This article is written to compensate some missing information in broadcasted TV programme. Imagine - what's the nonsense! It's necessary to watch, not to describe. And this is the reason for a next program "Russian Extreme". Let's look into it together. The team of "Russian Extreme", consisting of Galaydo, Prokhorov, Anisimov, flies to Mexico. The flight is from Domodedovo by airlines "Kubana". A shot stay is in Madrid - and we approach Havana… where for some reason we were taken our passports away and driven in a corridor of some basement. We regarded with favor to such an action of "good will". Some more hours and we land at the airport "Kankur". The total flight time is about 24 hours. Amazingly, we pass through the customs rather quickly…

Mexico makes marvelous impression, and especially upon divers. The most beautiful caves in the world are here. Speleologists from all over the world gather this place. A real example is our guide Matt Mattes, an instructor-trainer IANTD and NSS. He is a German, worked in Japan, Toyland and Egypt. Six years ago he came to his friend for diving… and from that time he settled in Mexico.

A diving season lasts from November till the end of March (then it is very hot, rains, mosquitoes and so on). A water temperature in the ocean is 25-27? C, in the caves - 27-28? C. Diving is so different that a diver of any certification is satisfied with it. And there is a native Hurgada there - the Island Kozumel in the Caribbean Sea, where thousands of Americans and Canadians come to. Kosumel waters can be compared with the red sea by plenty of underwater flora and fauna.

We dived in the ocean only once, and we were full of drift-dive impressions for a long time. We did it without visual guiding lines, and the deeper we dived the stronger a sea current was. And when we reached a steep, we were taken with a current along the shore. The visibility was very bad: maybe the corals were flowering; maybe there was a lot of plankton. The first inquisitive sharks became a bolt from the blue for us. We were surprised at a plenty of turtles.

Suddenly, a current changed much and we were carried away to the ocean. After decompression we rose to the surface and saw a very far shore. And there wasn't a motorboat there. But no more than an hour we were caught sight of. I'd like to note for justice: there are almost no crazy divers like we are there. Sane people dive in good places that suit for comfortable diving… But the main aim of our trip is underwater caves. I don't know where else on the Earth you can find such an abundance and magnificence of caves. The most popular places for cave diving are situated along the seaside from Cancun to Tulum. One can simply rent a car and call in all dive-centers on the way. Take a route you like - and straight on; to be more exact - straight on and down, under the water. Take into consideration that real cave diving is allowed only to those who have a certificate of a cave diver - nothing else. You can take a course Intro Cave if you would like to - within 4 days and for 650$ or Eull Cave - within 7 days and 1300$. Both courses are taught according NNS standards - by one of the most famous speleological underwater associations. These courses are very interesting and varied. As a rule, instructors are Europeans, for the most part - Germans and Englishmen. Having a certificate of "cave man" you can dive wherever you want (of course, within the standard limits). And there are a lot of places worth seeing in Mexico; some caves have passages and branches with extension of tens kilometers.

If you haven't got a wish (a possibility) or time to visit such courses, anyway you can see the caves. There are centers organizing underwater excursions and there are regular air flights there. And you will be able to see stalactites and stalagmites snorkeling near a cave gate. There are several ways to get to a diving place; they can be both exotic and physically difficult. And only guides-carriers know a passage to some certain caves through impassable jungle. There are caves, which can be reached just by "trucks" or by horses. It's possible to get to some ones only having climb skills. Of course, there are a lot of caves with good spur tracks, convenient parking and cabins, arbours and lavatories. Cave gates amaze their diversity. Here you can meet cracks and deep wells, where firstly you should slip yourself and then your equipment; here there are also small lakes, where natives come to sunbathe and swim. This entourage wanes as compared to cave visit. It's hardly possible to describe feelings with words. A crack, where one can slip with difficulty, gives place to a passage with awful visibility and multiple systems that can be passed during months, and suddenly there is a large hall with very pure water and visibility, limited only by your light's capacity. Continuous change of external sizes of the gate gives some additional dynamics to diving. From narrow passages you find yourself in halls with stalactite groves. A little depth of some caves allows swimming rather long, but it's not enough an hour and a half to be satiated with surrounding beauties. For skilled certified divers who are not afraid of inconvenience and long distances I recommend Yucatan. It's a real paradise for cave diving. You have to stay in Merida - a capital of the state, and make everyday way from there. By the way, there are several good technical centers in Merida. The most of the caves are situated on private territories and it's necessary to get permission from an owner. From deep caves I'd like to focus your attention to a unique cave - Dog. It resembles a pond with dirty water with surface diameter about 65 meters. The beginning of diving doesn't increase optimism: first 15-20 meters the water is rather dirty. And suddenly you find yourself in a large vertical "siphon" with ideal visibility and diameter of 300 meters. Being in its center on 50-60 meters deep and having a powerful lamp, one can light walls from every quarter. In diagram form it looks like a bottle "of red". A daily light is damped down with a top troubled layer of water and looks like a blue stopper, closing a neck of some opaque vessel. And you feel yourself "a gnat with a little light" in this large vessel. Feelings are fantastic. Bulks are terrific, from which the most divers "become to go mad". It's useless to light down, thermocline is on 70 meters and it's rather strong. On 100 meters deep the "siphon" is divided into 2 wide branches, coming down. Mat dived on 150 meters, but nobody knows its real depth. This place ideally suits for deep diving. Caves have limestone extraction. Accordingly, accidentally dusted lime accumulates rather quickly.

From the cave interior let's turn to a tourist life. Mexico is a country with very developed infrastructure of tourist business: from expensive hotels, situated far from centers of population, where everything is included for 300-500 a day with flamingoes, parrots and iguanas living in jungles to small reasonably priced hotels on the shore. If the main aim of your trip is a rest and diving is a question of minor importance - the first listed hotels suit you better. But if you are a keen diver and come to Mexico looking for cave adventures, a small hotel situated near a dive center is for you. Especially since difficult cave dives you always have a feeling to sit in a comfortable atmosphere of local bars.

Here - briefly - what is left off screen of the program "Russian Extreme". In other words, because of the channel's aspiration to satisfy the requirements of so called mass viewer by all means, the matter of shot materials - both artistic and professional, was virtually excluded. Perhaps, the part of viewers hasn't noticed it. But, I think, it's a bad argument. Nevertheless, when a program about diving especially about cave dives is prepared, it's necessary to take into consideration the specialists' point of view. Otherwise, the program is for nobody. It doesn't attract a mass viewer; such subjects can even frighten him off diving, as it represents some source of dangers; for the most part it's pretended (for example, an irresponsible statement, made by authors of the program, saying that during cave diving a lot of people perished, more than during terrorist acts!). And imagine that especially interesting moments were cut from the program and a viewer can't form a clear picture of the discussing subject. And professionals, bluntly speaking, don't take such a program seriously - for some good reasons.




By Alexander Anisimov.

Underwater Club