El Chicho
Bayahibe, Dominican Republic
click for a high resolution printable version of this cave map.
After passing the water pumping station you continue up the road and eventually get to the "parking area" for the cave. You need to walk down in a big cavern to get to the water's edge, the entrance pool is very big and the cavern is also decorated and very big as well. Climbing down is made easier as boulders have been converted into steps.
Once in the water you go left through the cavern zone and get to the mainline which starts immediately behind the warning sign. The main tunnel is very wide and is very decorated with columns and stalactites, the walls are pristine white and there is very little silt.
After swimming a while the line eventually goes up into a very large dry cave with breathable air and a lot of bats.
This dry cave is actually very big and goes pretty far back and is worth hanging out in and exploring as it is highly decorated and looks really cool. When facing in, to the right of the mainline at the right side of the dry cave is a jump, it is a bit hard to see as it is hidden under a boulder, this leads to the actual main part of the cave and through a restriction before coming up to the surface at the far end of the dry cave.
Depending on water levels you will need to swim in a few feet of water or crawl along to bypass the dry cave and get to where the line drops down again. The cave then goes through a series of big rooms and breakdowns before eventually choking out in a low bedding plane.
This cave is suitable for any configuration and does not really silt out so viz will be good throughout.
Max depth is 21 meters,
DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Mairobi Herrera / DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |
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DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |
DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |
DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |
DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |
DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |
DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |
DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS | DRSS / El ChichoPhoto: ©2014 Laurent Benoit for DRSS |