La Sirena (cave)
| La Sirena
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| Location: | Dominican Republic | |
| Height : | 23 m | |
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Geographic location: |
18 ° 28 '27.6 " N , 69 ° 46' 50" W | |
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| Overall length: | 954 m | |
| Level difference: | 49.5 m | |
La Sirena near Santo Domingo is officially the longest and deepest known underwater cave in the entire Hispaniola island . It was measured and photographically documented in about 50 hours by Wulf Schubert (SAT), Claus Jungkunz and Andreas Dittrich (VHM / SAT) in November 2003.
Room description
If you approach the 5.5 meter by 8.5 meter entrance shaft, you can already see the water surface 9.5 meters deeper. A spiral staircase leads to a base surrounded by a lake. The U-shaped cave lake is the entrance to the cave system of the La Sirena cave.
If you dive into the lake, there are two sequels. If you opt for the left (west), you get to the "pool corridor" ("pool corridor" because this corridor leads to another, albeit significantly smaller, cave lake with surface access). If you dive to the right (east), the corridor leads into the "tourist corridor" (this is where the guided dives of the diving schools take place). The “deep corridor” (40 meters deep) branches off from the “tourist corridor”. If you follow the path in the “tourist corridor”, which is always spacious, you will reach the first opportunity to emerge in an equally large air chamber after about 30 meters. After submerging again, you get to two more air-filled chambers. The last chamber marks one end of the La Sirena Cave. You see yourself in front of a dump adorned with stalactites. Overcoming this dump (possibly with excavation) would certainly lead to further parts of the cave, but it would irretrievably destroy the stalactite jewelry and thus rob the cave of its unique character.
The air is breathable in all air domes, and the underwater view is always excellent. The water depth in the “tourist corridor” is around 5 meters. A spacious gap on the north side leads from the “tourist corridor” into the again spacious “deep corridor”. After diving through the halocline (dividing line between fresh water and salt water), you are at a depth of approx. 14 meters and follow the heavily eroded walls. While the “tourist corridor” is completely in the fresh water area, the “deep corridor” is completely in the salt water zone. After about 65 meters (from the “tourist path” junction) the cave ceiling slopes down and leaves the diver only a 1.5 meter high gap to work their way further into the deeper parts. Now follow a small-scale layer joint inclined about 45 degrees through two easily passable narrow passages into another larger chamber. The chamber extends from a depth of 28 meters to another narrow point at 15 meters. From here the room expands into a straight, downward sloping, impressive hall that is a good 25 meters long. Diving through a layered joint again, you reach a large, flat room in the area of 32 meters. At its northern end, in a narrow gap, is the deepest part of the cave at 40.0 meters.
At the beginning of the spacious chamber, another corridor branches off to the right (east). This carries a lot of sediment and ends after about 35 meters in a water depth of 32 meters in a brittle fall. If you turn from the entrance lake to the "pool corridor", you first have to maneuver yourself through a gap delimited by large fragments. If you would dive to the right, you will come across the "tourist corridor" again via a small side corridor. However, if you continue down the "pool corridor", you will come to a flat space of around 25 meters. From here, on the left, a layer of joints at a 45 degree angle leads further into the mountain. Due to the strong halocline, only the first diver can see the sintered corridor. After about 70 meters from the entrance lake, the passage swings slightly north again. Here the course of the corridor becomes a bit narrower and more sedimentary. In a small chamber with a lot of dark sediment, the passage divides to the left (south) and right (north). The right corridor continues in a beautiful, lens-shaped corridor that is only 1.5 meters high and a few meters wide, and then ends in another collapse zone. Again at the small chamber with the dark sediment, you now follow the main passage and after about 10 meters you reach a branch facing north-west. This ends after a short distance in a narrow system of columns. Further on in the main course, only about 25 meters of diving distance have to be covered to emerge in the second pool.
literature
- Der Schlaz 12/2004, issue 104, pages 29–32
- "Unterwasser" magazine 12/2006, page 10