once you find the line, there are several directions you can go. A popular dive is to go first to Adrianna’s room, then backtrack to the Room of Tears jump and check it out. (Instructors frequently use this as a way to teach the recalculation of thirds in the middle of a dive.) Wherever you, stay on the line. Soda straw formations are more frequently damaged from exhaust bubbles than they are from divers bumping into them. (This is actually good advice in any Yucatan cave.)

It is possible to go beyond the Room of Tears, to places such as the Room of Tears Basement or the Lotus Room. You can also go downstream to see Satan’s Silthole and the Chamber of the Ancients.

Depths vary widely throughout the cave. The deepest points are at 70 feet, where you will also find a saltwater layer.

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